Where are library contents stored?

[Char Jackson]

Believe what you like, but it's just not true. Like many things, if
they're used for what they were intended, libraries can be handy. To
the unitiated or those who gave up without really trying something new,
shame on you for name calling (Ken, you were only one of several in this
thread). I've been much more than a casual user of a windows computer
for about 20 years & know my way around the operating & file system very
well. I am neither disorganized nor ignorant; but, because I'm a
libraries' user, you've automatically labelled me as such. If you've
sincerely invested time in trying them & don't like them, fine, but
you're making a gigantic leap when you call those who do disorganized &
ignorant. Could I do without them? Sure, but they're available & I can
use them to my advantage & I'll continue to do so, regardless of the
names you & others come up with.

Well said.

 

[choro]

Well said.

I don't like the time delay before things register in the libraries.
Waste of time! --
choro
*****

 

[Steve Hayes]

Windows will automatically update the library contents.

Thanks. That's good to know.

 

[Ken Springer]

Just a followup post...

In a couple of my posts in different subthreads, I made a reference to
an experiment in trying to make the Library part of Win 7 operate as I
wished them to, not the way MS has created them to work in a default
mode. The usually way libraries operate is not what I'm looking for.

I have found a workaround, and can make Win 7 libraries
operate/perform/give me the results I want.

The workaround is off topic for my original post, so I will not be
explaining it here. If anyone is interested in a complete (well,
hopefully complete LOL) explanation, please start a new thread and I
will post the workaround.

I still need to read Paul's posts slowly and hopefully absorb what he
wrote, then see what I can do with that information to see if there's a
way to relocate that information from the boot partition to a data
partition.

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.8.2
Firefox 19.0
Thunderbird 17.0.3
LibreOffice 3.6.5.2

 

[Paul]

Just a followup post...

In a couple of my posts in different subthreads, I made a reference to
an experiment in trying to make the Library part of Win 7 operate as I
wished them to, not the way MS has created them to work in a default
mode. The usually way libraries operate is not what I'm looking for.

I have found a workaround, and can make Win 7 libraries
operate/perform/give me the results I want.

The workaround is off topic for my original post, so I will not be
explaining it here. If anyone is interested in a complete (well,
hopefully complete LOL) explanation, please start a new thread and I
will post the workaround.

I still need to read Paul's posts slowly and hopefully absorb what he
wrote, then see what I can do with that information to see if there's a
way to relocate that information from the boot partition to a data
partition.

The way I see it, you move the constituent folders to the other
partitions, and then just add them to the library.

Music Library
E:\some_music
F:\some_more_music

Then, make sure to back up the partitions, that actually contains
the files.

The library is just a "view" of a list of folders. And the
view is controlled by the .library-ms file stored on C:\.
Of which I could find five instances on my install.

You may have difficulty finding the .library-ms files via Windows,
which is why I just booted Linux and found them.
I like doing stuff like that (weird).

When you back up C:\, you'll be backing up those .library-ms files.
That keeps your "list of folders" secure. But the actual data
is stored on the other partitions. And now you need to back up
those partitions, to keep the actual data safe.

You can always rebuild the "list of folders", if for example,
you needed to clean install the OS at some future date.
Since the .library-ms file is dynamic, and the user can be
messing with it all the time, there's no point taking a
snapshot now, because it could be useless a year from now.
But if the user backs up C:\ regularly, then you'll have
more recent copies of .library-ms type files stored in
those backups.

In my example, at least make sure the user backs up E:\ and F:\.
You can sort the rest of it out later, if there is a disaster.
Fixing the library list, won't be that bad. Fixing missing
data, is a lot harder.

Paul

 

[Ken Springer]

The way I see it, you move the constituent folders to the other
partitions, and then just add them to the library.

Music Library
E:\some_music
F:\some_more_music

Then, make sure to back up the partitions, that actually contains
the files.

If the folders are found in your personal folder, the one that opens
when you click on your name in the Start Menu, when you relocate those
folders to a different partition, the associated library is
automatically updated.

The library is just a "view" of a list of folders. And the
view is controlled by the .library-ms file stored on C:\.
Of which I could find five instances on my install.

My virtual machine install, which is the only one I have at the moment,
only created 4 default libraries, documents, music, pictures, and videos.

