"Files stored on this computer" problem

Windows XP Home SP2 - There are four users set up to use this machine and
when clicking on My Computer from any of the logged on ids only three of the
users document folders are now showing under the Files stored on this
computer heading. The fourth has recently disappeared from the list. The
references in the list all point to C:\Documents and Settings\UserN\UserN's
Documents.

If the fourth named users logs on using their own id then all their folders
and files are available to them.

I would welcome ideas on what caused the fourth user to disappear from the
My Computer list and how I can put them back on.

Graham.

graham wrote:

Windows XP Home SP2 - There are four users set up to use this machine and
when clicking on My Computer from any of the logged on ids only three of
the users document folders are now showing under the Files stored on this
computer heading. The fourth has recently disappeared from the list. The
references in the list all point to C:\Documents and
Settings\UserN\UserN's Documents.

If the fourth named users logs on using their own id then all their
folders and files are available to them.

I would welcome ideas on what caused the fourth user to disappear from the
My Computer list and how I can put them back on.

Possibly the fourth user made their files private.

http://tinyurl.com/48x4w - MS website on How To Make Folders Private
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/bo...ips/040402.asp -
How to make My Documents Private in XP Home
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/undoprivate.htm - Ramesh - How to undo "Make this
folder private" option"

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

"Malke" wrote in message
...
graham wrote:

Windows XP Home SP2 - There are four users set up to use this machine and
when clicking on My Computer from any of the logged on ids only three of
the users document folders are now showing under the Files stored on this
computer heading. The fourth has recently disappeared from the list. The
references in the list all point to C:\Documents and
Settings\UserN\UserN's Documents.

If the fourth named users logs on using their own id then all their
folders and files are available to them.

I would welcome ideas on what caused the fourth user to disappear from
the
My Computer list and how I can put them back on.

Possibly the fourth user made their files private.

http://tinyurl.com/48x4w - MS website on How To Make Folders Private
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/bo...ips/040402.asp
-
How to make My Documents Private in XP Home
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/undoprivate.htm - Ramesh - How to undo "Make
this
folder private" option"

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

Malke thanks for the quick reply but unfortunately privacy does not appear
to be the reason. The files belong to one of my daughters and she swears she
has not changed a thing and from all the checks I have just done I can see
nothing out of the ordinary. None of her folders or files have the privacy
box checked. I can access all of her files if I click on the C drive icon on
the My Computer screen from my logon id and then go via the C:\Documents
and Settings\Her Name\Her Documents route to her folder that used to appear
on the My Computer screen.

Graham.

graham wrote:
Malke thanks for the quick reply but unfortunately privacy does not appear
to be the reason. The files belong to one of my daughters and she swears
she has not changed a thing and from all the checks I have just done I can
see nothing out of the ordinary. None of her folders or files have the
privacy box checked. I can access all of her files if I click on the C
drive icon on
the My Computer screen from my logon id and then go via the C:\Documents
and Settings\Her Name\Her Documents route to her folder that used to
appear on the My Computer screen.

Since the files are there, try this fix:

=====
Restore the My Documents folder to My PC
http://www.tweakxp.com/article36827.aspx

When you open the My Computer screen and your Documents folder is missing
but all the other users folders are there, try this tweak.

STEP 1:

START RUN REGEDIT
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / Software / Microsoft / Windows / Current Version /
Explorer / DocFolderPaths

Once you click the DocFolderPaths folder you should see all the user's
folders.

STEP 2:

Add a new string value
Value Name: your user name
Value Data: the path to your docs folder ( ex. C:\Documents and
Settings\your docs folder )

Exit Registry editor and open My Computer, your My Documents folder should
now be visable.
=====

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

"Malke" wrote in message
...
graham wrote:
Restore the My Documents folder to My PC
http://www.tweakxp.com/article36827.aspx

When you open the My Computer screen and your Documents folder is missing
but all the other users folders are there, try this tweak.

STEP 1:

START RUN REGEDIT
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / Software / Microsoft / Windows / Current Version /
Explorer / DocFolderPaths

Once you click the DocFolderPaths folder you should see all the user's
folders.

