Windows Vista Renaming folder containing Favorites problem

Several months ago I moved the Favorites, Links and Downloads folders from the partition containing the operating system to another partition where my Data is saved. On my Data partition I have a folder called Vista which is where I moved the Favorites, Links and Downloads.

Yesterday I got the stupid idea to rename the Vista folder to __Vista so it would be near the top of my many folders. The VISTA operating system didn't want me to rename this so I booted to XP and changed it there!

When I opened IE 7 today my Favorites folder is empty. Start | Favorites is also empty.

I can access Favorites in Windows Explorer and all of the shortcuts open their respective websites.

I renamed the folder back to Vista but that did not fix the problem.

When I booted to XP yesterday my Restore Points were deleted and I created two Restore Points when I booted back to VISTA. I tried restoring both of them but that didn't fix the problem.

Would it work to boot from the VISTA DVD and use the Repair Option?

Is the problem in the Registry? I exported the Registry to a backup folder yesterday before I started playing.

I like VISTA and it was working okay until I messed it up.

 

Hello June,

Vista lost the link to the moved location and restablished the default folder in the C partition.

It wouldn't because no RP's prior your renaming folder.

I dual boot with XP and Vista's RP's are deleted when you boot into XP.

That would restablish all the default folders and links prior to you moving user files from Documants. The result would be the same as for the Favorites folder, but this time for all the folders you moved

Yes, the info is in the saved registry, you can try that and have the folders set up exactly the way they were to match the registry.

I would create an SR point before you restore the saved registry in case Vista reacts badly.

 

Another way to try to fix this:

Copy the contents of "your" FAV folder to another temp folder.

Go thru the motions of moving just the empty FAV default folder now on C to where it was on your data partition.

Then copy the info - the contents only, of your saved favorites into this newly moved FAV folder.

 

Thanks for the help! I am confused and I have also confused my conputer! I find Users, junction points, etc. very hard to figure out. I should have left those three folders in their default locations...but I tinker even though I don't know what I am doing. I hate having useless files and would like to get rid of the folders which only contain Desktop.ini files. Since I don't know how I got them I don't know how to get rid of them. If I delete the folders and then reboot will they be recreated?
I have never imported my Registry and don't really know what to expect. I have three exported copies of my Registry dated 11/8, 11/7 and 11/4. If I imported the last one and it did not work could I try another one? When do I delete the unwanted files so they are not recreated...maybe before the import and not boot until after the import is completed?
My DATA partition is (I).
My actual Favorites folder is the default colorful folder and located I:\Vista\Favorites and (384 KB) and was modified 10/12/2007
I somehow created a yellow folder with a gold star Favorites folder located I:\Computer\Favorites (122 bytes) containing only Desktop.ini and modified 5/1/2007
I somehow created a default colorful Favorites folder located I:\_Vista\Favorites (402 bytes) containing only Desktop.ini and created 11/8/2007
I somehow created a yellow folder called zzz (966 bytes) containing 3 Files and 3 Folders - these three Folders are Vista default colored and named Downloads, Favorites and Links. They each contain only desktop.ini.

This is what I find on my C drive -
Desktop | User name | Favorites
This is the default colorful Favorites folder (402 bytes) and points to I:\ _Vista\Favorites
Properties show the Location as I:\_Vista
The only thing in this folder is desktop.ini

Desktop | Public | Favorites
This is a yellow folder (61.2 KB) and points to C:\Users\Public\Favorites
Properties show the Location as C:\Users\Public
This folder contains a folder called VISTA and it contains six subfolders plus three shortcuts to websites but I do not find a desktop.ini

C:\Users\Default\Favorites
This is a yellow folder and it is empty

C:\Users\Public\Favorites
This is a yellow folder (61.2 KB)
This folder contains a folder called VISTA and it contains six subfolders plus three shortcuts to websites

Not sure I know which of the above folders to try to delete and which empty folder to copy. Is it necessary to reboot before completing the process.

Thanks again for the help.

 

Hi June,

Do the following with the real Fav folder now on the data partition contained in I:\Vista\Favorites first:

Create a folder called Real favs on I. This will be your temp favs backup folder.

Move the sub folders/bare urls under Favorites. So what I'm saying is the backed up real favs should not have a top folder called Favorites.

Then, this is the folder that you should move to the data partition location I:\Vista\Favorites.

Then copy the contents of Real favs to I:\Vista\Favorites.

After establishiing whether this worked - you can delete the backup Real favs. If not, we can try it again

.

 

It worked!!! Favorites are working properly again and I deleted the extra Favorites folders. I rebooted and Favorites still work okay.
In my User folder I also needed to change the Location of my Favorites from I:\_Vista\Favorites to I:\Vista\Favorites.
Thanks so much Charles for pointing me to the correct folders. I would never have figured this out without your help.

 

Hi June,

Gratified that it's working