Directories not visible in Win 7

[Steve Hayes]

When I got a laptop that had Windows 7 installed, I created a couple of
directories that were the same as those on my desktop computer, for the
purpose of copying certain documents and data files back and forth using a USB
flash drive.

On my desktop computer this particular directory is mapped to the "My
Documents" folder (probably better to say the other way round).

When, however, I look for this directory in Windows Explorer in Win 7, it does
not find it. If I want to find a file there, I have to type in the full path
and file name.

How can I get Win 7 to show this directory in Windows Explorer?

 

[Char Jackson]

When I got a laptop that had Windows 7 installed, I created a couple of
directories that were the same as those on my desktop computer, for the
purpose of copying certain documents and data files back and forth using a USB
flash drive.

What are the complete paths and names of the directories you created
on the Win 7 system? Did you inadvertently use a Junction Point within
the path? What is the complete path and name of the directory on the
desktop system?

Rather than using sneakernet with a USB flash drive, would it be an
option to simply network the two computers? Most people find that
arrangement much more convenient than running back and forth with a
flash drive, but it may not suit your particular situation.

On my desktop computer this particular directory is mapped to the "My
Documents" folder (probably better to say the other way round).

Say it the way in which the description is most accurate. Otherwise,
we may not know what you mean. In this case, Win 7 doesn't quite use
the "My Documents" label in the same way, which is why the complete
paths are so important for us to know.

When, however, I look for this directory in Windows Explorer in Win 7, it does
not find it. If I want to find a file there, I have to type in the full path
and file name.

What is the path and filename you have to type in? That will help us
understand what you're trying to do.

How can I get Win 7 to show this directory in Windows Explorer?

Hard to say without knowing where you put your new directory. It might
even help to know what you called it, in case it has any special
characters in its name. From the very limited info you provided, it
seems like a Junction Point might be tripping you up, but it's hard to
say.

 

[Jeff Layman]

When I got a laptop that had Windows 7 installed, I created a couple of
directories that were the same as those on my desktop computer, for the
purpose of copying certain documents and data files back and forth using a USB
flash drive.

On my desktop computer this particular directory is mapped to the "My
Documents" folder (probably better to say the other way round).

When, however, I look for this directory in Windows Explorer in Win 7, it does
not find it. If I want to find a file there, I have to type in the full path
and file name.

How can I get Win 7 to show this directory in Windows Explorer?

The first thing I would do is download another file manager and see if
your folders show up without all tate kerfuffle with WE.

 

[Jeff Layman]

When I got a laptop that had Windows 7 installed, I created a couple of
directories that were the same as those on my desktop computer, for the
purpose of copying certain documents and data files back and forth using a USB
flash drive.

On my desktop computer this particular directory is mapped to the "My
Documents" folder (probably better to say the other way round).

When, however, I look for this directory in Windows Explorer in Win 7, it does
not find it. If I want to find a file there, I have to type in the full path
and file name.

How can I get Win 7 to show this directory in Windows Explorer?

The first thing I would do is download another file manager and see if
your folders show up without all that kerfuffle with WE.

 

[John Ferrell]

Been there, done that.
What Windows Explorer shows you is not always true. What you think you
did with it may not be true.

If you figure it out, let us all in on the secret. There are a lot of
users accustomed to a display that sticks to the facts and Win Exp
don't. Search the group and then the outside world for "classic" to
start with.

BTW, win exp has a pretty fast search function in the upper right hand
corner that I think should find the file or folder that you just made
if you apply it to the driive. Sometimes it works.

John Ferrell

When I got a laptop that had Windows 7 installed, I created a couple of
directories that were the same as those on my desktop computer, for the
purpose of copying certain documents and data files back and forth using a USB
flash drive.

On my desktop computer this particular directory is mapped to the "My
Documents" folder (probably better to say the other way round).

When, however, I look for this directory in Windows Explorer in Win 7, it does
not find it. If I want to find a file there, I have to type in the full path
and file name.

