Thanks for this explanation. I was actually trying to find out how to move
the entire Users folder to another drive and stumbled across this post. It's
the first explanation I've seen for what I thought were shortcuts and are in
fact something else (junction points). Maybe could have used a different
icon on them rather than the arrow but that's not a big complaint..

(and if you know how to move the entire users folder to another drive....)

Cheers,

"Rock" wrote:

> "Manatee Memories" wrote
> > Seeing as how the "Documents and Settings" folder is so finicky about
> > allowing access, just how in the heck am I supposed to drop shortcuts;
> > various & sundry, in there?
> >
> > Quite a few are presently thereabouts, but I am able to concoct some
> > which are not, unfortunately, allowed in :-(
>
> It's not finicky. Access is denied for a reason. You only saw it and other
> such those folders because you elected to show hidden files/folders and
> display protected Operating system files and folders. They are hidden for a
> reason. You don't need access to them. They hold no data. All they contain
> is a pointer to the actual folder where the data is kept. They are actually
> a junction point.
>
> Certain folders used in XP, such as these, were brought into Vista for
> compatibility for legacy apps. They are not used to store data. They appear
> dimmed with the shortcut arrow and give access denied. If you want to see
> what folder it points to, open a elevated command prompt, navigate to the
> folder that contains the folder in question and give the command:
> dir /al
>
> Junction points are designated by <Junction> and the folder to which it
> points is at the end of the line in square brackets. Do not change the
> permissions on these junction points. It can cause problems for the same
> legacy apps they are they for in the first place.
>
> From a post by Jimmy Brush here is a list of the these XP folders and their
> corresponding locations in Vista:
> Windows XP Location Windows Vista Location
> \Documents and Settings \Users
> \Documents and Settings\$USER$\My Documents \Users\$USER$\Documents
> \Documents and Settings\$USER$\My Documents\My Music \Users\$USER$\Music
> \Documents and Settings\$USER$\My Documents\My Pictures
> \Users\$USER$\Pictures
> \Documents and Settings\$USER$\My Documents\My Videos
> \Users\$USER$\Videos
> \Documents and Settings\$USER$\Application Data
> \Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming
> \Documents and Settings\$USER$\Cookies
> \Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Co okies
> \Documents and Settings\$USER$\Local Settings
> \Users\$USER$\AppData\Local
> \Documents and Settings\$USER$\NetHood
> \Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Ne twork Shortcuts
> \Documents and Settings\$USER$\PrintHood
> \Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Pr inter Shortcuts
> \Documents and Settings\$USER$\Recent
> \Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Re cent
> \Documents and Settings\$USER$\SendTo
> \Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Se ndTo
> \Documents and Settings\$USER$\Start Menu
> \Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\St art Menu
> \Documents and Settings\$USER$\Templates
> \Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Te mplates
> \Documents and Settings\$USER$\Local Settings\Application Data
> \Users\$USER$\AppData\Local
> \Documents and Settings\$USER$\Local Settings\History
> \Users\$USER$\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Hist ory
> \Documents and Settings\$USER$\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files
> \Users\$USER$\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temp orary Internet Files
> \Documents and Settings\All Users \ProgramData
> \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data \ProgramData
> \Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop \Users\Public\Desktop
> \Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents \Users\Public\Documents
> \Documents and Settings\All Users\Favorites \Users\Public\Favorites
> \Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu
> \ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu
> \Documents and Settings\All Users\Templates
> \ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Templates
> \Documents and Settings\Default User \Users\Default "
>
> --
> Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]
>
>