# Windows XP - "My Computer" not displaying "My Documents" folder



## Tan DJ (Oct 5, 2006)

I have noticed that for the past few weeks, when I start "My Computer", the "My Documents" folder is not displayed.  "Shared Documents" is there but not "My Documents".

How do I get it back?

(Note: Recently, I converted my normal use account from an Administrative account to a Limited account.  The Administrative account still shows "My Documents" in the "My Computer" view.  Although, I can't remember if there was a link between converting my account and "My Documents" disappearing.)

This isn't a serious problem, because I can still access "My Documents" from other places, it is just annoying.

Cheers,

Tan DJ


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## trog100 (Oct 5, 2006)

i never use it so it wouldnt annoy me.. but if u are used to useing it i can see why it annoys u.. 

i actually went into the shared documents thing and deleted them all.. mine is now actually empty except for a saved games folder.. i wanted a shared folder for network sharing.. i have no use at all for all the "my pictures" and other junk windows thinks u need.. 

but i think somewhere buried deep there will be a setting for what windows displays..

one easy thing to do is create a shortcut to folders u use a lot on your desktop..

find the folder u want in explorer right click and drag to desktop and select create shortcut here..  u can then copy the shortcut to the taskbar or anywhere else u want it..

trog


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## bruins004 (Oct 5, 2006)

It is probably that you dont have the permission to see that shortcut anymore.
That is the only thing I can see.
Try changing your account back to an Admin and it should be back.


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## Alec§taar (Oct 5, 2006)

2 areas to check (to start):

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

(Here, specifically? Check the "Personal" entry on the right-hand side pane of REGEDIT.EXE & see what it has for a pathway here & what folder)

&/or

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



* Check the entries there, those are your User Shell Folders, specifically, the currently logged on user!

Bruins has the right idea for testing too!

I.E.-> See if your other users that can logon to your system cannot see this folder as well (My Documents), because if they can? It may be a GROUP POLICY in place, or something is not right in the areas in the registry I point out, possibly, OR it is just folder level security (once you logon as Administrator, right-click on the My Documents Folder, & use the security tab to see what users can see it, via NTFS security rights allowing users to use it)

APK

P.S.=> If this all doesn't work out & checks out right? We can try other things, but start w/ this stuff... apk


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## Alec§taar (Oct 5, 2006)

Tan DJ said:


> (Note: Recently, I converted my normal use account from an Administrative account to a Limited account.  The Administrative account still shows "My Documents" in the "My Computer" view.  Although, I can't remember if there was a link between converting my account and "My Documents" disappearing.)



Ah, I see you already TESTED this using diff. users... looks like something in Group Policy thusfar then, maybe something can you alter using gpedit.msc (I'd Administrator user to do it, IF it comes to that).

* *ALSO*? Try this (noted above as well in my first post, while logged on as Administrator):

I.E.-> Once you logon as Administrator, right-click on the My Documents Folder, & use the security tab to see what users can see it ( via NTFS security rights allowing users to use it)... adding the specific user you logon as now might do it, & certainly adding EVERYONE usergroup will (lets hope so anyways)...

APK


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## Tan DJ (Oct 6, 2006)

I've just re-checked and none of the user accounts displays a "My Documents" in the "My Computer" view.

But users with administrative rights do see all user accounts in the "My Computer" view, e.g "Admin user's Documents, Limited user1's Documents, Limited user2's Documents, etc"

So now I'm not sure if "My Documents" was ever visible in "My Computer"

I'll change the account back to Administrative and see if it comes back.

Here is the output of cacls:

C:\Documents and Settings>cacls *
C:\Documents and Settings\Limited1 JTBLACKBURN\Limited1:F
                                   NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:F
                                   BUILTIN\Administrators:F
                                   JTBLACKBURN\Limited1OI)(CI)(IO)F
                                   NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEMOI)(CI)(IO)F
                                   BUILTIN\AdministratorsOI)(CI)(IO)F

