Confusion about two different pathways for sasme document?

flycaster · 10 Jan 2016

I recently got a new computer (HP Envy 750) that came with Windows 10H. With an external drive, I had backed up stuff from my browser, email client and documents that was on a crashed windows 10 that had updated windows 7, and then transferred to the new computer. I am finding the present filing system pathways to be confusing in that stuff I save to Documents appears in two places under different pathways. I'd like to either correct this or understand what is happening, and if possible, just have one pathway to deal with. Here's an example of what is confusing me: When searching for a file that has been saved to Documents, it has two pathways. One pathway is "This PC>Documents>the file" and the other pathway is "This PC>Windows(C:)>Users>adam9>Documents>the file." I an used to just one pathway.

dysert · 10 Jan 2016

flycaster said:

I recently got a new computer (HP Envy 750) that came with Windows 10H. With an external drive, I had backed up stuff from my browser, email client and documents that was on a crashed windows 10 that had updated windows 7, and then transferred to the new computer. I am finding the present filing system pathways to be confusing in that stuff I save to Documents appears in two places under different pathways. I'd like to either correct this or understand what is happening, and if possible, just have one pathway to deal with. Here's an example of what is confusing me: When searching for a file that has been saved to Documents, it has two pathways. One pathway is "This PC>Documents>the file" and the other pathway is "This PC>Windows(C:)>Users>adam9>Documents>the file." I an used to just one pathway.

Personally, I don't trust the links under "This PC". Instead, I put my most-frequently accessed folders up under what used to be "Favorites" (sorry, I don't remember what it's called in Win10). If I need to go after a folder not in "Favorites", I navigate from C:\Users.

Berton · 10 Jan 2016

dysert said:

Personally, I don't trust the links under "This PC". Instead, I put my most-frequently accessed folders up under what used to be "Favorites" (sorry, I don't remember what it's called in Win10). If I need to go after a folder not in "Favorites", I navigate from C:\Users.

My personal thought is that Libraries is more or less shortcuts to the actual files located in C:\Users\username\.

AndreyT · 10 Jan 2016

Firstly, apparently you are referring to "pathways" you see in File Explorer. The first one you mention is just a GUI-level simulated "shortcut" that exist there to make it easier for you to access your documents. It leads to the same physical location, just makes it shorter. (You don't have to go through you entire folder sequence under 'Users')

Secondly, modern file systems (like Windows's NTFS) support so called links (symbolic links, hard links) at file system level. One effect of such links is that they create multiple pathways that lead to the same storage location. In addition to that Windows has always supported so called shortcuts, which are basically a limited implementation of links.

In other words, there's nothing remarkable or unusual in having multiple "pathways" that lead to the same physical storage location in a modern OS. It has been lake that for a long while already. Get used to it and take advantage of it.

lx07 · 10 Jan 2016

They are the same place.

If you right click on Documents > Properties > Location you will see that the location for your documents is "C:\Users\Adam9\Documents".

So unless you change the location the two will be the same.