Office 2021 refuses to start after fresh installation

dbo · 01 Jul 2023

Denis,

That's right the screenshot is indeed "before". Attached is a screenshot of the new situation. I only changed the personal maps and they are working fine now. I left the "system folders" for what it is.

As I was figuring this out further, I noticed something else odd and that can be confusing. When I added the folders in drive E: I named them Documents, Photos, etc. The Explorer shows them that way, too. For some reason, Windows changes this to Mijn Documenten, Mijn Fotos, etc., so adds "My". When I query the directory of E: with the Command Line, I also see the full name, so including Mijn / My.

The same happened with the directory name "Gebruikers", so Users. Windows changed the name here to "Gebruikers bestanden," i.e. User Files.
I had never noticed this before and as said it can be very confusing, if you want to put the correct file names in the registry.

Office 2021 refuses to start after fresh installation-schermopname-5-regedit-1jul.png

Regards,
Dave

- - - Updated - - -

Denis,

I saw that there was some error with my earlier post this morning, therefore another attempt.
You are right, that the screenshot sent earlier shows the original state. Attached is a new screenshot showing the recent situation. I changed all the personal folders and it works fine now. The "system folders" have been left as is.

While adjusting I noticed something else strange. Originally, I entered the names of the folders in drive E: as "Documents", "Photos", etc. Explorer also shows the names this way. However, I noticed that Windows independently changed the names to "My Documents," "My Photos," etc. So everywhere is "Mijn" (My) prefixed. The same thing happened with "Gebruikers" (Users) which Windows turned into "User Files." Rather confusing, since Regedit should have the real folder names.

I checked this again with the Command Line and the directory does indeed show the full directory names there (including My) and not the abbreviated (original names) like the Explorer.

Regards,
Dave

Try3 · 01 Jul 2023

Dave,

It's up to you but you're Desktop path still has OneDrive in it.
Personally, I'd make a new system image then change it in that User shell folders entry & then reboot.
There is some guidance in Dealing with OneDrive-imposed user folder paths - glasskuter #2 - ElevenForum
There's no significant difference between Win10 & Win11 in this respect.

I've also seen those Documents / My Documents forms in the past. They do no harm since you can use either form to get to them. I believe that the My Documents form is referred to as its Display name. There's a post on the topic at
user folder display names [KeithM post #9] - TenForums
As you already realise, you don't need to do anything about them.
I've never seen that User files thing. Perhaps that's also a Display name thing.

I have never seen the Camera roll folder used so fixing its path might not be particularly useful. Again, I'd do it by directly altering the User shell folders entries.
- Camera roll is normally a subfolder of the Pictures so I'd change it to include the new Pictures folder path.

All the best,
Denis

dbo · 04 Jul 2023

Hi Denis,
Thank you for your additional information. For the time being I will leave the modifications for what they are. I now know where to look for it.
Regards,
Dave