Documents folder missing

[Leejo]

Hey all,
Hoping you can help me out with this issue.
I'm running Vista.

When I open my user folder (the window that is supposed to show all
your user specific folders like documents, music, pictures, links,
favorites, etc.) from the start menu. There is no Documents folder
listed on the right side (icon side).

The documents folder is not gone. It still exists and can be seen on
the left side (tree view of the user folder).
I'm wondering how to get the Documents folder to display on the other
side also.

Any idea?
I tried creating a shortcut in it, but since its really a view into
the same folder it won't allow me to do that.

[devnullius @ gmail]

Sounds strange. Only thing I can think of right now, is that you made
the folder "hidden".

Have you tried to show hidden files and folders?

See manual here: http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/1521/how_to_view_hidden_and_system_files_and_folders_in_vista/and
here: http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-179610-change-hidden-attribute-folder
.

Repost if this doesn't fix it.

Peace!

Devvie

Conare nullius momenti videri fortasse missilibus careant
------
All spelling mistakes are my own and may only be distributed under the
GNU General Public License! - (© 1995-1 by Coredump; 2002-9 by
DevNullius)

[devnullius @ gmail]

Also, there is a registry key that you could (re-)make that points to
the rigth folder location. Should work on XP and Vista.

See: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-103948_35_0.html
And see: http://www.technipages.com/xpvista-my-documents-folder-is-missing.html

From these pages:

In Windows XP or Windows Vista, the My Documents folder is missing
from the My Computer view.

To fix this problem try the following steps:

1. Hold down the Windows key and press R.

2. Type regedit and click OK.

3. Click the plus sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
then Software
then Microsoft
then Windows
then CurrentVersion
then Explorer

4. Right click on the DocFolderPaths entry and click New > String
Value.

5. Give the string value the username you use to login to Windows.

6. Set the Value data to the path to where the My Documents folder
belongs. It would be C:\Documents and Settings\Windows username. Click
OK.

Have fun & peace!

Devvie

On 31 okt, 16:38, "devnullius @ gmail" <devnull...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Sounds strange. Only thing I can think of right now, is that you made
> the folder "hidden".
>
> Have you tried to show hidden files and folders?
>

> See manual here:http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/1521/how_to_view_hidden_and_system_fil...

[devnullius @ gmail]

Your problem seems to be more elaborate, according to this post. Check
all this info yourself.

Copy-paste:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080705145455AA82aak&r=w&pa=AptqD2bwHTHc6.aHZ6MwvY4aV7uVm_25Gg.63P7WFSnX3Q--&paid=voted

Undecided Question
"documents" has disappeared from my Vista start menu right pane.?

The "Customize start menu" routine does not fix it. I have documents,
"show as link" selected. Documents also is gone from the "computer
name" folder. I can open it from the start menu left pane. Any
suggestions?
1 year ago (Tiebreaker)

Lastly, a VERY interesting post here:
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/99609816/m/928004383931
.

Copy-paste in new reply, for it's a long threat : )

Peace!

Devvie

[devnullius @ gmail]

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/99609816/m/928004383931

Jim Z
Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
et Subscriptor

Tribus: I have no problem not listening to The Temptations... which is
weird. (Detroit)
Registered: November 05, 1999
Posts: 27293
Posted August 08, 2008 19:38
This is weird. For reasons I don't know, a mystery "Documents" folder
would pop up on my desktop from time to time. I don't know how it
ended up there (maybe I dragged it there once.) I would delete it, and
it would be gone until later. I can't pinpoint any event which
corresponded with its re-appearance.

Finally I was able to Shift+Delete it into oblivion, and it hasn't
come back. Problem is, the "Documents" link in the Start Menu is now
dead (I click on it and nothing happens.) My actual Documents folder
(in C:\Users\Jim) is present and its contents are accounted for, so I
didn't actually nuke my Documents folder.

I brought up the properties dialog for the Documents link, and this is
what I get:



anyone have even a shred of a clue what happened, and how I can fix
it?

edit: I also note that the "Desktop" folder in my home directory has a
plain folder icon, and not one of the special green folder icons...
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jim Z, August 08, 2008
19:49
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Freeman
Ars Scholae Palatinae

Tribus: I'm in a chair, on the deck, under the Portico, enjoying the
breeze while sipping a soy chai.
Registered: October 27, 2001
Posts: 12311
Posted August 08, 2008 19:57
What do you get if you right click on the "Documents" entry in the
Start menu?

If Open or Explore are options, then maybe it will allow you to Browse
to the correct locale and re-establish a home for the entry.

.
Jim Z
Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
et Subscriptor

Tribus: I have no problem not listening to The Temptations... which is
weird. (Detroit)
Registered: November 05, 1999
Posts: 27293
Posted August 08, 2008 20:01
quote:
What do you get if you right click on the "Documents" entry in the
Start menu?


"Copy," "Rename," and "Properties." That's it.
Sterling Ambivalence
Wise, Aged Ars Veteran
Registered: May 21, 2005
Posts: 1261
Posted August 09, 2008 07:55
Have you tried right clicking the start menu button, selecting
"Properties", select "Customize..." start menu, and turning off the
Documents folder and turning it back on again. (selecting the radio
"Documents: Don't display this item" and then selecting "Documents:
display as link").

