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DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A
January 17, 2010
Q.
Why is it that on my new computer running
Windows 7, I have two "My Documents" folders
but only have access to one of them?
A.
Actually, you only have one "My
Documents" folder and the other one is a
"Junction Point". I'll explain further.
First,
you will only see these type duplicate
folders, junction points, if you have chosen
to have "Hide protected operating system
files" unchecked. This is not the default
setting and is intended that most
users have no access to these junction
points. This is not a change that can be
made unintentionally.
Here are
the steps required to make this change. Open
any folder, press the ALT key to display the
menu if it isn't set to display by default,
select Tools, Folder Options, and the View
tab. Scroll down until you find the item,
"Hide protected operating system files
(Recommended)" and uncheck it. When you do,
this Warning is displayed:
So, it
can be seen that this setting is not one
that has been made without the user's
knowledge. When this setting is selected,
the junction points and other protected
system files are displayed. If these
junction points cause you confusion, then
just choose to "Hide protected operating
system files" as is the Windows default and
they will go away.
So, what
is a junction point?
In Vista
and Windows 7, the “My Documents and
Settings“ folder, which BTW is now a
junction point, has been replaced by the
"Users" folder. Each user account will have
a My Documents, My Pictures, My Videos etc.
listed directly in the Users folder. This is
a change from Windows XP where the My
Pictures, My Videos, My Music were all
contained in the My Documents folder.
In other
words, in Vista and Windows 7, all of the
"My...." folders have been moved from within
the Documents and settings/My Documents
folder as they were in XP , and placed
directly in the new "Users/username" folder. Junction
Points were created to provide backwards
compatibility for older programs that are
unaware of the new folder structure in
Windows Vista and Windows 7.
A program
that is incorrectly written and hardcoded to
install files directly in the old My folders
will be silently redirected to the new
location. These junction points just contain the
path to the new location of the actual
folder of the same name.
Note the
"My" designation was first introduced in
Windows XP, then removed in Vista, and now reinstated in Windows 7. Also, all of
these "My..." folders are now more easily
accessible in the new Windows 7 Libraries
which are displayed by default when Windows
Explorer is opened.
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