Deleted the documents and settings folder, could I just recreate it?


S

SwitchS

Well-known member
Local time
3:01 PM
Posts
17
OS
W11
I was cleaning up files and I ended up deleting it in treesize thinking it was something else but it never went to my recycle bin so its just gone, I understand what it is now after looking it up and don't think I'll have any issues as I don't use older programs really. However I was curious if I could just recreate it and make it a junction link to users and it just not being system protected, would it function the same?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W11
@SwitchS

Might want to try this first...


Open a command prompt as Admin, and copy/paste the command below...

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Home ♦♦♦26100.3775 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦24H2 ♦♦♦non-Insider
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® [May 2020]
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
    Motherboard
    Asus Pro WS X570-ACE (BIOS 5002)
    Memory
    G.Skill (F4-3200C14D-16GTZKW)
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA RTX 2070 (08G-P4-2171-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC1220P / ALC S1220A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U3011 30"
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2x Samsung 860 EVO 500GB,
    WD 4TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    WD 8TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    DRW-24B1ST CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling 750W Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Cooler Master ATCS 840 Tower
    Cooling
    CM Hyper 212 EVO (push/pull)
    Keyboard
    Ducky DK9008 Shine II Blue LED
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-100
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox (latest)
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Internet Security
    Other Info
    Speakers: Klipsch Pro Media 2.1
  • Operating System
    Windows XP Pro 32bit w/SP3
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® (not in use)
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (OC'd @ 3.2Ghz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
    Memory
    TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX (2 x 1GB, DDR2 800)
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR GeForce 8600GT SSC
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic G90FB Black 19" Professional (CRT)
    Screen Resolution
    up to 2048 x 1536
    Hard Drives
    WD 36GB 10,000rpm Raptor SATA
    Seagate 80GB 7200rpm SATA
    Lite-On LTR-52246S CD/RW
    Lite-On LH-18A1P CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Generic Beige case, 80mm fans
    Cooling
    ZALMAN 9500A 92mm CPU Cooler
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-BT96a
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keybooard 200
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox 3.x ??
    Antivirus
    Symantec (Norton)
    Other Info
    Still assembled, still runs. Haven't turned it on for 15 years?
As far as I remember, the Documents & Settings Folder is an old windows XP/7 thing.
You may have one if you are running really old software that creates the folder for it’s purpose.
It’s just a junction (link) to something in (or The) user folders.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 Build 22631.5039
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Sin-built
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770K CPU @ 3.50GHz (4th Gen?)
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus VI Formula
    Memory
    32.0 GB of I forget and the box is in storage.
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte nVidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super OC 6GB
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    5 x LG 25MS500-B - 1 x 24MK430H-B - 1 x Wacom Pro 22" Tablet
    Screen Resolution
    All over the place
    Hard Drives
    Too many to list.
    OS on Samsung 1TB 870 QVO SATA
    PSU
    Silverstone 1500
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 820 Full-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D15 Elite Class Dual Tower CPU Cooler / 6 x EziDIY 120mm / 2 x Corsair 140mm somethings / 1 x 140mm Thermaltake something / 2 x 200mm Corsair.
    Keyboard
    Corsair K95 / Logitech diNovo Edge Wireless
    Mouse
    Logitech: G402 / G502 / Mx Masters / MX Air Cordless
    Internet Speed
    1000/400Mbps
    Browser
    All sorts
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky Premium
    Other Info
    I’m on a horse.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 Build: 22631.4249
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    LENOVO Yoga 7i EVO OLED 14" Touchscreen i5 12 Core 16GB/512GB
    CPU
    Intel Core 12th Gen i5-1240P Processor (1.7 - 4.4GHz)
    Memory
    16GB LPDDR5 RAM
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics Processor
    Sound Card
    Optimized with Dolby Atmos®
    Screen Resolution
    QHD 2880 x 1800 OLED
    Hard Drives
    M.2 512GB
    Antivirus
    Defender / Malwarebytes
    Other Info
    …still on a horse.
You can re-create it as you asked, but I can tell you I remove all of these legacy junctions and have been doing so since before Windows 10.

If ever ran across an application that needed one of those old folder names, that would tell me the app is old, poorly-written, or both and should be avoided.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Intel NUC12WSHi7
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P, 2100 MHz
    Motherboard
    NUC12WSBi7
    Memory
    64 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    built-in Realtek HD audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U3219Q
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160 @ 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 990 PRO 1TB
    Keyboard
    CODE 104-Key Mechanical with Cherry MX Clears
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
  • Operating System
    Linux Mint 21.2 (Cinnamon)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Intel NUC8i5BEH
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8259U CPU @ 2.30GHz
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Iris Plus 655
    Keyboard
    CODE 104-Key Mechanical with Cherry MX Clears
It is a junction to C:\users
You could use Junction in a Admin command prompt to re-create it.

<path to>junction64.exe "C:\Documents and Setting" "C:\users"

So if junction64 is on C:\ in command prompt you type:

C:\junction64.exe "C:\Documents and Setting" "C:\users"
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
The Documents and Settings directory is just a Place Holder to be backward compatible with Windows XP and older versions of Windows you may be trying to access from an older drive. This place holder has no use in modern Windows since Vista, 7, 8, 10 or 11. It does not need to be recreated.
The folders that were previously under this directory (ie) Documents, Pictures, Music etc now are under their own setting at C:\Users\UserName\Documents, Pictures or whatever etc.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 64 bit 24H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Gigabyte Z390 UD
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 77000 3.60
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z390 UD
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GEForce RTX 2060 Super
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Two 27" Dell 4K monitors
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    M.2 NVME SSD, 500 GB; Two 2TB Mechanical HDD's
    PSU
    850w PSU
    Case
    Cyberpower PC
    Cooling
    Water cooled
    Keyboard
    Backlit Cyberpower gamiong keyboard
    Mouse
    Backlit Cyberpower gaming mouse
    Internet Speed
    1 GB mbps
    Browser
    Brave
    Antivirus
    Windows Security
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Documents and Settings folder
Replies
7
Views
17K
BrianInEngland
B

Latest Support Threads

Latest Tutorials

Back
Top Bottom