Duplicates in My Documents / My Computer, etc.(?)

Thank you Nepatsfan! ) Adela

"Nepatsfan" wrote in message
...
You might want to start a new thread in this newsgroup asking for input on
how best to back up your My Documents folder. Your second question might
belong in the Outlook Express newsgroup.

Nepatsfan

"Adela" wrote in message
...
Oh wow am I lucky to have you guys explain to me this so clearly that if
I hadn't known thanks to you all, I might've deleted them and caused a
tech tragedy!!! Nepatsfan now I see it very clear, so I'll leave the
dups alone! )

If I may impose on you all, with 2 more questions? (If I should open a
new topic please let me know?):

1. What would be a more efficient way of backing up My Documents into
my flash drive? I tried dragging but not sure whether it was right.
Then someone said to drag only one or a few at a time, but with so many
files and folders it would take probably days to do it. I'd prefer not
to use a software as my computer is old (though still kicking) and it
can't take more memory. This is how I did it:

Opened Windows Explorer. On the 1st column I highlighted "My Documents".
Under "My Computer" I found my flash drive (Kingston). On the 2nd line I
highlighted all of My Documents and dragged them to Kingston... Is this
the right way to do it? Also, while transferring the files it would say:
WYX to WYX... (?)

2. I forgot to add in my duplicates question that My Documents shows
each one of my 4 Outlook Express identities, even though I have them in
their own OE places, plus in the OEQB (OE Quick Backup). I have no clue
how they got there, is it safe to delete these from My Documents?

Thank you all so much again! ) Adela


"Nepatsfan" wrote in message
...
"Adela" wrote in message
...
Hi Nepatsfan and thank you! I did make that little test and was happy
to see that there will be no conflict among the duplicates. That was
neat! I noticed however that when the Test folder appeared on My
Documents from Windows Explorer, it didn't give me a chance to expand
"Adela's Documents" before it appeared...does it matter?

Otherwise everything seems fine. So then it won't matter whether the
folders/files I use come from one or from the other place? Do all
window computers have it this way?

Thanks again so much! )

Hi Adela,

What you're seeing on your computer is normal behavior for Windows
Explorer. Here's an image from Microsoft to demonstrate that point.

http://www.microsoft.com/library/med...rer-window.gif

This computer has multiple user accounts. Each has their own My
Documents folder. Let's say Laura is logged on. If she clicks on My
Documents at the top of the tree in the left hand column it will show
the contents of that folder in the right hand pane. Should she then
click on Laura's Documents under the My Computer branch she'll find the
contents are identical. That's because both entries are pointing to the
same location on the computer's hard drive, probably C:\Documents and
Settings\Laura\My Documents. Any actions that Laura takes in My
Documents will be reflected in Laura's Documents. Keep in mind that she
may need to hit the F5 key to refresh the listing.

If another user, let's say Michael, logs on, the My Documents entry and
the Michael's Documents entry under My Computer will once again point to
the same place, C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\My Documents. Once
again, if Michael creates a new folder or file under My Documents it
will show up under Michael's Documents.

Bottom line, the files aren't being duplicated. What you're seeing is by
design in Windows Explorer.

Nepatsfan

"Nepatsfan" wrote in message
...
"Adela" wrote in message
...
[MS WinXP Home SP2; MS Office XP; OE 6; IE 6; Dell Dimension XPS
T450MHz
Pentium III; 385MB RAM; AVG Free Version 8.0.175 270.8.4/1754; spybot
S&D;
ad-aware2008; cable modem; WordPerfect8; Lexmark Laser printer "Optra
E310";
Windows Media Player.]

Hello, could someone help with this strange Windows behavior?

When opening with Windows Explorer, My Documents folders and files
are
duplicated thus:

I have "My Documents" and a long list of folders and files
in words only at the left side, and also in words only at the right
side .

Then I also have under "My Computer", farther down this list:
"Adela's
Documents", with the same
folders and files in words only at the left side, and with icons at
the
right side. I haven't a clue as to HOW the dups formed. Is it the
Windows system???

Whoever set up my computer, made me TWO lists of
the same... Anyone knows why?

When I open My Documents with my word processor, instead of Windows
Explorer, it
doesn't show My Computer and so there aren't duplicates. Strange...

I wanted to delete the 2nd set of dups, but my fear is that,
unknowingly, I
worked sometimes with one duplicate and sometimes with another and so
they'd
have dfferent contents. How could I check this before deleting?
And...would it be ok to delete them???

I anticipate my thanks to help me clear and fix this weird thing? )
Adela





First off, your files are not being duplicated. My Documents at the
top of the tree and Adela's Documents further down the tree under My
Computer point to the same physical location on your hard drive.
That's just the way Windows Explorer is configured. If you right click
on both entries, My Documents and Adela's Documents, and select
Properties from the menu you should see that they represent the same
folder.

As a test, right click on My Documents and create a new folder named
Test. Now go back to Windows Explorer and expand Adela's Documents.
There should be a new folder named Test. Rename the folder and see if
the change is reflected under My Documents. Delete the folder and see
if it disappears from Adela's Documents.

Good luck

Nepatsfan