Stump the PC Club is a free tech-advice column written by members of the North Orange County Computer Club, which has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org.
QUESTION: The folders listed under Documents in my Windows 7 PC are duplicated in Libraries\Documents. Actually I seem to have three Documents folders. Which is the real My Documents?
PC CLUB: There is only one real My Documents folder in Windows 7 and it is located at C:\Users\User Name\My Documents. If you click Start, Documents you will be taken to the same folder but it will be shown as Libraries\Documents. In general, Microsoft has removed the My portion of the folder names for Documents, Videos, Music and Pictures.
The new Libraries feature in Windows 7 makes it easier to manage your files and folders. The feature provides a central place to manage files that are located in multiple locations throughout your computer. Instead of clicking through a bunch of folders to find the files you need, including them in a library makes for quicker access.
To access the libraries in Windows 7, type libraries into the search box in the Start Menu and hit Enter or you can access libraries by opening Computer (formerly My Computer). The default libraries in Windows 7 will open up in Explorer and contain Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos. Anytime you’re in Windows Explorer, you’ll be able to access libraries from the Navigation Pane.
What if you have documents stored in a folder other than My Documents? You can add it to the Documents Library. There are a couple of ways you can go about it. Right-click on a folder and select Include in library from the context menu, then choose the Documents Library. Keep in mind that when you add a folder to a library, that folder is still in its original location. As a result, this folder is accessible in two places, its original location and from Libraries.
You can remove a folder from the Library as follows:
1. Open the Start Menu.
2. Right click on the User Name button and click on Open
3. Click Libraries on the left
4. Expand the Library that you want to remove a folder from (Ex: Documents)
5. Right click the folder that you want to remove select Remove location from library.
You can read more about this topic at http://lifehac.kr/windowslibraries.
Ed Schwartz is a member of the North Orange County Computer Club. To send in a question, go to edwardns.com and click the Contact Me menu. Archives of previous columns are also on the website.