How do I unmerge User folder and 'My Pictures' folder merged in error

I had moved 'My Pictures' folder away from C: \Users\username\My Pictures when I first set the computer up and I had it in another partitioned drive (E.

For space reason I wanted to move it back to it's original location above and moved the whole folder across to the C: but instead of having it as a folder in the username folder as it should be I merged it in error with the username folder!

The folder is now named My Pictures and has the path C: \Users\My Pictures\ in the registry. I have (hopefully) attached the properties of the folder which shows that there is no location tab. The network path is shown as \\HOME\Users\username.

How do I clean up the folder back to it's standard user folder detail without the merged detail of My Pictures and I guess the easier part is to create a new My Pictures folder and point the registry to it (as per the detail in the top line).

Please help a newbie!

Cheers

Dan

Have you tried a System Restore back to a date prior to doing what you did? That MAY fix it.

System Restore can be accessed from Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools

Welcome to Seven Forums danhatton1978. I would make sure you have a backups of the images in the folder, just in case. Then have a look here:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18583-user-folders-restore-default-location.html

A Guy

Hi all and thanks for the assistance. 'A GUY' I have now followed the tutorial and have a fully working 'My Pictures' folder thanks for the link.

The situation of me having a merged USER folder is still present as described in my first post. How can I rectify my USER folder so it isn't merged with my old 'My Pictures' folder?

Will I have to delete the user and create a new one? If so please can someone assist me in how I do this whilst keeping all the data and settings from the current USER folder/profile?

Many thanks in advance,

Dan

I have requested more help for you. You could perhaps create a new user and transfer your settings there using Windows Easy Transfer, but perhaps there is an easier way. Also, I am unsure if this would entail transferring your entire user folder, defeating the purpose. A Guy

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/11470-windows-easy-transfer-transfer-computers.html

Please right-click on the Pictures folder and select Properties.
What does it say in the Location tab??

Do the same for the User folder, and the Documents folder
Post back with details!!

Sorry for the delay I've just come back from a much needed holiday.

Having followed the procedures above I have restored the default location of My Pictures. The new 'My Pictures' folder I have created has a location of C:\Users\Dan Hatton\Pictures.

I moved the documents folder when I originally partitioned the drives so that is fine and is E:\Users\Dan Hatton\My documents.

The problematic merged user folder/pictures folder still has no location tab, I have attached the detail of the properties on this folder. The sharing tab shows the network path as being: \\HOME\Users\Dan Hatton.

Thanks

The proper Pictures folder is a special type of folder, with NameSpace properties.

You need to check that the following registry Keys point to the correct folder
HKU\<your userSID)>\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
HKU\<your userSID)>\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

The User Shell Folder has it named as %USERPROFILE%\My Pictures
The Shell Folder has it named as C:\Users\Dan Hatton\My Pictures

Thanks in advance

Hmmm -
In my bare metal machine i get
D:\Pictures for both
In my VM, I get (after moving it to C:\Pictures)
Shell Folders: C:\Pictures
User Shell Folders: %Systemdrive%\Pictures
(after moving it back)
Shell Folders: C:\Users\Noel-VM\My Pictures
User Shell Folders: %USERPROFILE%\My Pictures

So it looks as if yours should be right.

Please run the following commands, and post the results

Hi Noel,

Command one:
C:\Users\Dan Hatton>REG QUERY HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Exp
lorer\FolderDescriptions\{33E28130-4E1E-4676-835A-98395C3BC3BB} /S

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderDesc
riptions\{33E28130-4E1E-4676-835A-98395C3BC3BB}
Name REG_SZ My Pictures
ParsingName REG_SZ ::{59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}\{33E28130-
4E1E-4676-835A-98395C3BC3BB}
Category REG_DWORD 0x4
RelativePath REG_SZ Pictures
Roamable REG_DWORD 0x1
Icon REG_EXPAND_SZ %SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-113
InfoTip REG_EXPAND_SZ @%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-12688
LocalizedName REG_EXPAND_SZ @%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21779
PreCreate REG_DWORD 0x1
Attributes REG_DWORD 0x1

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderDesc
riptions\{33E28130-4E1E-4676-835A-98395C3BC3BB}\PropertyBag
PreferredFolder REG_SZ {A990AE9F-A03B-4e80-94BC-9912D7504104}

Command two:
The system was unable to find the specified registry key or value.

Command three:
C:\Users\Dan Hatton>REG QUERY HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Exp
lorer\FolderDescriptions\{A990AE9F-A03B-4e80-94BC-9912D7504104} /S

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderDesc
riptions\{A990AE9F-A03B-4e80-94BC-9912D7504104}
Name REG_SZ PicturesLibrary
Category REG_DWORD 0x4
ParsingName REG_SZ ::{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}\{A990AE9F-
A03B-4e80-94BC-9912D7504104}
Stream REG_DWORD 0x1
StreamResource REG_EXPAND_SZ %SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-3
StreamResourceType REG_SZ LIBRARY
RelativePath REG_SZ Pictures.library-ms
ParentFolder REG_SZ {1B3EA5DC-B587-4786-B4EF-BD1DC332AEAE}
Icon REG_EXPAND_SZ %SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-1003
InfoTip REG_EXPAND_SZ @%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-12688
LocalizedName REG_EXPAND_SZ @%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-34595
PreCreate REG_DWORD 0x1

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderDesc
riptions\{A990AE9F-A03B-4e80-94BC-9912D7504104}\PropertyBag
FoldersDependentOn REG_SZ {33E28130-4E1E-4676-835A-98395C3BC3BB};{B6EB
FB86-6907-413C-9AF7-4FC2ABF07CC5}

Thanks again

The error there was my fault - I forgot you were in a 32-bit machine.

