I've deleted the "Pictures" folder and can't get it back...

[aaronvvright]

I can re-create it in C:\Users\Aaron, but it doesn't have the "magic" that the old one used to. For one, it doesn't have the special icon. Secondly, I can't right-click it and move its source location like I can with Music, Documents, Downloads, etc. (which is what I trying to do in the first place!)

I'd really like to have my "Pictures" folder back and running normally. I've tried the "Previous Version" thing, and rolled it back to the very beginning (which was last night, I just installed Vista for the first time ever about 24 hours ago). That didn't help, but it is using the special icon again.

Thanks a million for any help with this!

- Aaron

http://www.offtone.com

 

[linney]

If you right-click on Pictures and select Properties/ Customize, is it set for any Template besides "Pictures and Video"?

Also when you are in Properties, is there a Tab for "Location".

Maybe you could delete the Pictures folder and copy the Pictures folder from another Profile such as Default or Public?

 

[aaronvvright]

Setting to "Pictures and Video" doesn't do anything. There's something that makes those folders special, and I've managed to forever break whatever that was...

If you right-click "Pictures" in either Public or Default, you'll notice there isn't a "Location" tab on there, either. I even created a new user (another Admin) and right-clicked the "Magic" folders on that account (while logged in!) and there wasn't a "Location" tab on ANY of them. Only on the root account, it seems, is there a special meaning for those folders. By root account, I mean the one created when installing Windows.

Any other ideas? I'm stumped.

http://www.offtone.com

 

[linney]

Can you do another clean install or was it an upgrade of XP?

You could try registering a dll and see if it does anything (just a guess)?

From an Elevated Prompt type regsvr32 /i shell32.dll

 

[aaronvvright]

I could do another clean install, but I'd much rather not...

What's the registering of that DLL do, exactly? And what's an "Elevated Prompt"? Like, the command prompt? Haha. Never heard the term before, is all.

I'll give it a shot.

http://www.offtone.com

 

[tlcscousin]

Try RIGHT Click the start button and select properties
Go to Start Menu tab
Select customize
scroll down the list to Pictures
select
Display as a Link
select OK

If that does not put the Icon back then select Use Default Settings and see if that works.

 

[aaronvvright]

Hey, thanks for the ideas.

Somehow (and I've really no idea at all how this happened) the folder has repaired itself. It may have been a Windows Update that fixed it, or one of the updates purged a cache or something similar, but the "Pictures" folder was completely "magical" when my computer booted back up. And I'd already tried rebooting before.

Bizarre... But good news! If it happens again (and it probably will the next time I format ) I'll give those ideas a try.

Thanks again for the help, guys.

- Aaron

http://www.offtone.com

 

[linney]

An Elevated Prompt is where you start a Command Prompt by right-clicking on it and using the Run As Administrator option. In Vista, Administrators are only running with the Privileges of a Standard User, that is why you see all those extra User Access Control warnings.

Reregistering a Dll file is done when Windows loses track of an important Dll file and you help it rediscover it. But you don't have to worry about that now.