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:F
                                    BUILTIN\Administrators:F
                                    BUILTIN\Users:R
                                    BUILTIN\Power Usersspecial access
                                                        DELETE
                                                        READ_CONTROL
                                                        SYNCHRONIZE
                                                        FILE_GENERIC_READ
                                                        FILE_GENERIC_WRITE
                                                        FILE_GENERIC_EXECUTE
                                                        FILE_READ_DATA
                                                        FILE_WRITE_DATA
                                                        FILE_APPEND_DATA
                                                        FILE_READ_EA
                                                        FILE_WRITE_EA
                                                        FILE_EXECUTE
                                                        FILE_DELETE_CHILD
                                                        FILE_READ_ATTRIBUTES
                                                        FILE_WRITE_ATTRIBUTES

                                    Everyone:R
                                    NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEMOI)(CI)(IO)F
                                    BUILTIN\AdministratorsOI)(CI)(IO)F
                                    BUILTIN\UsersOI)(CI)(IO)(special access
                                                              GENERIC_READ
                                                              GENERIC_EXECUTE

                                    BUILTIN\Power UsersOI)(CI)(IO)(special acc
ess
                                                                    DELETE
                                                                    READ_CONTROL

                                                                    SYNCHRONIZE
                                                                    FILE_GENERIC
_READ
                                                                    FILE_GENERIC
_WRITE
                                                                    FILE_GENERIC
_EXECUTE
                                                                    FILE_READ_DA
TA
                                                                    FILE_WRITE_D
ATA
                                                                    FILE_APPEND_
DATA
                                                                    FILE_READ_EA

                                                                    FILE_WRITE_E
A
                                                                    FILE_EXECUTE

                                                                    FILE_DELETE_
CHILD
                                                                    FILE_READ_AT
TRIBUTES
                                                                    FILE_WRITE_A
TTRIBUTES

                                    EveryoneOI)(CI)(IO)(special access
                                                         GENERIC_READ
                                                         GENERIC_EXECUTE


C:\Documents and Settings\Blackburn Admin JTBLACKBURN\Blackburn Admin:F
                                          NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:F
                                          BUILTIN\Administrators:F
                                          JTBLACKBURN\Blackburn AdminOI)(CI)(I
O)F
                                          NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEMOI)(CI)(IO)F
                                          BUILTIN\AdministratorsOI)(CI)(IO)F

C:\Documents and Settings\Default User NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:F
                                       BUILTIN\Administrators:F
                                       BUILTIN\Users:R
                                       BUILTIN\Power Users:R
                                       Everyone:R
                                       NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEMOI)(CI)(IO)F
                                       BUILTIN\AdministratorsOI)(CI)(IO)F
                                       BUILTIN\UsersOI)(CI)(IO)(special access

                                                                 GENERIC_READ
                                                                 GENERIC_EXECUTE


                                       BUILTIN\Power UsersOI)(CI)(IO)(special
access
                                                                       GENERIC_R
EAD
                                                                       GENERIC_E
XECUTE

                                       EveryoneOI)(CI)(IO)(special access
                                                            GENERIC_READ
                                                            GENERIC_EXECUTE


C:\Documents and Settings\Limited2 JTBLACKBURN\Limited2:F
                                         NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:F
                                         BUILTIN\Administrators:F
                                         JTBLACKBURN\Limited2OI)(CI)(IO)
F
                                         NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEMOI)(CI)(IO)F
                                         BUILTIN\AdministratorsOI)(CI)(IO)F

C:\Documents and Settings\Limited3 JTBLACKBURN\Limited3:F
                                         NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:F
                                         BUILTIN\Administrators:F
                                         JTBLACKBURN\Limited3OI)(CI)(IO)
F
                                         NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEMOI)(CI)(IO)F
                                         BUILTIN\AdministratorsOI)(CI)(IO)F

C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE:F
                                       NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:F
                                       BUILTIN\Administrators:F
                                       NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICEOI)(CI)(IO)F

                                       NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEMOI)(CI)(IO)F
                                       BUILTIN\AdministratorsOI)(CI)(IO)F

C:\Documents and Settings\NetworkService NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE:F
                                         NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:F
                                         BUILTIN\Administrators:F
                                         NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICEOI)(CI)(I
O)F
                                         NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEMOI)(CI)(IO)F
                                         BUILTIN\AdministratorsOI)(CI)(IO)F