Everything else looks OK.

Please run the following commands

DIR C:\Users\*pictures. /S
DIR C:\Users\*pictures /al /s

post the results


Here are some instructions to make life easier
1) To open an Elevated Command Prompt Window (the CP window), click on Start, All Programs, Accessories – then right-click on Command Prompt, and select Run as Administrator. Accept the UAC prompt.
2) To run the commands easier, highlight the block of commands, and right-click on the highlight – select Copy. In the CP Window, click on the black/white icon at top left – select Paste. The commands will run but may not complete the last command, so hit the Enter Key once.
3) To copy the results... click on the Black/White icon in the top left, and select Edit... 'Select All', and hit the Enter key - then use Ctrl+V or r-click+Paste to paste it into your response.

Thanks for the instructions, I was struggling a little before

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>DIR C:\Users\*pictures. /S
Volume in drive C is OS
Volume Serial Number is 8498-59BD

Directory of C:\Users\airprint

28/08/2012 18:04 <DIR> Pictures
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft

08/09/2012 09:18 <DIR> User Account Pictures
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\User Account Pictures

14/07/2009 05:52 <DIR> Default Pictures
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of C:\Users\All Users\Skype

12/03/2010 08:32 <DIR> Pictures
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of C:\Users\Dan Hatton

19/09/2012 20:30 <DIR> Pictures
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of C:\Users\DanHatton3

08/09/2012 09:19 <DIR> Pictures
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of C:\Users\Default

14/07/2009 03:04 <DIR> Pictures
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of C:\Users\Public

09/09/2012 09:02 <DIR> Pictures
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Total Files Listed:
0 File(s) 0 bytes
8 Dir(s) 125,189,287,936 bytes free

C:\Windows\system32>DIR C:\Users\*pictures /al /s
Volume in drive C is OS
Volume Serial Number is 8498-59BD

Directory of C:\Users\DanHatton3\Documents

08/09/2012 09:18 <JUNCTION> My Pictures [C:\Users\DanHatton3\Pictures]
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of C:\Users\Default\Documents

14/07/2009 05:53 <JUNCTION> My Pictures [C:\Users\Default\Pictures]
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of C:\Users\Public\Documents

14/07/2009 05:53 <JUNCTION> My Pictures [C:\Users\Public\Pictures]
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Total Files Listed:
0 File(s) 0 bytes
3 Dir(s) 125,189,287,936 bytes free

C:\Windows\system32>

I usually attach that to the first time I ask for CP details - must have fogotten this time, so it's my , not yours

That output confuses me a little - What user profiles are present on the machine?
I would have expected an entry in the second list for every profile present in the first.

From what I can make out, you have the following profiles/Users....

Dan Hatton
DanHatton3

Your earlier response appears to have been from the Dan Hatton profile? while this one appears to be from the DanHatton3 one.


Is this a case of not knowing which profile you've logged in to, perhaps?

There are three profiles: Dan Hatton, Dan Hatton2 and DanHatton3.

Profiles 2 and 3 were only created because before I found this forum I was googling and found the article below and started the process by creating new user profiles but then stopped and posted on here

Fix a corrupted user profile

Profiles 2 and 3 are just sat there doing nothing. I am definitely logged onto the original.

Interestingly (or not) the one time I logged on to another of the profiles it shows the dan hatton user profile as it should be without all this merged 'my pictures' business!

Hi Noel,

Any thoughts on what to do next? Shall I delete dan hatton2 and dan hatton3 profiles and then rerun/repost the commands?

Thanks

Dan

Sorry Dan - must have slipped through my nets

It does sound to me as if it's a profile problem - and that is probably going to be the best way through it.
I found what looks like a good set of instructions from an MS tech the other day about moving data from one profile to another....
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/...c/thread/05b30be5-ae16-4826-9490-a7dc2be99669

Since you may not have access, I'll copy the meat here....
<quote>
....Firstly, please help confirm the information below: 1.The Windows 7 you use is 32-bit or 64-bit? 2.Does one of the profiles you manipulate is Default User Profile? 3.Does the Copy to option gray out? 4.Could you briefly descript what ways did you use?
Based on my research, the following way works in general cases, please give it a try although you might have done it before:
Note: you must have at least three user accounts on the computer to complete these steps, and it is not supported if you use a Copy/Paste method when copying the profile from one profile directory to the target directory.
1.Log on as a user other than the user you want to copy files to or the user that you want to copy files from. 2.Open Windows Explorer, click Organize and select Folder and search options. 3.In the Folder Options window, click the View tab, tick Show hidden files, folders, and drives and clear the Hide protected operating system files check box. Click OK to confirm and exit the window. 4.Locate the C:\Users\Username1 folder which you want to copy files from. 5.Select all of the files and folders in this folder, and click the Edit menu->Copy. If you don’t see the Edit menu, press Alt. 6.Locate the C:\Users\Username2 folder which you want to copy files to, and then click the Edit menu->Paste. 7.Log off, and then log back on as the user to which the files copy.
Additionally, if you want to copy to default user profile, the following article may be helpful: Customize the default local user profile when preparing an image of Windows
</quote>

Other than that, try searching the Tutorials here - I've had a quick look, but can't see anything directly comparable. I'll ping a couple of people and see if they have any ideas.

Thanks Noel,

I'll report back.

Regards
Dan