Windows – Folder Redirection on certain profiles is Labeled Wrong

folder-redirectiongroup-policywindows

FTR I also suffer from "previous-admin-itis".

I had two client computers (Domain=SBS2003, Clients=Vista) that were using the improper folder for folder redirection. Instead of pointing My Documents to \\server\users\username\My Documents these two users used \\server\users\username as the My Documents folder. This is all the old guys' fault.

I've now upgraded the computers to Windows 7 and used Win7 Group policy to redirect the folders "correctly", which it does. However, for the names of the folders, it still show "My Documents". Observe pictures below:

The users folder on the server, instead of showing their name, shows "My Documents".

Users Dir

And in the folder, the location bar shows it named as "My Documents"…

inside michelle pt.1

…but the actual path has the user's name (michelle).

inside michelle pt.2

I know it's cosmetic, but I like uniformity.

Users are tied to client computers, they don't move around from machine to machine. I'd prefer to NOT rebuild the profiles on the computers for these users.

Best Answer

Check the affected profile directories for a hidden desktop.ini file.. This file can alter the display name and other directory display attributes. Deleting the desktop.ini file should restore the directory's display to "normal".

On XP, the PersonalizedName in the [CopyOnDelete] section:

[DeleteOnCopy]
Owner=jscott
Personalized=5
PersonalizedName=My Documents

On Vista/7 the directory label can also be modified with LocalizedResourceName in [.ShellClassInfo]:

[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21798

The number -21798 refers to the Downloads directory.

We used File Server Resource Manager to create a File Screen to silently block desktop.ini files within user network profiles.

Related Topic