folders&files scramble themselves/ shuffle pieces all over the place

[fiapoco]

folders&files scramble themselves/ shuffle pieces all over the place

Hi folks, this my first post so please bear with me. I'm having a problem that I can't seem to find any help with on Google, but I'm probably not asking the question right. Here goes. After spending a great deal of
time arranging all my folders the way I want them and making a few changes to system(?) folders like my documents, my pictures and downloads (in terms of locating the files somewhere else using the locations tab(?) in properties) everything works fine for a few days and then when I fire up the pc I find that there will be two or three folders like desktop scattered in bizarre places. Usually I can fix it by relocating the mysteriously moved partial directories back near the originals and then using the locations thingy to put them all back into proper (original) folders and then everything is fine. For awhile. Then after several similar episodes I fire up my pc and not only are the system(?) folders screwy, but many of the directories/folders in my User folder are messed up in ways that are hard to imagine. For example, I will find parts of my original folders (like Budget - which has like 15 sub and sub-subfolders - which was under My Documents) under several completely different folders. Like one subfolder - banking for example - will have subfolders for one bank under downloads, another bank and its subfolders under a folder called Our Info\John\SSA and so forth. No rhyme, no reason, just apparently random relocations as if the evil twin Windows God picked up my entire directory structure and shuffled it - and not too well at that, but thoroughly mixed up and almost impossible to find all the fragments of my original folders without using Search and hoping I remember enough folder and file names to find them using Search. Cannot figure out the right question on Google to come even close to a relevant answer. Don't understand how or why happens. I even tried holding my mouth right, but no such ruck!!

 

[RolandJS]

I can understand your frustration! Been there done that some time back.
Ok, one not-so-quick solution: Create directories within the D partition, where your data is safe from the C partition. Copy your stuff out of your users\account directories into their respective directories on D. Educate your software to Save and Save As by default on D. The ones you cannot change - make note of their respective default C directories, copy that stuff into the "mirror" D-residing directories.
Short-term, busy work, making changes, creating shortcuts of both C and D, educating software, and so on.
Long-term, almost all your data, residing on D, will be immune to any implosion, explosion, self-destruction of Windows on C, or from most 3rd party mess.
If you are making routine, weekly or bi-monthly full image backups of C and D onto external media (I use platter-driven external usb hard-drives) -- restoring C will not touch anything residing on D.
There are some notable exceptions: most email programs that download and store emails and attachments on C, if such cannot be easily educated to save on D, one can periodically copy their respective C directories into "mirror" D-residing directories; one can "RoboOverwrite" from D onto C if a restore is called for.
If you use Google's Gmail or similar, stuff is on their server. If you use Mozilla Thunderbird, eM Client, or similar, stuff is on your hard-drive.

 

[fiapoco]

Wow, thank you for pointing to a long term solution that looks like I might not ever have to open up my poor old PC and see the mess created by some angry computer demigod. Actually I had already moved some folders that I don't access that often to D:, but my intention was to reduce the size of my regular backups (and decrease the time it takes to run them). So I'm good to go as far as your EXCELLENT suggestion. And it doesn't seem like tedious busy work compared to the joys of seeing that shuffled mess and not knowing what to do to fix it or how to prevent it from happening again (and again?).
I did a lot of reading about this issue and the best articles ;and easiest to understand and follow the specific instructions and directions to essentially fix the immediate problem of getting my folders/files back where they were. Now, thanks to your willingness to share hard-earned knowledge I know to move as many of them as I can to D:, which I have begun to do between the tasks on the honeydew lists my sweet wife keeps giving me. Whenever I think about her I think about the little joke I like to tell which goes like thiis:
[first, try to imagine the outrageous yet easy to interpret facial expressions I make as I tell this
joke]
You know, this is my third marriage...
but after 41 years, there's a chance it might work out this time...
[big grin, followed by a fast duck to avoid getting hit in the head by whatever was closest to her
when she hears me say that - the woman just has no sense of humor - at least about ex-wives or
'old flame' girlfriends, etc.). Also worthy of an honorable at the very least is your use of the term
"edcate " . I had never heard that one before but it was super easy to figure out what you meant
and to implement those suggestions. Many Thanks and I'm sending good, positive thoughts your
way. Have a wonderful Christmas! And stay safe!