How can I get Win 7 to show this directory in Windows Explorer?

John Ferrell W8CCW

 

[Steve Hayes]

What are the complete paths and names of the directories you created
on the Win 7 system? Did you inadvertently use a Junction Point within
the path? What is the complete path and name of the directory on the
desktop system?

It is C:\Stevedoc

On the desktop computer (running XP) it is G:\stevedoc and the "My Documents"
folder is mapped to it.

Rather than using sneakernet with a USB flash drive, would it be an
option to simply network the two computers? Most people find that
arrangement much more convenient than running back and forth with a
flash drive, but it may not suit your particular situation.

There are times when the laptop computer is out of range of the wireless
network, so it could not always access the files if they were kept on the
desktop computer. And there are times when nit is switched off and put away,
so it would not always be possible for the desktop computer to access files
kept on the laptop computer. So I finmd it more convenient to keep frequently
used data files on both, and to copy the changed files using the flash drive
-- actually two flash drives which I use in alternate weeks, so there are
additional backup copies.

Say it the way in which the description is most accurate. Otherwise,
we may not know what you mean. In this case, Win 7 doesn't quite use
the "My Documents" label in the same way, which is why the complete
paths are so important for us to know.

On the XP machine the My Documents folder is mapped to the G:\Stevedoc
directory.

 

[Steve Hayes]

Been there, done that.
What Windows Explorer shows you is not always true. What you think you
did with it may not be true.

If you figure it out, let us all in on the secret. There are a lot of
users accustomed to a display that sticks to the facts and Win Exp
don't. Search the group and then the outside world for "classic" to
start with.

I'm not even sure if it is Windows Explorer.


One of the programs I use makes backups of its data files in certain
circumstances, and it either asks for a place to store the backups, or
displays the last backup that was made. I generally keep backups in the
C:\backup directory.

When I want to change to another datafile, I click on the File menu, and it
shows a list of four recently-used files. If the file I want to use is not in
the list, I click on the "Open" option. That says there are no data files of
that type, because it is displaying the backup directory.

So I then click on the "+" next to the C: to display the directories, and the
directory I want, the C:\Stevedoc one, with the data files in it, is not
shown.

But if I type the full path in the opening for the file name, I can find the
file.

My question is why it doesn't display -- it seems that Windows 7 likes to hide
the location of files to make them difficult to find.

 

[Char Jackson]

I'm not even sure if it is Windows Explorer.

Of course it's not Windows Explorer. It's the unspecified program that
you hint at in the next paragraph. For some reason, you'd like to keep
its name a secret, but I'm sure you have your reasons.

One of the programs I use makes backups of its data files in certain
circumstances, and it either asks for a place to store the backups, or
displays the last backup that was made. I generally keep backups in the
C:\backup directory.

When I want to change to another datafile, I click on the File menu, and it
shows a list of four recently-used files. If the file I want to use is not in
the list, I click on the "Open" option. That says there are no data files of
that type, because it is displaying the backup directory.

So I then click on the "+" next to the C: to display the directories, and the
directory I want, the C:\Stevedoc one, with the data files in it, is not
shown.

But if I type the full path in the opening for the file name, I can find the
file.

My question is why it doesn't display -- it seems that Windows 7 likes to hide
the location of files to make them difficult to find.

From what I can tell, the problem you're describing has absolutely
nothing to do with Windows 7. Prove it to yourself by launching
Windows Explorer and navigating to your folder. I suspect you'll have
no trouble finding your folder. Then take a look at the secret program
you're using. I expect the problem lies there.

 

[Paul]

It is C:\Stevedoc

In Windows 7, you can't make directories under the root. Stevedoc is now
right under C:, at the root level.

