Registry Settings for Folder Redirection in Windows 2000

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server

SUMMARY

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

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 a Windows 2000 environment, you can use the Group Policy Editor. Instead of the custom folders option in Policy Editor, this has been replaced with folder redirection in Windows 2000. In windows 2000 you can change the location of the following items:

• Application Data.



• Desktop.



• My Documents folder.



• My Pictures folder.



• Start menu.

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 

MORE INFORMATION

The following example demonstrates how to change the location of the Desktop folder by using Folder Redirection:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point toAdministrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.



2. Right-click Domain, and then click Properties.



3. Click the Group Policies tab, click Default Domain Policy, and then click Edit.



4. When Group Policies starts, click User Configuration, click Windows Settings, and then click Folder Redirection.



5. Right-click Desktop Folder, and then click Properties.



6. 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.



7. Click the Browse button next to the Security Group Membership box, and then click a group from the domain list.



8. Click Target Location Folder, and then use a UNC path to the location where you want the Desktop folder to be located.



9. 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.
   
   
   



10. 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.



11. Click Apply, click OK, and then quit Group Policy Editor.



12. Log off the administrator account, and then log on again.

Q227302 Using SECEDIT to Force a Group Policy Refresh Immediately

Q232692 Folder Redirection Feature in Windows

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbenv kbtool
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbinfo