Over my many years as a PC user, I’ve slogged my way through the chronological progression of Window OS’s, from Win 3.1 all the way to Win 11 on my recently acquired Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 laptop. I’ve found it to be relatively easy to adapt to each one along the way, probably because the basic directory tree structure seems to have remained essentially the same – that is, until Win 11. It’s worth noting that I still use Win 10 on both my Main PC (System 1) and an older laptop, neither of which can be upgraded to 11.
11, at least as pre-installed on my new laptop, appears to have a lot of redundant folders containing the same files, and that’s terribly confusing. I simply can’t figure out which location to use for opening and saving files.
For example, there are three “Users” directories shown – Default, Xxxx (my masked user name) and Public. All three have folders labeled “Documents”. Comparing the files in that folder across the three User directories, there are many that appear to be identical, but some that appear to be different versions of the same files.
All but one of the folders in the Default User directory have a “Last Modified” date two years old. All the folders in the Xxxx User directory have a current “Last Modified” date. In the Public directory, it’s a mix of dates.
All three Windows PCs are registered to my Microsoft account, and file and printer sharing is enabled on the two older machines. I don’t recall enabling it in this new laptop, but my Main PC sees it on my wi-fi network. Regardless, the only folder shown on the network is “Users”, and within that, only the “Default” user folder is visible. That’s odd, because for whatever reason, all three user folders on my Win 11 laptop have Sharing enabled.
I also managed to basically kill MS Outlook 2010, my default email client on all three machines. It initially worked on this new laptop, but something changed and I can no longer create a new email or reply to an email received. I was never able to import my Contacts, and now I find that Contacts have been lost on my other two PCs.
To further complicate matters, I unwittingly enabled synching my Win 11 laptop to OneDrive. Once I realized that was a mistake, I turned it off. That OneDrive association may, or may not, have any relevance to the issues I’m having.
I’m finding this all to be very challenging to navigate. Is there some simple logic that I’m missing?
11, at least as pre-installed on my new laptop, appears to have a lot of redundant folders containing the same files, and that’s terribly confusing. I simply can’t figure out which location to use for opening and saving files.
For example, there are three “Users” directories shown – Default, Xxxx (my masked user name) and Public. All three have folders labeled “Documents”. Comparing the files in that folder across the three User directories, there are many that appear to be identical, but some that appear to be different versions of the same files.
All but one of the folders in the Default User directory have a “Last Modified” date two years old. All the folders in the Xxxx User directory have a current “Last Modified” date. In the Public directory, it’s a mix of dates.
All three Windows PCs are registered to my Microsoft account, and file and printer sharing is enabled on the two older machines. I don’t recall enabling it in this new laptop, but my Main PC sees it on my wi-fi network. Regardless, the only folder shown on the network is “Users”, and within that, only the “Default” user folder is visible. That’s odd, because for whatever reason, all three user folders on my Win 11 laptop have Sharing enabled.
I also managed to basically kill MS Outlook 2010, my default email client on all three machines. It initially worked on this new laptop, but something changed and I can no longer create a new email or reply to an email received. I was never able to import my Contacts, and now I find that Contacts have been lost on my other two PCs.
To further complicate matters, I unwittingly enabled synching my Win 11 laptop to OneDrive. Once I realized that was a mistake, I turned it off. That OneDrive association may, or may not, have any relevance to the issues I’m having.
I’m finding this all to be very challenging to navigate. Is there some simple logic that I’m missing?
My Computers
System One System Two
-
- OS
- Windows 10 Home 22H2
- Computer type
- PC/Desktop
- Manufacturer/Model
- Custom (2016 build)
- CPU
- AMD FX 6300 AM3+ 95W 6-Core
- Motherboard
- ASRock Fatal1ty 970 Performance
- Memory
- 16GB EVGA DDR3 1600
- Graphics Card(s)
- PNY Nvidia GeForce GT1030
- Sound Card
- Integrated
- Monitor(s) Displays
- Dell S2421HS 17-inch (almost new)
- Screen Resolution
- 1920x1080
- Hard Drives
- Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus M.2 1TB NVMe (almost new)
SeaGate ST35004 500GB SATA
- PSU
- Corsair CSM 650
- Case
- CoolerMaster N400 full ATX Mid-Tower
- Cooling
- CryoRig H7
- Keyboard
- LogiTech K800 Wireless
- Mouse
- LogiTech M325 Wireless
- Internet Speed
- 593 down / 572 up (ATT Fiber)
- Browser
- Google Chrome
- Antivirus
- MS Defender
-
- Operating System
- Windows 11 Ver 23H2 Build 22631.3447
- Computer type
- Laptop
- Manufacturer/Model
- Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 16AHP9
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen™ 5 8645HS Processor (4.30 GHz up to 5.00 GHz)
- Motherboard
- Stock
- Memory
- 16 GB LPDDR5X-6400MHz
- Graphics card(s)
- Integrated AMD Radeon™ 760M
- Sound Card
- Integrated
- Monitor(s) Displays
- 16" WUXGA (1920 x 1200), IPS, Anti-Glare, Touch, 45%NTSC, 300 nits, 60Hz
- Screen Resolution
- 1920x1200
- Hard Drives
- 512 GB SSD M.2 2242 PCIe Gen4 TLC
- PSU
- 110v AC Adapter
- Case
- Stock
- Cooling
- Stock
- Mouse
- Logitech M325 Wireless
- Keyboard
- Backlit w/10-key numeric pad
- Internet Speed
- 594 down / 485 up (ATT Fiber)
- Browser
- Google Chrome
- Antivirus
- Windows Defender
- Other Info
- WiFi 6
