Windows CMD does not see Desktop when I move it around

Matthew Wai said:

@Try3
After moving my desktop, the following PowerShell command does not work. How would you fix it?

(systeminfo) >> "$env:homeDrive$env:homePath\Desktop\My PC info.txt"

None of the environmetal variables are aware of redirected folders. You can query the registry deriectly:

Code:

$Path = (Get-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders').Desktop

Or use a com object to work with the Shell:

Code:

$Path = (New-Object -ComObject Wscript.Shell).SpecialFolders(4)

Am I wrong in thinking that a user who uses a desktop path containing spaces or ampersands is looking for trouble?

Try3 said:

Windows' command-line processor cannot resolve %UserProfile%\Desktop properly to find a relocated Desktop.
- It has never been able to do so on any of my Windows 7 or Windows 10 computers.
- I noted what Kari said above about the case of having moved the entire C:\Users folder not being a problem but that is not what this thread has been about.

Solutions to retrieve the user Desktop folder path even if it has been relocated -

PS solution

Code:

$path = "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders"
$UserDesktop = (Get-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name "Desktop").Desktop
echo $UserDesktop
## Pause during testing only
Pause

- I found this method in How do I get the value of a registry key and ONLY the value using powershell - StackOverflow
- Guidance is also in Working with Registry Entries - PowerShell - MSDocs

VBS solution

Code:

UserDesktop = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell").SpecialFolders("Desktop")
' The following MsgBox line is just there to make this a demonstrator version
MsgBox UserDesktop

- This method is based on sample code provided in the 2001 version of VBS Help that was, I think, included in WinXP.

Batch file solution - updated 17th August 2020 - now handles spaces and ampersands in Desktop paths

Code:

:: Purpose - Get the user's Desktop path even if it has been relocated and even if the path contains spaces or ampersands

:: Extract the Desktop folder path from the Registry
set UseExpresssion=Reg Query "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders" /v Desktop
For /F "usebackq tokens=3 " %%X in (` %UseExpresssion% `) Do Set DesktopFolder=%%X

:: Resolve a result that contains a variable such as %UserProfile%
For /F "usebackq delims=" %%X in (`Echo "%DesktopFolder%"`) Do Set "DesktopFolder=%%X"

:: Strip quotation marks from start and end of DesktopFolder
Set "DesktopFolder=%DesktopFolder:~1,-1%"

:: Always protect use of DesktopFolder with quotation marks unless and until it is proven to contain no spaces or special characters such as ampersand
echo DesktopFolder - "%DesktopFolder%"

Pause to review results during testing

Denis

I had tried to use the batch file script you had written and while it did work for finding my desktop location on another drive, it could not find "My Music" folder on another drive or any of the other per user account folders.

I did change the folder to search in the code but instead of the redirected path (being "E:\Music"), it returned "REG_EXPAND_SZ".

Below is the modified code:

Code:

:: Purpose - Get the user's Music path even if it has been relocated and even if the path contains spaces or ampersands

:: Extract the Music folder path from the Registry
set UseExpresssion=Reg Query "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders" /v "My Music"
For /F "usebackq tokens=3 " %%X in (` %UseExpresssion% `) Do Set MusicFolder=%%X

:: Resolve a result that contains a variable such as %UserProfile%
For /F "usebackq delims=" %%X in (`Echo "%MusicFolder%"`) Do Set "MusicFolder=%%X"

:: Strip quotation marks from start and end of MusicFolder
Set "MusicFolder=%MusicFolder:~1,-1%"

:: Always protect use of MusicFolder with quotation marks unless and until it is proven to contain no spaces or special characters such as ampersand
echo MusicFolder - "%MusicFolder%"

::Pause to review results during testing
pause

Many of the user-specific system folders don't have an entry under:
HKCU\...\User Shell Folders unless they've been relocated. Better to "ask the shell". This PowerShell demonstrates.

Code:

$USF = 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders'
$FD  = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderDescriptions'

$USFItems = ($USF | Get-Item).Property

$Shell = New-Object -ComObject shell.application

$FD | Get-ChildItem | Get-ItemProperty | Where Category -eq 4 |
    select @{ N = 'In USF?'   ; E = { ($_.Name -in $USFItems) -or ($_.PSChldName -in $USFItems)  }} ,
           @{ N = 'GUID'      ; E = { $_.PSChildName }} ,
           Name ,
           @{ N = 'Command'   ; E = { "shell:$($_.Name)" }} ,
           @{ N = 'Path'      ; E = { $Shell.Namespace( "shell:$($_.Name)" ).Self.Path  }} |
Out-GridView