I think what happens, is somewhere under the "Users" tree, your Stevedoc
will be stored. Windows 7, to support a certain degree of backward compatibility,
allows you to "think" you just wrote to the root of the drive, but then the
folder is actually stored somewhere else. Then, not all tools necessary work
properly, to represent this subterfuge. The "Program Files" folder may receive
a similar kind of protection. These features were introduced, to beef up security.
The implication was, certain kinds of security breaches came from allowing
access to the root of the drive.

OK, found the technical term in this posting:

"After some digging around, it seems that the files are then stored (moved)
to a folder called VirtualStore located in C:\users\*username*\AppData\Local\"

So you want to research how VirtualStore works and where it is used by W7.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Account_Control

"UAC attempts to alleviate this using File and Registry Virtualization, which
redirects writes (and subsequent reads) to a per-user location within the
user’s profile. For example, if an application attempts to write to
“C:\program files\appname\settings.ini” and the user doesn’t have permissions
to write to that directory, the write will get redirected to
“C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\appname\settings.ini”.
"

It's when all the software on the computer, doesn't understand that, that you have
to "look in two places" for your files.

And this posting, is the height of comedy. W7 manages to create a "D:\VirtualStore",
which is right under the root of the drive You can't make this stuff up.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...ive-root/9055c72d-dcff-4703-980b-caf8108101ab

Have fun,
Paul

 

[Steve Hayes]

In Windows 7, you can't make directories under the root. Stevedoc is now
right under C:, at the root level.

I think what happens, is somewhere under the "Users" tree, your Stevedoc
will be stored. Windows 7, to support a certain degree of backward compatibility,
allows you to "think" you just wrote to the root of the drive, but then the
folder is actually stored somewhere else. Then, not all tools necessary work
properly, to represent this subterfuge. The "Program Files" folder may receive
a similar kind of protection. These features were introduced, to beef up security.
The implication was, certain kinds of security breaches came from allowing
access to the root of the drive.

Interesting, since the batch files I use to copy the files to the USB drive
and back, also seem to find this directory where I think it is.

This is the relevant secton from my dsktop computer (XP) where I'm writing
this, but it's the same for the laptop except that g:\stevedoc is c:\stevedoc

cd \Archives
arj u -r FHSTrans e:\family
arj u -r Inmagic e:\Inmagic
arj u -r Textfile g:\Textfile
arj u -r AskSam e:\asksam
arj u -r rdfFiles e:\paf\rdfdata\*.doc
arj u -r rdfFiles e:\paf\rdfdata\*.dat
arj u -r askSam4 g:\stevedoc\*.ask
arj u -r jotnote g:\stevedoc\*.jot
arj u -r PAF4file g:\stevedoc\*.paf
arj u -r htmldocs e:\html\*.htm
arj u -r htmldocs e:\html\*.jpg
arj u -r htmldocs e:\html\*.gif
arj d Inmagic *.tmp
arj d Textfile *.tmp
bac *.arj j:

(J: is the USB flash drive)

bac.com is an old third-party MS DOS utility (dating from 1984) which compares
files on source and destination, and only copies changed files. Since it knows
nothing about long file names, I try to keep my frequently-used data files in
an 8.3 filename format. I find it odd that after more than 25 years Microsoft
still hasn't provided a similar utility, perhaps updated to handle long
filenames.

OK, found the technical term in this posting:

"After some digging around, it seems that the files are then stored (moved)
to a folder called VirtualStore located in C:\users\*username*\AppData\Local\"

So you want to research how VirtualStore works and where it is used by W7.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Account_Control

"UAC attempts to alleviate this using File and Registry Virtualization, which
redirects writes (and subsequent reads) to a per-user location within the
user’s profile. For example, if an application attempts to write to
“C:\program files\appname\settings.ini” and the user doesn’t have permissions
to write to that directory, the write will get redirected to
“C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\appname\settings.ini”.
"

It's when all the software on the computer, doesn't understand that, that you have
to "look in two places" for your files.

And it wastes a huge amount of time when trying to find where Windows has put
stuff, in order to copy it or back it up.

 

[Char Jackson]

In Windows 7, you can't make directories under the root. Stevedoc is now
right under C:, at the root level.