You may have difficulty finding the .library-ms files via Windows,
which is why I just booted Linux and found them.
I like doing stuff like that (weird).

Weird fits me too. Unlike most computer users I come across, I seem to
always want things to work differently than what the manufacturer has
set up. It's always been this way.

When you back up C:\, you'll be backing up those .library-ms files.
That keeps your "list of folders" secure. But the actual data
is stored on the other partitions. And now you need to back up
those partitions, to keep the actual data safe.

Ayup. And as long as you just deal with the default libraries,
that's not much of an issue.

But I cannot guarantee my friend will back things up that regularly. So
I'd rather have the list stored on the same partition as the folders
contained in my friend's personal folder.

You can always rebuild the "list of folders", if for example,
you needed to clean install the OS at some future date.
Since the .library-ms file is dynamic, and the user can be
messing with it all the time, there's no point taking a
snapshot now, because it could be useless a year from now.
But if the user backs up C:\ regularly, then you'll have
more recent copies of .library-ms type files stored in
those backups.

In the case of using just the default libraries, plus maybe one or two
user created ones, that's true. Then again, those lists could become
quite lengthy.

To get the libraries to do what I'd like, they could be very long lists
to rebuild manually if a backup is not available.

In my example, at least make sure the user backs up E:\ and F:\.
You can sort the rest of it out later, if there is a disaster.
Fixing the library list, won't be that bad. Fixing missing
data, is a lot harder.

We've already done a system image, and my friend doesn't have any
libraries other than the default.


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.8.2
Firefox 19.0
Thunderbird 17.0.3
LibreOffice 3.6.5.2

 

[Ken Springer]

I have a Windows 7 in a VM right now, and I booted Linux in there, to list
all the files (so "hidden" would not be a problem).

The library files are not hidden for me in my VM.

Each library is controlled by a *.library-ms file.

That's how it keeps track of the folders. These are the five files
I was able to find (Win7 SP1).

/Users/username/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Windows/Libraries/
Documents.library-ms
Music.library-ms
Pictures.library-ms
Videos.library-ms
/Users/Public/Libraries/
RecordedTV.library-ms

Those files appear to be hidden while I'm in Windows 7 (at
least in Explorer).

Yes and no for me, apparently.

In Explorer, when I navigate the HD structure, the address bar displays
a folder icon followed by > Computer > Local Disk (C > Users >
Username > AppData > Roaming > Microsoft > Windows > Libraries >, the
list of libraries is displayed. The greater than sign represents the
twisty/triangle that is displayed in the address bar.

No matter what I'm able to choose for view from the pop-ups available,
or the Hide known extensions option in the View tab of Folder and Search
Options, .library-ms is not displayed. Clicking on a library, such as
Documents, opens the normal library view in Explorer with all the
library view options available. And Documents > is added to the address
bar.

But, if I click in the address bar so I can manually type a path, I see
the full path name:

C:\Users\Ken\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries\Documents.library-ms

I need to do some more experimenting with libraries, but it's going to
wait until I finish building a real Win 7 computer. LOL That project
is on hold for replacing the motherboard that was DOS.

I added a couple folders to my "Music" library. The added folders
were on my D: and E: partitions.

If I look in the file "Music.library-ms" (which is an XML text file),

<url>E:\first</url>
...
<url>F:\second</url>

So the two folders I added to Music library, on partitions other
than C:, are now part of the library.

Included in the XML file, is a reference to "@shell32.dll,-34588",
and on the older OSes, that's what causes custom views of things
to be created. So that's the call that checks the XML file, and
decides what to show as "being in that library". Since the libraries
can have different media types, the "-34588" number would be
different for each .library-ms file. That's so music files could
be treated different than video files, when their folder
is being displayed.

A library has a default storage location, and that can be
set to any of the constituent folders (including the
system default before you start adding folders to it).

*******

There's an example of setting the Library here.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com...n/thread/1752b73f-256f-4030-a6b4-75c2b434c1d4

This is far more technical an approach than I want to get into. I like
the KISS principle! LOL



<snip>


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.8.2
Firefox 19.0
Thunderbird 17.0.3
LibreOffice 3.6.5.2