I understand System Restore will not restore/protect files in My Documents,
such as doc. files, meaning that on a restore such files will not be
affected and I need not worry. My actual worry is to know which of the 3 My
Documents folders I have in Explorer System Restore does not restore. These
three are clones of each other in that they contain exactly the same
folders. Going down from Desktop, The first is Desktop\My Computer\Local
Disk\Documents and Settings\my name\My Documents - the second is Desktop\My
Computer\my name (is called my name and not My Documents, but has the same
contents as the two so-called My Documents, so I refer to it here as the
second My Documents) - the third is Desktop\My Documents. So which of these
does System Restore ignore?

BTW, why does Explorer maintain three versions of these? Which is the one
ordinary users like me should look out for as the 'controlling' My
Documents, as it were? I have always wondered about these particular
questions.

xylophone wrote:

> I understand System Restore will not restore/protect files in My
> Documents,
> such as doc. files, meaning that on a restore such files will not be
> affected and I need not worry. My actual worry is to know which of the 3
> My
> Documents folders I have in Explorer System Restore does not restore.
> These three are clones of each other in that they contain exactly the same
> folders. Going down from Desktop, The first is Desktop\My Computer\Local
> Disk\Documents and Settings\my name\My Documents - the second is
> Desktop\My Computer\my name (is called my name and not My Documents, but
> has the same contents as the two so-called My Documents, so I refer to it
> here as the
> second My Documents) - the third is Desktop\My Documents. So which of
> these does System Restore ignore?
>
> BTW, why does Explorer maintain three versions of these? Which is the one
> ordinary users like me should look out for as the 'controlling' My
> Documents, as it were? I have always wondered about these particular
> questions.

You don't have three different versions. You only have one My Documents,
which is at:

C:\Documents and Settings\[your user name]\My Documents

The others are just shortcuts to this directory. System Restore doesn't
restore your data.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

Many thanks. I had not realised the others were shortcuts. That being so,
they could be deleted, or would that be a bad idea?

"Malke" <malke@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:ONm8k3f6IHA.1204@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> xylophone wrote:
>
>> I understand System Restore will not restore/protect files in My
>> Documents,
>> such as doc. files, meaning that on a restore such files will not be
>> affected and I need not worry. My actual worry is to know which of the 3
>> My
>> Documents folders I have in Explorer System Restore does not restore.
>> These three are clones of each other in that they contain exactly the
>> same
>> folders. Going down from Desktop, The first is Desktop\My Computer\Local
>> Disk\Documents and Settings\my name\My Documents - the second is
>> Desktop\My Computer\my name (is called my name and not My Documents, but
>> has the same contents as the two so-called My Documents, so I refer to it
>> here as the
>> second My Documents) - the third is Desktop\My Documents. So which of
>> these does System Restore ignore?
>>
>> BTW, why does Explorer maintain three versions of these? Which is the
>> one
>> ordinary users like me should look out for as the 'controlling' My
>> Documents, as it were? I have always wondered about these particular
>> questions.
>
> You don't have three different versions. You only have one My Documents,
> which is at:
>
> C:\Documents and Settings\[your user name]\My Documents
>
> The others are just shortcuts to this directory. System Restore doesn't
> restore your data.
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP
> Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
> FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
>

xylophone wrote:

> Many thanks. I had not realised the others were shortcuts. That being
> so, they could be deleted, or would that be a bad idea?

No, just leave them alone! They aren't taking up any space beyond what is
needed for the shortcut. Here is a general explanation of the file
hierarchy in XP:

*****
XP is a multi-user operating system, no matter if only one person is using
it. In all multi-user operating systems - NT, Win2k, XP, Unix, Linux, Mac
OSX - there is the one built-in account that is "god" on the system. In
Windows terminology, that is "Administrator". In the *nix world, it is
"root". This is a necessary account and is not normally used in everyday
work. You cannot delete the built-in Administrator account nor would you
ever want to.

Here is the explanation of what you really have:

My Computer - represents your entire computer, showing drives and shared
folders. Shared Folders are folders where you can put files you wish to
share with other users on the system. You don't need to use these folders
if you don't want to, but leave them alone!

[some name] C:\ - your first hard drive, usually the system drive.

Document and Settings - The "container" for all user settings. Each user
will have [username] Documents, Music, Videos, My Pictures.

Administrator - Built-in account - Leave alone! Do not use! Do not worry
about it!

All Users - Section where items common to all users go. In a multi-user
operating system, users have separate accounts. This is the place where if
you want to share files with all the other users on the system you would
put those files. You don't ever have to use those folders but they need to
be there. This is where programs you install that are meant to be installed
for all users put settings. All the "Shared Documents" type of folders you
see at the root of C:\ are shortcuts to the shared folders in here. Leave
them alone!

Default Users - This is the template from which new user accounts are made.
You will never put anything in any of those folders but they are needed to
create new users. In Linux we use "skel" ("skeleton" - get it?). In
Windows, the less-colorful term "Default User" is used. Leave it alone!

[OEM] Administrator or Owner - This is the generic user created by the OEM
when installing the operating system. After all, the OEM doesn't know who
is going to buy the computer. If you aren't using this OEM user account,
you can delete it from the User Accounts applet in Control Panel. It is not
the same account as "Administrator".

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

Many thanks, indeed, for this tour! I had always wondered and now I know.
Appreciated.

"Malke" <malke@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:OKwckRm6IHA.4596@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> xylophone wrote:
>
>> Many thanks. I had not realised the others were shortcuts. That being
>> so, they could be deleted, or would that be a bad idea?
>
> No, just leave them alone! They aren't taking up any space beyond what is
> needed for the shortcut. Here is a general explanation of the file
> hierarchy in XP:
>
> *****
> XP is a multi-user operating system, no matter if only one person is using
> it. In all multi-user operating systems - NT, Win2k, XP, Unix, Linux, Mac
> OSX - there is the one built-in account that is "god" on the system. In
> Windows terminology, that is "Administrator". In the *nix world, it is
> "root". This is a necessary account and is not normally used in everyday
> work. You cannot delete the built-in Administrator account nor would you
> ever want to.
>
> Here is the explanation of what you really have:
>
> My Computer - represents your entire computer, showing drives and shared
> folders. Shared Folders are folders where you can put files you wish to
> share with other users on the system. You don't need to use these folders
> if you don't want to, but leave them alone!
>
> [some name] C:\ - your first hard drive, usually the system drive.
>
> Document and Settings - The "container" for all user settings. Each user
> will have [username] Documents, Music, Videos, My Pictures.
>
> Administrator - Built-in account - Leave alone! Do not use! Do not worry
> about it!
>
> All Users - Section where items common to all users go. In a multi-user
> operating system, users have separate accounts. This is the place where if
> you want to share files with all the other users on the system you would
> put those files. You don't ever have to use those folders but they need to
> be there. This is where programs you install that are meant to be
> installed
> for all users put settings. All the "Shared Documents" type of folders you
> see at the root of C:\ are shortcuts to the shared folders in here. Leave
> them alone!
>
> Default Users - This is the template from which new user accounts are
> made.
> You will never put anything in any of those folders but they are needed to
> create new users. In Linux we use "skel" ("skeleton" - get it?). In
> Windows, the less-colorful term "Default User" is used. Leave it alone!
>
> [OEM] Administrator or Owner - This is the generic user created by the OEM
> when installing the operating system. After all, the OEM doesn't know who
> is going to buy the computer. If you aren't using this OEM user account,
> you can delete it from the User Accounts applet in Control Panel. It is
> not
> the same account as "Administrator".
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP
> Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
> FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
>