Did this work?
Sterling Ambivalence
Wise, Aged Ars Veteran
Registered: May 21, 2005
Posts: 1261
Posted August 09, 2008 08:07
..also, do you have Vista Business or Ultimate? (If you have Home, do
you have Shadow Explorer installed?) Have you tried using Previous
Versions to recover a version of the folder from back when it was
working? (I believe that blue icon is caused by an argument in a
hidden "desktop.ini" file. I deleted that folder when I deleted a
bunch of stuff in my Pictures folder, and that folder turned a generic
yellow.)
Jim Z
Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
et Subscriptor

Tribus: I have no problem not listening to The Temptations... which is
weird. (Detroit)
Registered: November 05, 1999
Posts: 27293
Posted August 09, 2008 09:24
quote:
Originally posted by Sterling Ambivalence:
Have you tried right clicking the start menu button, selecting
"Properties", select "Customize..." start menu, and turning off the
Documents folder and turning it back on again. (selecting the radio
"Documents: Don't display this item" and then selecting "Documents:
display as link").

Did this work?


No.

edit: Home Premium (64,) and Shadow Explorer doesn't show me anything
useful.

edit 2: which could be because the Volume Shadow Copy service isn't
running...
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jim Z, August 09, 2008
10:11
bash666
Ars Tribunus Militum
Registered: November 28, 2000
Posts: 23978
Posted August 09, 2008 10:13
Just use one of the many free tools that can redirect Documents to
redirect it to the location where Documents should point, e.g. c:\users
\JimZ\Documents.
bw
Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius

Tribus: Boston, MA
Registered: April 10, 2000
Posts: 7177
Posted August 09, 2008 10:46
quote:
Originally posted by bash666:
Just use one of the many free tools that can redirect Documents to
redirect it to the location where Documents should point, e.g. c:\users
\JimZ\Documents.


Or point it yourself

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
\Shell Folders

Check for key name "Personal" and set to data to "c:\User\JimZ
\Documents"
Jim Z
Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
et Subscriptor

Tribus: I have no problem not listening to The Temptations... which is
weird. (Detroit)
Registered: November 05, 1999
Posts: 27293
Posted August 09, 2008 11:27
aha! that's it. somehow that key had "C:\Users\Jim\Desktop\Documents"
stored.
Jim Z
Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
et Subscriptor

Tribus: I have no problem not listening to The Temptations... which is
weird. (Detroit)
Registered: November 05, 1999
Posts: 27293
Posted August 12, 2008 23:32
quote:
Originally posted by bash666:
Just use one of the many free tools that can redirect Documents to
redirect it to the location where Documents should point, e.g. c:\users
\JimZ\Documents.


the problem is not the location of the Documents folder. It's where it
should be (and always was,) and accessible by everything else.

quote:
Originally posted by bw:
Or point it yourself

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
\Shell Folders

Check for key name "Personal" and set to data to "c:\User\JimZ
\Documents"


I take that back. it didn't work.

edit: I give up. If I can't figure out how it got fucked up in the
first place, it's going to be hard to figure out how to fix it.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jim Z, August 12, 2008
23:46
LordDaMan
Wise, Aged Ars Veteran

Tribus: Adeptus Mechanicus
Registered: January 18, 2007
Posts: 2388
Posted August 12, 2008 23:57
I used to get that problem off and on in xp. I finally figured out it
was due to desktop.ini being in the startup folder. I deleted that,
and it no longer popped up on log-in


I don't know if that would be of any help or even applicable to vista,
but it's worth a shot
Jim Z
Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
et Subscriptor

Tribus: I have no problem not listening to The Temptations... which is
weird. (Detroit)
Registered: November 05, 1999
Posts: 27293
Posted August 13, 2008 00:13
quote:
I don't know if that would be of any help or even applicable to vista,
but it's worth a shot


evidently I don't have permissions for my "Start Menu" folder in my
home directory.
SpatialD
Smack-Fu Master, in training
Registered: August 30, 2008
Posts: 2
Posted August 30, 2008 17:42
I have the same problem, only the extra "Documents" folder was in my C:
\users\Michael\downloads folder.

I figure I must have accidentally dragged it there too since it's
right beneath the original docs icon in the "Michael" folder.

The registry key mentioned above did reference the new (and wrong)
location, but it still wasn't fixed after I corrected it.

What is the properties dialog supposed to look like? Someone with a
healthy computer please advise. Shit - I'm going to end up wasting
half a day trying to solve this.

BTW - there's nothing in my startup folder.
SpatialD
Smack-Fu Master, in training
Registered: August 30, 2008
Posts: 2
Posted August 30, 2008 18:33
Dude - something finally went right today (and it didn't take half the
day either). There's another "Personal" key at HKEY_CURRENT_USER
\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell
Folders.

Fix that one and you should be back in business - at least it worked
for me. Good luck.

On 1 nov, 12:06, "devnullius @ gmail" <devnull...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Your problem seems to be more elaborate, according to this post. Check
> all this info yourself.
>

> Copy-paste:http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080705145455AA82aak&r=w...

>
> Undecided Question
> "documents" has disappeared from my Vista start menu right pane.?
>
> The "Customize start menu" routine does not fix it. I have documents,
> "show as link" selected. Documents also is gone from the "computer
> name" folder. I can open it from the start menu left pane. Any
> suggestions?
> 1 year ago (Tiebreaker)
>

> Lastly, a VERY interesting post here:http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/99609816/m/9280043...