Users can move the special folders from their default location to another folder or drive in Windows XP and Windows Vista. Special folders are for example the pictures and music folders in My documents. Their directory can be changed using the Location tab in the Property menu. It is recommended to add the full path as the location when moving those folders. If you want to move the Downloads special folder to drive the downloads folder on drive e: you should enter the full path which is e:\downloads in this case.
The reason why this is important is that Windows does not automatically append the folder name to the path. This means that if you enter e: as the path Windows Vista will assume that this is the path to the download folder. The problem arises when a user tries to change the location again because Windows will move all files on that partition to the new location. Think of it, if e: is the special folder then all contents on that drive have to be moved.
This process will not complete because of System Volume Information and $Recycle.Bin which cannot be moved. The only way to fix this is to change the path of those folders manually in the Registry.
The location of all special folders is stored in the Registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ User Shell Folders
Just change the value of the special folders that you have changed to the root folder and restart the computer afterwards so that the changes take effect.
Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter.Related Articles:
Display All Special Folders In Windows With Special Folders ViewMove Special Folders like My Documents to a different path
Windows Operating Systems Special Folders View
How To Move The My Documents Folder In Windows 7
Smart Folders, An Easier Way To Move Files and Create Folders