Is that a UAC restriction? I have UAC disabled and I'm not seeing the
behavior you're talking about.

OK, found the technical term in this posting:

"After some digging around, it seems that the files are then stored (moved)
to a folder called VirtualStore located in C:\users\*username*\AppData\Local\"

So you want to research how VirtualStore works and where it is used by W7.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Account_Control

"UAC attempts to alleviate this using File and Registry Virtualization, which
redirects writes (and subsequent reads) to a per-user location within the
user’s profile. For example, if an application attempts to write to
“C:\program files\appname\settings.ini” and the user doesn’t have permissions
to write to that directory, the write will get redirected to
“C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\appname\settings.ini”.

Hmm, I didn't see anything about not being able to create folders in
the root of a drive in that Wikipedia article, but perhaps I skimmed
too quickly.

 

[Ken Blake]

In Windows 7, you can't make directories under the root.

You certainly can. No problem at all (and answering Char's question,
you can do so whether or not UAC is disabled).

 

[Char Jackson]

You certainly can. No problem at all (and answering Char's question,
you can do so whether or not UAC is disabled).

Thank you, Ken.

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Char.

It gets confusing. We cannot store a FILE in the root - unless we furnish
Administrator credentials. But any user can create a FOLDER in the root,
and then store files in our new folder.

The root (of any volume) is a protected area, just like the Program Files
folders. An Administrator can insist on storing files there, but "Access is
denied" to "mere mortals".

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2011 (Build 15.4.3538.0513) in Win7 Ultimate x64 SP1


"Char Jackson" wrote in message

You certainly can. No problem at all (and answering Char's question,
you can do so whether or not UAC is disabled).

Thank you, Ken.

 

[Char Jackson]

Hi, Char.

It gets confusing. We cannot store a FILE in the root - unless we furnish
Administrator credentials. But any user can create a FOLDER in the root,
and then store files in our new folder.

The root (of any volume) is a protected area, just like the Program Files
folders. An Administrator can insist on storing files there, but "Access is
denied" to "mere mortals".

Thanks, RC. I never run as a Standard User so I hadn't experienced
that behavior before. Thanks for the info.

 

[John Ferrell]

I may have found my source of confusion with Win7 explorer. There is a
new item called "library" at the top of the screen .Don't get involved
with it until you have the time study it carefully. It is not part of
the directory, it is a separate index display. Everything that appears
here is also displayed somewhere else! It is actually very handy but
you need to be very careful or you can delete or otherwise corrupt
data anywhere you can reach.
I have several folders that I access frequently that are several
folders deep. By adding them to the Library it appears to be just a
click away. Some of them are on other machines! Rather than keep
redundant copies on the other PC and hope to keep them in sync, I can
just use the Library reference. Having One working copy and one backup
copy simplifies things for me. OTH, if security is a serious issue at
your location, You might find it neccessary to defeat the Library
function altogether.

Until you figure it out and consider the consequences I suggest you
simply avoid it!

Been there, done that.
What Windows Explorer shows you is not always true. What you think you
did with it may not be true.

If you figure it out, let us all in on the secret. There are a lot of
users accustomed to a display that sticks to the facts and Win Exp
don't. Search the group and then the outside world for "classic" to
start with.

BTW, win exp has a pretty fast search function in the upper right hand
corner that I think should find the file or folder that you just made
if you apply it to the driive. Sometimes it works.

John Ferrell


John Ferrell W8CCW

John Ferrell W8CCW

 

[Steve Hayes]

I may have found my source of confusion with Win7 explorer. There is a
new item called "library" at the top of the screen .Don't get involved
with it until you have the time study it carefully. It is not part of
the directory, it is a separate index display. Everything that appears
here is also displayed somewhere else! It is actually very handy but
you need to be very careful or you can delete or otherwise corrupt
data anywhere you can reach.
I have several folders that I access frequently that are several
folders deep. By adding them to the Library it appears to be just a
click away. Some of them are on other machines! Rather than keep
redundant copies on the other PC and hope to keep them in sync, I can
just use the Library reference. Having One working copy and one backup
copy simplifies things for me. OTH, if security is a serious issue at
your location, You might find it neccessary to defeat the Library
function altogether.

