You bring up a good point about everybody and their brother wanting to use the My Documents folders as the de facto location to write any user data. In fact, it actually is the default location from the Windows operating system that will be used when the user specifies no other custom location where the data can reside. This becomes a bit of a slippery slope because as you found out, one of the custom locations should not be anywhere near the Program files area. Microsoft has not been too friendly with the users in letting them know where other locations can be for user documents and the computer industry sort of compounds the problem when new computers are sold with 750 Gb or 1 Tb hard drives partitioned into only one C:\ drive which provides for all the space a user would ever need to store documents for themselves and the entire Library of Congress.
But then ugly things can start to happen to these users. Hard drives begin to fail; viruses take their toll; misconfiguration of Windows causes other problems. The only recourse in many cases is for the user to re-install Windows and start all over again. Sometimes that requires re-formatting the C:\ drive. This results in a "clean" install of Windows which typically results in a faster and more reliable method compared to attempting to repair an existing Windows installation. But the problem is how to handle the 500 megabytes or more of pictures, documents, and other things that the user wants to keep. Reformatting a hard drive will lose it all. The solution, and one that I have been using for years, is to partition the hard drive into two or more logical drives. A custom location for storing the Legacy files can then be set up on the D: drive or other logical drives created. When disaster strikes, only the C:\ partition need be re-formatted and Windows re-installed. When the program Legacy is re-installed, the settings are customized to point to the existing user documents on the D:\ drive. Nothing is lost. The other Brian in Legacy support hinted at this in his previous message when he said " You should point all your data to the My Docs folders Legacy created for you or to other custom folders that at NOT in C:\Program files.” Of course, for those that just purchased a new computer with everything all on one gigantic C:\ partition, it initially seems counterproductive to reformat everything, create additional logical drives, and reinstall Windows but the benefits down the road are well worth the efforts. When you think about it, all viruses, Trojans, and other nasty things are all programmed to attack the C:\ drive. If you get your life’s work off the C:\ drive, you’ll be ahead of the game. That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it. Brian in CA -----Original Message----- From: Mark Wilson [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2015 5:53 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] Re: GeoExtraCodes-Alt.txt FIXED Brian, I'm really glad you mentioned the quirks of Windows file/folder behavior. I had forgotten all about the Explorer Shell namespace modus operendi. That jogged my memory and made me think to look in the registry to see just where the operating system (Win 7 Ultimate, in my case) was looking for the Documents folder. I can't tell you when, where, or how it got changed, but the Explorer User Shell pointed the 'Personal' folder to, you probably already guessed, %UserProfile%\My Podcasts Yikes! There's the problem! So, I modified the 'Personal' key to %UserProfile%\Documents Voilà ! (I'm a happy camper now!) Yes, I was aware that a Microsoft's "Compatible with Windows" certification requires that an app use the appropriate special folder names and locations to store documents and app settings. I just hate to see the Documents folder get so cluttered that it becomes difficult to locate anything. It seems that the Documents folder is starting to be used more and more as a registry folder. Someday, if the practice persists, someone will need to develop a "Document Folder Manager/Editor & Defragger" app similar to a beefed-up Registry Editor. Remember that Windows v3.1 had a registry, but it was seldom used. Now look at the behemoth that the registry is today! I foresee the same happening to the Documents folder. Per your suggestion, Brian, I moved my data and media to the 'Documents\Legacy Family Tree' folder. The Documents folder path is pointed to properly now, and life's great! I probably wouldn't have thought to check the registry key had you not mentioned the quirks of Windows file/folder behavior. Thank you for your help! Mark Wilson --- On 12 Mar 2015 2:22 PM, Brian/Support wrote: > No No No! Please get all your data, backups and Media out of the > Program files area. Legacy 8 has implemented a new "Windows Friendly" > policy of putting your personal data etc. into you’re my > documents instead of the restricted access Program files area. I do > not know which version of Windows you are running but you are risking > a mess with active files stored in Program Files. > > Newer versions of Windows play games with where files are physically > stored when you try to write to files and folders in the C:\Program > files area. They create a dummy hidden folder called a virtual store > where it actually stores the files even while it makes it "look" like > the file is in the Program files folders. The program files area > folders for Legacy are created and used only to store user related > files needed to create the files you need in your My Docs folders to operate > Legacy. > > You should point all your data to the My Docs folders Legacy created > for you or to other custom folders that at NOT in C:\Program files. > > Brian > Customer Support > Millennia Corporation > <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] > <http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com> http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com > > On 12/03/2015 3:06 PM, Mark Wilson wrote: >> No, Brian, the family data file, family data file backups, and media >> file backups are in the directory >> >> C:\Program Files\Legacy8\_MyDocs\Wilson >> >> For the Customize Legacy information: >> >> 6.1 Default location of family files (gbl) >> C:\Program Files\Legacy8\_MyDocs\Wilson\ >> >> 6.2 Default location of media files (gbl) >> C:\Program Files\Legacy8\_MyDocs\Wilson\Media\ >> >> 6.3 Location of temporary files (gbl) >> C:\Program Files\Legacy8\Temp\ >> >> Yesiree, I was shocked when placing the 'GeoExtraCodes-Alt.txt' file >> in the Podcasts path actually worked! I'll be Googling to see if I >> can figure out what's going on here. Very strange! I need to figure >> out how to change the default path for the 'GeoExtraCodes-Alt.txt' to >> where it belongs! >> >> Thanks, Brian! If I figure this out, I'll let you know! There may >> be others who are experiencing this weird phenomenon as well. >> >> >> Mark Wilson Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://support.legacyfamilytree.com Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
