Windows 7 Recovering Pictures Path in Libraries, Accidentally Deleted

[Carolla]

I have almost no tech skills, so did something stupid, it seems. I thought I was deleting extra locations for my pictures files (almost 300 pics) and apparently deleted ALL my pictures -- and the "path" for them. (I don't even know what "path" means, but when I tried to perhaps transfer my photos one at a time (ugh) from my back-up flash drive, my computer said I needed to create a "folder" (which I've also never done) in Pictures first, and when I clicked to do that, it said I have no access to the needed Path to do so. Can I recover the pictures, and if so, how? Thank you.

 

[kemical]

Hi Carolla,
if you look in your Recycle Bin you'll probably find the folders you deleted. Simply right click on them with your mouse and click 'Restore' and they should go back to their former positions.

 

[Carolla]

(Sorry for being slow to answer your offer to help. I've been ill.) I think the problem is that I somehow deleted the "path" in the "Libraries." I did notice that all 276 photo files are shown in "My Pictures" (C:/users/Carol) in "Documents" (after the 100+ documents saved [I write, so lots of word docs]), so pictures were not deleted. BUT if I click on "Pictures" in "Libraries," this happens: 1. The first window says "Pictures is empty" and "No folder has been included in this library" and an option to click on "Include a Folder." 2. The second window asked me to create a folder by typing in a folder name, so I typed in My Pictures, and clicked "Include Folder." 3. The final window said "My Pictures. Path does not exist. Check the path and try again." I think I deleted the path in "Libraries" by deleting what I thought was a duplicate "My Pictures" under "Pictures." Am I making better sense re: what my problem is? Your help is much appreciated.

 

[Carolla]

(Sorry for being slow to answer your offer to help. I've been ill.) I think the problem is that I somehow deleted the "path" in the "Libraries." I did notice that all 276 photo files are shown in "My Pictures" (C:/users/Carol) in "Documents" (after the 100+ documents saved [I write, so lots of word docs]), so pictures were not deleted. BUT if I click on "Pictures" in "Libraries," this happens: 1. The first window says "Pictures is empty" and "No folder has been included in this library" and an option to click on "Include a Folder." 2. The second window asked me to create a folder by typing in a folder name, so I typed in My Pictures, and clicked "Include Folder." 3. The final window said "My Pictures. Path does not exist. Check the path and try again." I think I deleted the path in "Libraries" by deleting what I thought was a duplicate "My Pictures" under "Pictures." Am I making better sense re: what my problem is? Your help is much appreciated.

Hi Carolla,
if you look in your Recycle Bin you'll probably find the folders you deleted. Simply right click on them with your mouse and click 'Restore' and they should go back to their former positions.

Problem solved! I discovered I could right click on "Pictures" in "Libraries," go to "Properties," and then click "Restore Defaults" and both "My Pictures" and "Public Pictures" are back under "Pictures" in the Libraries. So simple. I just hadn't known I could right click on the options. Sorry if I'm not responding in the right place (Am I?) and also not thanking the person who posted an answer to someone else about the Documents file, which gave me the idea to do this. I'm having trouble finding my way around in this forum, so new to it. But I do thank everyone who has helped me!

 

[kemical]

Hey Carolla,
that's fantastic! So pleased you found the issue. Any further issues please post back.