Article ID: 242557
Article Last Modified on 3/22/2007
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
This article was previously published under Q242557
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry
SUMMARY
In Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, you can implement System Policies to change the location of the your Startup Folder, Desktop, Start Menu, or Network Neighborhood folders from the default location. In Windows 2000, you can use the Group Policy Editor. The custom folders option in Policy Editor has been replaced with Folder Redirection in Windows 2000.
MORE INFORMATION
WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
In Windows 2000, you can change the location of the following items:
- Application Data.
- Desktop.
- My Documents folder.
- My Pictures folder.
- Start menu.
The following list provides the locations of the following options currently available with Folder redirection:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
Name: AppData
Type: REG_EXPAND_SZ
Data: %USERPROFILE%\Application Data
Name: Desktop
Type: REG_EXPAND_SZ
Data: %USERPROFILE%\Desktop
Name: Personal
Type: REG_EXPAND_SZ
Data: %USERPROFILE%\My Documents
Name: My Pictures
Type: REG_EXPAND_SZ
Data: %USERPROFILE%\My Documents\My Pictures
Name: Start Menu
Type: REG_EXPAND_SZ
Data: %USERPROFILE%\Start Menu
The following example demonstrates how to change the location of the Desktop folder by using Folder Redirection:
- Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
- Right-click Domain, and then click Properties.
- Click the Group Policies tab, click Default Domain Policy, and then click Edit.
- When Group Policies starts, click User Configuration, click Windows Settings, and then click Folder Redirection.
- Right-click Desktop Folder, and then click Properties.
- You can now configure the location of the Desktop folder. In the Settings box, click Advanced - Specify the location for various user groups, and then click Add.
- Click the Browse button next to the Security Group Membership box, and then click a group from the domain list.
- Click Target Location Folder, and then use a UNC path to the location where you want the Desktop folder to be located.
- Click the Settings tab. By default, both of the following settings are enabled:
- When enabled, the Grant the user exclusive rights to Desktop check box sets permissions on the folder for the User and System to full permissions. If you click to clear the check box, no change is made to the permissions on the folder.
- When enabled, the Move the contents of Desktop to the new location check box moves the contents to the new location. If you click to clear the check box, then the contents remain where they are.
- In the Policy Removal box, click either Leave the folder in the new location when the policy is removed, or Redirect the folder back to the local userprofile location when the policy is removed. By default, the first option is selected.
- Click Apply, click OK, and then quit Group Policy Editor.
- Log off the administrator account, and then log on again.
After the user logs on again, the Desktop folder should be redirected to the new location. You can check both the location specified as the target location and the registry setting listed earlier in this article. For additional information about related topics, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
227302 Using SECEDIT to Force a Group Policy Refresh Immediately
232692 Folder Redirection Feature in Windows
Keywords: kbpubtypekc kbmsccsearch kbenv kbinfo KB242557