C:\Documents and Settings\ntp JTBLACKBURN\ntp:F
                              NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:F
                              BUILTIN\Administrators:F
                              JTBLACKBURN\ntpOI)(CI)(IO)F
                              NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEMOI)(CI)(IO)F
                              BUILTIN\AdministratorsOI)(CI)(IO)F

C:\Documents and Settings\Limited4 JTBLACKBURN\Limited4:F
                                  NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:F
                                  BUILTIN\Administrators:F
                                  JTBLACKBURN\Limited4OI)(CI)(IO)F
                                  NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEMOI)(CI)(IO)F
                                  BUILTIN\AdministratorsOI)(CI)(IO)F


C:\Documents and Settings>


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## Alec§taar (Oct 6, 2006)

====================================
*3 THINGS TO TRY/LOOK @:*
====================================

*#1. POTENTIALLY RESTRICTIVE GROUP POLICIES:*

*Use GPEdit.msc, & see if this has been made active (restriction of My Documents Access on the desktop, AND EXPLORER.EXE*)

*Left-hand-side pane tree items to follow:*

Local Computer Policy -> User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Desktop

*Right-hand-side pane item to examine for policy is* -> Remove My Documents icon on the desktop

*(Which also removes it in Explorer.exe views, or My Computer, too!)*

*Per MS:*

"Removes most occurrences of the My Documents icon.

*This setting removes the My Documents icon from the desktop, from Windows Explorer, from programs that use the Windows Explorer windows, and from the standard Open dialog box.*

This setting does not prevent the user from using other methods to gain access to the contents of the My Documents folder.

This setting does not remove the My Documents icon from the Start menu. To do so, use the "Remove My Documents icon from Start Menu" setting.

Note: To make changes to this setting effective, you must log off from and log back on to Windows 2000 Professional."

----------------------------------------------

*#2. NTFS RIGHTS TO EACH USERS' My Documents Folders & Paths:*

Which user did you have the problem under... the ones NOT listed here as Administrator group level accounts, correct?

Right click on them in EXPLORER.EXE (My Computer will do, shaved down though it is imo)...

&, as I noted, & add their usergroup (you may need lusrmgr.msc for this to determine which group they belong too) to:

C:\Documents and Settings\(UserName in Question here)

Via the Properties menu popup you will see come up onscreen. Use its SECURITY tab.

FULL rights, for now, for THEM and their UserGroup they belong to & have it carry down thru its subfolder hierarchy too... (quicker than doing cacls commandlines imo!)

----------------------------------------------

*#3. SYSTEMWIDE ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES:*

Lastly, let's compare your Administrator User's %Environment% strings via SET statements (just type SET & press enter + copy it to here) in a DOS prompt, vs. those of your limited users... for the heck of it, thanks, because things in it can possibly "clue us in" to hassles there!

USERPROFILE=C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator
HOMEPATH=\Documents and Settings\Administrator
ALLUSERSPROFILE=C:\Documents and Settings\All Users
APPDATA=C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data
HOMEPATH=\Documents and Settings\Administrator
USERPROFILE=C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator

====================================

For example... more too!

APK

P.S.=> & I would check those registry paths I noted above also... Shell Folders locations! apk


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## Tan DJ (Oct 6, 2006)

Alec§taar said:


> ====================================
> *3 THINGS TO TRY/LOOK @:*
> ====================================
> 
> *#1. POTENTIALLY RESTRICTIVE GROUP POLICIES:*



No policies are active



Alec§taar said:


> *#2. NTFS RIGHTS TO EACH USERS' My Documents Folders & Paths:*
> 
> Which user did you have the problem under... the ones NOT listed here as Administrator group level accounts, correct?



In "My Computer", with "Arange Icons by Type", and "Show in Groups" selected, "My Documents" does not show up in the "Files stored on this computer" section for any user.  For a limited acount, only "Shared Documents" appears, but for an administrative user, there is one Icon for each user's Documents directory.  It may be that when I was using my account as an administrative user, I never noticed it because I was able to select the appropriate user's directory.

"My Documents" does appear in the "Other Places" Section for all users.

