What exactly are are "My music", "My Pictures" and "My videos"

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  1. Try3
    Posts : 16,949
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       New #11

    Callender said:
    I don't see the same shortcut names
    You need to have Options set to show Hidden & System files not just Hidden files.

    Some people have found their symbolic links in the
    C:\Users\YourUserName
    folder [as I did] whilst others have found them in the
    C:\Users\YourUserName\Documents
    folder.

    Denis
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  3. Callender
    Posts : 6,849
    22H2 64 Bit Pro
       New #12

    Try3 said:
    You need to have Options set to show Hidden & System files not just Hidden files.
    Denis
    Cheers!

    What exactly are are "My music", "My Pictures" and "My videos"-accerss-denied.jpg

    @theoldwizard1

    You are not supposed to navigate to those folders using that path. It's normal to get "Access Denied" and it is how it should be.
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  4. theoldwizard1
    Posts : 42
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       New #13

    Bree said:
    These junction points were first seen in Vista, the first OS to use the new locations for Music, Pictures and Videos. MS explained it thus:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...-music-my-pict
    The link has the following advice that, of course, does NOT work in Win10 !

    Workaround

    If the My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos links in the Start menu do not point to the Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos folders, you must manually redirect these links to the correct folders. To redirect these links, follow these steps:
    1. Click Startthe Start button , right-click the link, and then click Properties.
    2. On the Location tab, replace the wrong target location with the correct target location. For example, to redirect the My Music folder to the Music folder in Windows Vista, enter %systemdrive%\Users\user_name\Music.
    3. Click Apply.



    If this was a fix for Vista, it seems kind of sloppy to keep it around !

    - - - Updated - - -

    Try3 said:
    You need to have Options set to show Hidden & System files not just Hidden files.
    If you CHECK THIS BOX they disappear.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails What exactly are are "My music", "My Pictures" and "My videos"-capture.jpg  
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  6. Bree
    Posts : 31,660
    10 Home x64 (22H2) (10 Pro on 2nd pc)
       New #14

    theoldwizard1 said:
    If this was a fix for Vista, it seems kind of sloppy to keep it around !
    Much of the software written for XP can still run under W10. It may well have the old 'My...' locations hard-coded, so the junctions are still required in W10 for backward compatibility with XP-era software.
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  7. mTaylor0248603
    Posts : 54
    Microsoft Windows 10 Pro x64
       New #15

    I just always assumed that they were there for backwards compatibility reasons, maybe some older software were hard-coded to look for those older folders and the junction links points them to the new locations ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    -EDIT-
    Literally just saw the post above mines...
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  8. Steve C
    Posts : 7,905
    Windows 11 Pro 64 bit
       New #16

    theoldwizard1 said:
    The link has the following advice that, of course, does NOT work in Win10 !
    Workaround

    If the My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos links in the Start menu do not point to the Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos folders, you must manually redirect these links to the correct folders. To redirect these links, follow these steps:
    1. Click Startthe Start button , right-click the link, and then click Properties.
    2. On the Location tab, replace the wrong target location with the correct target location. For example, to redirect the My Music folder to the Music folder in Windows Vista, enter %systemdrive%\Users\user_name\Music.
    3. Click Apply.


    If this was a fix for Vista, it seems kind of sloppy to keep it around !

    - - - Updated - - -


    If you CHECK THIS BOX they disappear.
    You can't redirect the shortcut links which is the subject of the post
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  9. Try3
    Posts : 16,949
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       New #17

    In my first post I deliberately avoided any speculation but, since no definitive answer seems to be available, here's my tuppence worth.

    In the Symbolic Links - MSDocs article I quoted from, Symbolic links were explained as being for Unix compatibility
    Symbolic links are designed to aid in migration and application compatibility with UNIX operating systems. Microsoft has implemented its symbolic links to function just like UNIX links.

    1 MS also identified Symbolic links & the Junction points function as being useful for backwards compataibility for Windows applications so that old applications could find user folders & other common locations.
    - This is what WinXP put in the C:\Documents and settings\%UserName% folder
    What exactly are are "My music", "My Pictures" and "My videos"-winxp-dns-username.jpg
    - Just as WinXP used the C:\Documents and settings\%UserName% folder as a location for a clearing house of pointers to common Windows locations so any replacement or relocation of it would also need a clearing house.


    2 In Vista onwards, they added a Symbolic link or Junction point to replace the old Documents and settings folder to point old applications towards the %UserProfile% folder & the %UserProfile%\Documents folder so that they could be used as general clearing houses for locations MS had shifted around
    What exactly are are "My music", "My Pictures" and "My videos"-symbolic-link-dns.png


    3 They also added the set of Symbolic links & Junction points within the %UserProfile% folder & the %UserProfile%\Documents folder to point old applications towards the specific location that their request was for.
    - This list is from the %UserProfile% folder.
    - And this list is from the %UserProfile%\Documents folder
    What exactly are are "My music", "My Pictures" and "My videos"-original-symbolic-links-c-user-username-documents.png


    4 I suspect that the sets of Symbolic links & Junction points within the the %UserProfile% folder & the %UserProfile%\Documents folder are not really Symbolic links or Junction points at all because they do not point directly to the relevant location. I think they might in fact be disguised shortcuts to the corresponding Registry entries. This might also explain our inability to analyse their properties.


    5 The effects of user folder relocation
    - The set of Symbolic links & Junction points in the %UserProfile% folder stays the same whether other user folders have been relocated or not.
    - My %UserProfile%\Documents folder has been relocated. It contains no Symbolic links or Junction points.
    - In a user account for which no relocations have been done, the %UserProfile%\Documents folder contains Symbolic links or Junction points for My Music, My Pictures, My Videos.
    What exactly are are "My music", "My Pictures" and "My videos"-original-symbolic-links-c-user-username-documents.png



    Denis
    Last edited by Try3; 23 Sep 2019 at 09:36.
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  10. Try3
    Posts : 16,949
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       New #18

    theoldwizard1 said:
    If you CHECK THIS BOX they disappear.
    Yes but in that post I was helping Callender make them appear not disappear.

    Denis
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  12. Bree
    Posts : 31,660
    10 Home x64 (22H2) (10 Pro on 2nd pc)
       New #19

    Try3 said:
    ...In the no-longer-available MS document I quoted...
    MS have reorganised much their documentation with the result that old links no longer work. Is this the document you referred to?

    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...symbolic-links
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  13. Try3
    Posts : 16,949
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       New #20

    Bree said:
    MS have reorganised much their documentation with the result that old links no longer work. Is this the document you referred to?

    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...symbolic-links
    No. It was a different document. I cannot find any link to it now & my pdf printout did not save internal links but I have quoted the only relevant part of it anyway.
    What exactly are are "My music", "My Pictures" and "My videos"-symbolic-links.png
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