Windows 8 System videos and music folders screwed

tonynh · Apr 24, 2015

By accident I have screwed up a pair of user system folders. In moving their locations from the system drive to a second drive, I carelessly managed to point the system 'Videos' folder location and the system 'Music' folder
location at the same folder. The two system folders are now totally linked, and the name of the system Videos
icon is now 'Music' although the icon is still the Video icon. So I now have two icons labelled 'Music', both
pointing at the same folder, and no icon for 'Videos'. Can anyone help me unscrew the two and retrieve my
separate Videos folder?

ussnorway · Apr 27, 2015

I recommend a reset:

1. Right click the "video" folder and pick properties,

2. Goto 'location' and select 'restore default'

$An image from 'System videos and music folders screwed'. Windows folder properties window showing Video folder location set to F:\Videos with 'Restore Default' button circled.$

Say no to moving the files… just the folder will do fine and should also fix any pointers in the registry.

ussnorway · Apr 25, 2015

1. Is your system Windows 8 or 8.1.1… the folder structure is slightly different and what works on one will bugger the other.
2. is C: users / username / music still there i.e. the folder itself, even an empty one?
3. There is a difference between navigating to it by the normal explorer and using the libraries structure… which one are you trying to fix?
4. I can’t see the system adding a second icon but the libraries can and will auto add the music folder if you miss that step and a lot of videos show up as music files if they have been copied from the internet … please include a screenshot of the location you want reset to default.

tonynh · Apr 26, 2015

ussnorway said:
1. Is your system Windows 8 or 8.1.1… the folder structure is slightly different and what works on one will bugger the other.
2. is C: users / username / music still there i.e. the folder itself, even an empty one?
3. There is a difference between navigating to it by the normal explorer and using the libraries structure… which one are you trying to fix?
4. I can’t see the system adding a second icon but the libraries can and will auto add the music folder if you miss that step and a lot of videos show up as music files if they have been copied from the internet … please include a screenshot of the location you want reset to default.

Hi,

Many thanks for responding.

1. My system is Windows 8.1 (64 bit, build 9600)
2. No. To separate user data from system as far as possible, I created a User structure on E: (a partition on a second drive), and moved the location of each of the 'Folders' from the C: drive to the E: drive. As they were moved, each folder vanished from the C: drive. This worked fine, without problems. I then decided to separate the bulky Media files from normal documents by moving the Music, Pictures and Video 'Folders' to another partition, F:. That was when I screwed up and pointed the Music and Video 'folders' at the same location. The Pictures folder moved fine. None of the three 'Folders' is now in the E: user structure. Two of the three, Music and Pictures are in F:\ (I did not see a need to separate Users here). They each have an appropriate system folder icon. There is a folder Videos also, but it does not have a system icon.
3. I assume I am trying to use the libraries structure. When I click on 'This PC' in Windows Explorer, at the top of the right hand pane I see the usual library folders, Desktop, Documents, etc, including Pictures and two named Music, one of which has a system Video icon instead of the usual Music icon. Both icons named Music point to the same folder on F:.
4. Screenshot attached. I should like to see the second Music folder named Videos and pointing at the Videos folder on F:, if that is possible.

ussnorway · Apr 27, 2015

I recommend a reset:

1. Right click the "video" folder and pick properties,

2. Goto 'location' and select 'restore default'

$An image from 'System videos and music folders screwed'. Windows folder properties window showing Video folder location set to F:\Videos with 'Restore Default' button circled.$

Say no to moving the files… just the folder will do fine and should also fix any pointers in the registry.

tonynh · Apr 27, 2015

ussnorway said:
I recommend a reset:

1. Right click the "video" folder and pick properties,

2. Goto 'location' and select 'restore default'

View attachment 29665

Say no to moving the files… just the folder will do fine and should also fix any pointers in the registry.

Many thanks, but, alas, no joy. The video folder, of course, is now named 'Music', although it has the Video icon. Restoring the default took it back to the C: drive where it created a new Music folder. Also, since it is linked to the library Music folder, it took that one with it too. The two library folders seem intrinsically linked now, and both point to the newly created Music folder on the C: drive. They need somehow to be prised apart. Any suggestions would be really welcome.

ussnorway · Apr 27, 2015

So you did reset it to the c, drive….

tonynh said:
Also, since it is linked to the library Music folder, it took that one with it too.

... yes that's what you want it to do.

