My Documents resolve to wrong name in Explorer

  • Thread starter Thread starter Frank
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Frank

I have a default profile on a workstation that was created with a domain
account versus a local admin account. If I look at the contents of
c:\Documents and Settings\Default User\ directory using Windows Explorer,
instead of c:\Documents and Settings\Default User\My Documents, I have
c:\Documents and Settings\Default User\bob's Documents (bob is a domain
account). If I look at the same directory from command shell, I get "My
Documents". I've tried to rename the folder "bob's Documents" using Explorer
to "My Documents", but the error message states the source and destination
are the same.

My guess is the username "bob" is stored somewhere in the registry of the
workstation, and is being used by the Explorer shell to resolve "My". How
can I fix the Default User profile so that using Explorer I get "My
Documents" rather than "bob's documents". BTW - all local profiles are based
on the Default Profile.

Frank
 
There are two registry keys to check:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}
and check the value LocalizedString in the right panel. It should say:

LocalizedString REG_EXPAND_SZ
@%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll,-9227

This registry key sets the name for that folder to My Documents.

The other is:

HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User
Shell Folders
and see what is set for Personal in the right panel.

It should say:

Personal REG_EXPAND_SZ %USERPROFILE%\My Documents

If that all checks out, then check the Default User folder (the real one):

C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile

and see what the name of the My Documents folder is.
 
The Desktop.ini File Does Not Work Correctly When You Create a Custom Default Profile:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q321281/

Wallpaper setting does not apply correctly when you create a custom default user profile ?:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/defaultwp.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I have a default profile on a workstation that was created with a domain
account versus a local admin account. If I look at the contents of
c:\Documents and Settings\Default User\ directory using Windows Explorer,
instead of c:\Documents and Settings\Default User\My Documents, I have
c:\Documents and Settings\Default User\bob's Documents (bob is a domain
account). If I look at the same directory from command shell, I get "My
Documents". I've tried to rename the folder "bob's Documents" using Explorer
to "My Documents", but the error message states the source and destination
are the same.

My guess is the username "bob" is stored somewhere in the registry of the
workstation, and is being used by the Explorer shell to resolve "My". How
can I fix the Default User profile so that using Explorer I get "My
Documents" rather than "bob's documents". BTW - all local profiles are based
on the Default Profile.

Frank
 
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