Until you figure it out and consider the consequences I suggest you
simply avoid it!

The Libraries are convenient for being able to find files to open them,
sometimes. They are not particularly useful for programs that don't know about
Libraries.

But they are not convenient if you want to copy a file or back it up. To do
that you need to know the actual location of the file.

 

[...winston]

"John Ferrell" wrote in message

I may have found my source of confusion with Win7 explorer. There is a
new item called "library" at the top of the screen .Don't get involved
with it until you have the time study it carefully. It is not part of
the directory, it is a separate index display. Everything that appears
here is also displayed somewhere else! It is actually very handy but
you need to be very careful or you can delete or otherwise corrupt
data anywhere you can reach.
I have several folders that I access frequently that are several
folders deep. By adding them to the Library it appears to be just a
click away. Some of them are on other machines! Rather than keep
redundant copies on the other PC and hope to keep them in sync, I can
just use the Library reference. Having One working copy and one backup
copy simplifies things for me. OTH, if security is a serious issue at
your location, You might find it neccessary to defeat the Library
function altogether.

Until you figure it out and consider the consequences I suggest you
simply avoid it!
It is a good idea to spend some time learning the purpose and usefulness of
libraries.

<qp>
With Windows 7, the concept of Libraries tries to address the problem of
users storing content all over their PC by allowing them to have full
control over their Documents Library folder structure. In other words, in
Windows 7 users can define which folders to include in the Documents
Library. Actually, this is true for any Library in Windows 7. We can say
that Libraries are user-defined collections of folders that are logical
representations of user content. By including folders in Libraries, the
user is telling Windows where his or her important data is located. The
system will index these folders, enabling faster searching and much richer
viewing arrangement capabilities in Windows Explorer based on the file
properties and metadata
</qp>

i.e. what appears in a library is located somewhere else. As another poster
mentioned, if backing up data, one needs to know the actual location of
that data.

More info:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ee431715


-- --
....winston
msft mvp mail

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I may have found my source of confusion with Win7 explorer. There is a
new item called "library" at the top of the screen .Don't get involved
with it until you have the time study it carefully. It is not part of
the directory, it is a separate index display. Everything that appears
here is also displayed somewhere else! It is actually very handy but
you need to be very careful or you can delete or otherwise corrupt
data anywhere you can reach.
I have several folders that I access frequently that are several
folders deep. By adding them to the Library it appears to be just a
click away. Some of them are on other machines! Rather than keep
redundant copies on the other PC and hope to keep them in sync, I can
just use the Library reference. Having One working copy and one backup
copy simplifies things for me. OTH, if security is a serious issue at
your location, You might find it neccessary to defeat the Library
function altogether.

Until you figure it out and consider the consequences I suggest you
simply avoid it!

Amen to that!

I have found that, for example, it is *easy* to delete an entire folder
while thinking you are deleting a single file in a different folder.

It's not that I'm a novice (quite the contrary), it's that the display
of files in the Library is very misleading and so requires excessive
attention...

Of course, I could just learn how to use it (radical thought!), but that
need for extreme attention would continue to make me nervous.

My current workaround is to just avoid using the Library. I have links
to a couple of procedures to disable the Library completely, but I
haven't done it - yet.

I did recently follow an online hint to remove the Library from the
Explorer's display, but I restored it when I found that the Library
continued to show up in file open and save dialogs, thereby diluting the
value of what I did.

In the last couple of weeks, I've been toying (again) with the idea of
just disabling the thing.

Grumble grumble

 

[Bob I]

Before "deleting" items, r-click on it and select "open file/folder
location" that way you will be in the actual location you want to work with.