STEP 2:

Add a new string value
Value Name: your user name
Value Data: the path to your docs folder ( ex. C:\Documents and
Settings\your docs folder )

Exit Registry editor and open My Computer, your My Documents folder should
now be visable.
=====

Malke

Thanks once again. This time success!!!!

On opening the registry key above I noticed immediately that it only
contained three of the four user ids so I created a fourth to match the
other three and that did indeed resolve the problem.

The only question remaining is what could have deleted the registry entry in
the first place to cause the problem???

Graham.

graham wrote:

Thanks once again. This time success!!!!

On opening the registry key above I noticed immediately that it only
contained three of the four user ids so I created a fourth to match the
other three and that did indeed resolve the problem.

The only question remaining is what could have deleted the registry entry
in the first place to cause the problem???

I'm glad to hear that worked. I honestly don't know why it happened. Do the
normal t-shooting of scanning for malware (just normal scans, unless
something is found no need to get crazy with this), routine maintenance,
and just for fun - hard drive test. For the latter, use the quick test and
if it passes, don't bother with the thorough one.

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...moving_Malware
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...ml#Maintenance
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...ardware_Tshoot

You're doing the above just to know your base installation is healthy.

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

"Malke" wrote in message
...
graham wrote:

Thanks once again. This time success!!!!

On opening the registry key above I noticed immediately that it only
contained three of the four user ids so I created a fourth to match the
other three and that did indeed resolve the problem.

The only question remaining is what could have deleted the registry entry
in the first place to cause the problem???

I'm glad to hear that worked. I honestly don't know why it happened. Do
the
normal t-shooting of scanning for malware (just normal scans, unless
something is found no need to get crazy with this), routine maintenance,
and just for fun - hard drive test. For the latter, use the quick test and
if it passes, don't bother with the thorough one.

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...moving_Malware
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...ml#Maintenance
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...ardware_Tshoot

You're doing the above just to know your base installation is healthy.

Malke

I do all the stuff you recommend above as a matter of course and was as
confident as I could be ( one can never be 100% confident) that my base
installation was healthy. After fixing the problem directly from what you
wrote in your e-mail I followed up the link you provided and that seemed to
imply this was a known bug with XP to quote "This is a strange bug in
Windows XP Pro but it can and does happen to everyone" Given that I will
forget about it now unless it happens again.

Thanks once again for your help.

Graham.

graham wrote:


I do all the stuff you recommend above as a matter of course and was as
confident as I could be ( one can never be 100% confident) that my base
installation was healthy. After fixing the problem directly from what you
wrote in your e-mail I followed up the link you provided and that seemed
to imply this was a known bug with XP to quote "This is a strange bug in
Windows XP Pro but it can and does happen to everyone" Given that I will
forget about it now unless it happens again.

Actually, in the 7 years since XP came out, I've never seen this "bug" on
any of my numerous XP boxen or on any of the many clients' machines that
have passed through my shop. So I disagree that "it can and does happen to
everyone". However, based on what you've written you can put it down to
just a glitch. Enjoy your Sunday and don't worry about it any more. :-)

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

"Malke" wrote in message
...
graham wrote:


I do all the stuff you recommend above as a matter of course and was as
confident as I could be ( one can never be 100% confident) that my base
installation was healthy. After fixing the problem directly from what you
wrote in your e-mail I followed up the link you provided and that seemed
to imply this was a known bug with XP to quote "This is a strange bug in
Windows XP Pro but it can and does happen to everyone" Given that I will
forget about it now unless it happens again.

Actually, in the 7 years since XP came out, I've never seen this "bug" on
any of my numerous XP boxen or on any of the many clients' machines that
have passed through my shop. So I disagree that "it can and does happen to
everyone". However, based on what you've written you can put it down to
just a glitch. Enjoy your Sunday and don't worry about it any more. :-)

Malke

Problem solved thanks to you - just cracked the second bottle of red wine
here in the UK - Sunday definitely ending on a good note - cheers - Graham.