(Hmmmm....  I just noticed that if I go "Up" from "My Computer" I can see "My Documents" in the Desktop view. Maybe that is the one I have been expecting to see?)



Alec§taar said:


> *#3. SYSTEMWIDE ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES:*
> 
> Lastly, let's compare your Administrator User's %Environment% strings via SET statements (just type SET & press enter + copy it to here) in a DOS prompt, vs. those of your limited users... for the heck of it, thanks, because things in it can possibly "clue us in" to hassles there!



Admin user environment:
C:\WINDOWS\system32>set
ALLUSERSPROFILE=C:\Documents and Settings\All Users
APPDATA=C:\Documents and Settings\Blackburn Admin\Application Data
CLASSPATH=.;C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\lib\ext\QTJava.zip
CommonProgramFiles=C:\Program Files\Common Files
COMPUTERNAME=JTBLACKBURN
ComSpec=C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe
FP_NO_HOST_CHECK=NO
HOMEDRIVE=C:
HOMEPATH=\Documents and Settings\Blackburn Admin
LOGONSERVER=\\JTBLACKBURN
NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS=1
OS=Windows_NT
Path=C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\Program Files\AT
I Technologies\ATI.ACE\;C:\Program Files\QuickTime\QTSystem\
PATHEXT=.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH
PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE=x86
PROCESSOR_IDENTIFIER=x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 7, GenuineIntel
PROCESSOR_LEVEL=15
PROCESSOR_REVISION=0207
ProgramFiles=C:\Program Files
PROMPT=$P$G
QTJAVA=C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\lib\ext\QTJava.zip
SESSIONNAME=Console
SystemDrive=C:
SystemRoot=C:\WINDOWS
TEMP=C:\DOCUME~1\BLACKB~1\LOCALS~1\Temp
TMP=C:\DOCUME~1\BLACKB~1\LOCALS~1\Temp
tvdumpflags=8
USERDOMAIN=JTBLACKBURN
USERNAME=Blackburn Admin
USERPROFILE=C:\Documents and Settings\Blackburn Admin
windir=C:\WINDOWS

C:\WINDOWS\system32>

Limited User Environment:

C:\Documents and Settings\John and Tracy>set
ALLUSERSPROFILE=C:\Documents and Settings\All Users
APPDATA=C:\Documents and Settings\John and Tracy\Application Data
CLASSPATH=.;C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\lib\ext\QTJava.zip
CommonProgramFiles=C:\Program Files\Common Files
COMPUTERNAME=JTBLACKBURN
ComSpec=C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe
DBCONFIG=C:\Adabas\sql
DBROOT=C:\Adabas
DBWORK=C:\Adabas\sql
FP_NO_HOST_CHECK=NO
HOMEDRIVE=C:
HOMEPATH=\Documents and Settings\John and Tracy
LOGONSERVER=\\JTBLACKBURN
NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS=1
OS=Windows_NT
Path=C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\Program Files\AT
I Technologies\ATI.ACE\;C:\Program Files\QuickTime\QTSystem\;C:\Adabas\bin;C:\Ad
abas\pgm;C:\Program Files\NTP\bin
PATHEXT=.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH
PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE=x86
PROCESSOR_IDENTIFIER=x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 7, GenuineIntel
PROCESSOR_LEVEL=15
PROCESSOR_REVISION=0207
ProgramFiles=C:\Program Files
PROMPT=$P$G
QTJAVA=C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\lib\ext\QTJava.zip
SESSIONNAME=Console
SystemDrive=C:
SystemRoot=C:\WINDOWS
TEMP=C:\DOCUME~1\JOHNAN~1\LOCALS~1\Temp
TMP=C:\DOCUME~1\JOHNAN~1\LOCALS~1\Temp
tvdumpflags=8
USERDOMAIN=JTBLACKBURN
USERNAME=John and Tracy
USERPROFILE=C:\Documents and Settings\John and Tracy
windir=C:\WINDOWS

C:\Documents and Settings\John and Tracy>



Alec§taar said:


> P.S.=> & I would check those registry paths I noted above also... Shell Folders locations! apk



The registry paths are all fine.  I think it's probably me expecting too much from Microsoft.


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