Change My Documents / Music / Pictures path?
- by Dennis Faas on 20040415 @ 05:52PM EST | google it | send to friends
- Filed under Software | Windows Tips | (related terms: drive, shell, folder, d:\my music, d:\my)
" Dear Dennis,
I have 2 hard drive partitions: the C drive, and the D drive. I always keep my data stuff like music, photos, and other downloaded files onto the D drive. I recently decided to format and reinstall Windows on my computer. When I click on start menu, is there a way to link the My Music and My Pictures folders to d:\my music and d:\my pictures (respectively)? I don't seem to be given the choice on whether I can change the targets. Any ideas? "
My response:
The folders you are referring to are called Shell Folders.
According to Kellys-Korner-XP.com, "shell folders are special folders that Windows uses to indicate the default location for many types of settings and data. Shell folders may be moved in a [number of ways, including TweakUI for XP, or by implementing a registry hack]."
TweakUI for Windows XP can be obtained through our site:
http://www.infopackets.com/articles/powertoys_xp.htm
As described by TweakXP.com, the registry hack entails:
- Click Start -> Run, and type in "regedit" (no quotes) and press enter on the keyboard.
- RegEdit will appear. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Shell Folders.
- Right click on the folders you want to change and select Modify.
- Change the path of your folder to the new path (example: d:\my music).
- Reboot your computer.
Side Note: If you modify the registry and change a path of a folder, you will have to move the folder to that location after you reboot the machine. And don't forget -- always make a backup of your registry before making changes to it!
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