Windows 7: Eight Favorites Folders and Other Adventures

Hello all,

Recently I got a brand new work computer with Windows 7 Enterprise, IE8 and Office 2007. I had been using XP, Office 2003 and IE7.

I'm a web developer, so I'm tech-savvy, but no expert on Windows specifically. (Trying to cover all the bases listed in the FAQ).

I've had the following problems. Perhaps some of them could have been in a separate thread, but I think they might all be related to the first point below. Plus I didn't want to litter the forums too much on my first visit.

First, I deleted the User Folder. I have to admit I'm not familiar with it, though I read about what it is. It just seemed useless for my purposes, and I didn't like all the "my pictures" and so forth cluttering up my organizational structure (yes, later I learned that I could hide some of these).

I immediately had trouble with a program that puts stuff into one's documents folder (Inform7, if you're that kind of geek), so I restored the User Folder.

Now, when I add a favorite to IE8, exactly eight (no more, no less) favorites folders are generated in my user folder. These can't be hidden as far as I can tell. They are identical, and if I delete one, I delete them all (as well as the favorites in IE of course). If I delete them all and start anew, I get a new eight folders as soon as I add a favorite to IE. I googled this and couldn't find a word about it.

I tried to create a shortcut to "Documents" on my desktop, and it would appear that instead of a shortcut I somehow have the "real" documents folder there now. Of course it's also in the library. This phenomenon makes it difficult for me to understand how I'm supposed to quit looking at something in a particular area or view without deleting it. Is its actual path on my desktop? Where is the path to the desktop, by the way? The folder structure in C: looks different now.

After I first got my computer, I created a folder called "organize" on my desktop, moved some stuff into it to evaluate what it was and whether I needed it, moved that stuff back out again, and deleted the organize folder. That folder now comes back every hour or two, even if I rename it, and even after reboots. I can only assume I moved something from the library or user folder into it which confused Windows into assuming it was some sort of system folder?

My copy-and-paste and select-all keyboard shortcuts didn't work in any program at first, including IE and Office. This I found on Google, but no solution that worked for me. Then they spontaneously began to work.

Probably unrelated, but I opened a document in Excel 2007 that every few saves told me that I couldn't save due to a sharing conflict, then asked me to "save as" with a new name.

Oh -- totally trivial, but can I change the color on the basic theme? I was able to change the aero themes, which are a little flashy for my taste, but changing it for basic didn't work. And can I change the icon for the user folder?

So my main annoyance is why the eight favorites folders and how to get rid of them -- if I could solve that one I could reconsider living with the User Folder. But I'm also interested in any advice on the other issues, and perhaps a link that acclimates me to the User Folder and why I should want it.

Thanks,
Shae

For the record, I tried the recommendation here (How do I stop Windows 7 from regenerating the Favorites and Searches folders?) in hopes of getting rid of the favorites folders and it did not work.

I'm not certain of the solution, but since you are coming from XP to W7 as I did, you may not understand that Documents and Settings is not a real folder as it was in XP, it is merely a junction which points to real locations in your user folder. How to best correct this I can't say, but when I messed up taking ownership of Documents and settings, I had to delete the account and login as administrator to recreate it.

Seekermeister, thanks for the info, that's good to know.

I managed to solve (knock on wood) the multiple favorites folder issue, I think, with option 2 on this page (User Folders - Restore Default Location).

But before I got there, I deleted the folder or shortcut or whatever it is to the User Folder off my desktop again, and I can't remember how to restore it now. I need that for Inform7 to work

Can anyone point me to that info?

Thanks

Is it in the Recycle Bin? If so, just right click it and select restore.

Looks like it's not there anymore.

Re: The last sentence of post #3.

OK, I found what I needed to do actually, and I had remembered it being simpler than deleting and recreating an account. Here's what I was looking for:

Right click on desktop -> personalize. Click on Change Desktop icons. Add a checkmark next to user account.

Yes, that does appear to be a better solution.