My Data vs. My Documents

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dane
  • Start date Start date
D

Dane

OK folks - a question that I hope you will find very easy
to answer.

Why does Microsoft provide two places on the desktop to
store information (My Data/My Documents)?

As a user, is there a logical way to look at the two
locations and understand what I would do or store in one
that I would not in the other or vise versa?

The configuration at my employer has it set up so that My
Data lives on the Hard Drive and My Documents is backed up
to a server continuously every hour or so. My Data does
not back up to the server unless I do a manual "Back Me Up
Now" request.

So I understand this, but beyond how the documents are
saved, is there some bit of knowledge that all other
Microsoft users have that I lack? Why would I save a
document in My Documents over putting it in My Data? If
there are two place, there must be a reason? Yes?
Maybe? Am I over thinking this? Is it as simple as the
folder names themselves? Documents containing most or all
words go in My Documents and things with numbers go in My
Data? There must be more to it than that?

My first visit to your little news group - so be easy on
me. I'm a good guy overall. And a Red Sox fan...
 
I've never seen a "My Data" directory created by a Windows 2000 default
installation. Perhaps some other program is creating this for your users.
It seems like every program likes to have its own "My" folder these days.
My eBooks, My Soaps, My Webs, My this, My That.

Ray at work
 
You say yr Employer has configured this, perhaps the intention was to keep
more personal stuff in My Data?
As far as I'm aware no MS app creates a My Data folder.
 
I agree with DL. Sounds like a scheme to backup up work documents from My
Documents, while allowing some segregation for things you either do not need
backed up (perhaps archival copies of documents you know you won't update,
such as those from old projects), or personal / non-public documents. For
instance, for years, I have kept a time.log to track my time, apart from
other means, just for my personal records. I would not want to regularly
back those up to the network. It's an interesting scheme, but not one I
would recommend. There are better ways to do this.

If in addition to being a Sox fan, you also live around Boston, please reply
privately. I'm in Beverly. I tell a lot of people about our local bumper
sticker, "Yankees suck", and then compare it with the anti-Microsoft
attitude. We hate the Yankees, not because they suck, but because they keep
beating the Sox.
 
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