Now:
1. Create a new “videos” folder on the c drive i.e. c:/ user /username /videos

2. Right click the old one called music and in the location tab press ‘move’ to point it at the new videos folder… this time say yes to coping the files over.

tonynh · Apr 28, 2015

I did that. I now have two files in C:\Users\Tony called 'Music'. I think the one I created named 'Videos' is the one now showing the music icon, and the other one is now an ordinary folder. Curiously, there is still a folder in F:\ showing the music icon. Double clicking on the ordinary folder 'Music' on C:. I get a dialogue window titled 'Location is not available'. The message is 'Music is not accessible. Access is denied'. In Windows Explorer, where the library folders are listed, it still shows two library icons named 'Music', one with the music icon, the other with the videos icon, both pointing at C:\Users\Tony\Music.
Is another way round this simply to delete the user 'Tony', create a new user 'Tony', and start again moving the locations off C:?

Mike · Apr 28, 2015

This depends if you are trying to change actual media folders or the libraries in Windows 7. The libraries themselves are sort of hotlinks to multiple folders that actually contain media files such as videos and music files. By default, libraries will always contain links to your user profile media folders. They can contain multiple folders that are listed in them (example would be if you want to pull up all of your photos or music real fast from multiple locations). In Windows 8.1, this feature is disabled by default. But, in Windows 7, you can reset your Libraries to default by opening "Computer" and right-clicking on the libraries tabs. In each one you can "restore to default" or go into each individual library and set these to the right folders. The default folders for Music, Videos, etc. as part of your overall user profile should not be affected. If you need to change the default location for the actual media folders, this is where @ussnorway's solution comes in.

tonynh · Apr 28, 2015

Thanks Mike,
I am trying to set up a new machine. I have the OS and programs installed in a relatively small SSD. I have a large number of media files, so I intend to keep them in a separate partition on a large HDD. What I want to do is be able to access them easily using the system folders near the top of the WE navigation pane. My carelessness means that for my normal, limited, user account, I have lost the system video folder which, although still there and displaying the video icon is now named 'Music' and always points to the same location as the system Music folder. If I move the location of either, both move together. I am at a loss re how to correct this and recover the system video folder. I am hoping that @ussnorway can help. Other accounts on the machine, however, are behaving normally so it occurred to me that just deleting the defective account, then re-creating it and moving all the system folder locations to folders on the HDD might sidestep the problem and be easier than trying to correct it. I am a bit nervous though about playing about too much with the accounts. Any advice on how to correct the problem safely would be welcome.

ussnorway · Apr 28, 2015

1. Ok if this is just a local or minor account without much in it then yes, create another account then delete the old messed up one.

2. I'm much more concerned that you managed to bugger the registry setting and must have done something very iff-ie to get two music folder in the same directory… are you following some guide (i.e posted somewhere) for moving the documents folder?

Ime it's a very bad idea to move the default documents drive off the c especially when there are multiple accounts/ computers on the same network because it's then far too easy to lock yourself out of your own files. It's MUCH safer to create a communal folder on a separate drive eg d:/ photos and just point to c:docs as required with a short cut from your libraries interface:

Edit: the forum is busted and I can't post an image until it's fixed but I'll come back and add an example of the short cut option once it's working again.

1. Avoids system conflict/ permission errors

2. Allows multiple storage locations to be accessed from the one window

As Mike points out it is built into Windows 7 and above by default as the system Microsoft is fully committed to support.

tonynh · Apr 29, 2015

Thank you again. I, too, am concerned that I managed to bugger the registry. I was not trying to do anything iffy. I was, trying to move the location of the Videos system folder from C: to a corresponding folder on F:. I think I inadvertently pointed it at the Music folder on F:, to which the system Music folder had already been moved. When moving, say, the system Documents folder, the dialogue explains that this is the folder in which applications will create their files. That was why I wanted them off the C: drive. I try to separate personal and application files from the system as far as possible. Without moving the system folders off the system drive, how can I do that? The system drive is also a relatively small SSD, so storage would rapidly become a problem, particularly with the video files.

ussnorway · Apr 30, 2015

tonynh said:
When moving, say, the system Documents folder, the dialogue explains that this is the folder in which applications will create their files.

Software expects that folder to be there and assumes it will be.

tonynh said:
That was why I wanted them off the C: drive.

Its also why moving it is a bad idea i.e leave the folder there but don't use it much.

An image from 'System videos and music folders screwed'. Screenshot of a Windows file explorer window open to the Pictures library, displaying folders and image files.

p.s this is my photos files... the c drive stays but is only used for the system screenshot folder... all other photos go to my f drive and both folders have a short cut pointing to each other to make navigation easy when using simple browser tools. Its your system mate but its much better to tell your software to use the other drives without moving the default docs folders from Windows expects them to be.

tonynh · May 7, 2015

Thank you again. Your screenshot shows perfectly how the problem can be treated.

I moved all the system folders back onto the C: drive and deleted, and then re-created the defective account. All now seems to be back to normal. Your assistance is much appreciated.

Sorry to have been so long in responding, but I have been away for a short break with my family.

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