"Unable to expand shell folder 'userdocs'"
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LittleMerrill
- Posts: 21
- Joined: 2010-05-04 05:35
"Unable to expand shell folder 'userdocs'"
Recently had a HDD go bad, so i removed BF2 from it, and reinstalled it on my new HDD. I installed BF2, did the patches, and when i go to install PR, i get the ""Unable to expand shell folder 'userdocs'" error. It is after I put the password in, and press install. I tried putting the old HDD back in and deleting any PR files, and then formatted the drive just in case. Still have the problem. I then went in to my user account folders and deleted anything PR related. Finally, I tried one last thing(internet said) to make sure my 'my documents' folder was correct with the new HDD. Still cant figure it out. Anyone able to help me?
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LITOralis.nMd
- Retired PR Developer
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- Joined: 2010-04-10 16:15
Re: "Unable to expand shell folder 'userdocs'"
old HDD was C: drive?
new HDD is what letter?
old BF2 was installed on which drive letter?
new BF2 is installed on which drive letter?
Quick test for user folder locations:
Go to your User folder.
Right click your user folder you want to examine (ex. the "My Documents" folder).
Click "Properties."
Click the "Location" tab.
Is it C:\Users\[USERNAME]\Documents or D:\Users\[USERNAME]\Documents?
You "broke" your user folder locations I think, but that's just a guess on the limited info you gave us.
Is vanilla BF2 working, cause you should be experiencing a similar problem on Documents\Battlefield 2\
You can try to install another program that places file in the My Documents directory, I'd suggest Razer Gamebooster , since it's useful for PR and other games. That will try to create a directory Documents\Razer .. at which point you should get the same error msg.
try this:
new HDD is what letter?
old BF2 was installed on which drive letter?
new BF2 is installed on which drive letter?
Quick test for user folder locations:
Go to your User folder.
Right click your user folder you want to examine (ex. the "My Documents" folder).
Click "Properties."
Click the "Location" tab.
Is it C:\Users\[USERNAME]\Documents or D:\Users\[USERNAME]\Documents?
You "broke" your user folder locations I think, but that's just a guess on the limited info you gave us.
Is vanilla BF2 working, cause you should be experiencing a similar problem on Documents\Battlefield 2\
You can try to install another program that places file in the My Documents directory, I'd suggest Razer Gamebooster , since it's useful for PR and other games. That will try to create a directory Documents\Razer .. at which point you should get the same error msg.
try this:
C:\Users\<User Name>\My Documents
Right click on it and click the Location Tab and click Restore Default Location.
For reference: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... w-location
Method 2: If that fails then refer the article.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/937624
Note: This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following link. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... e-registry
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LittleMerrill
- Posts: 21
- Joined: 2010-05-04 05:35
Re: "Unable to expand shell folder 'userdocs'"
Sorry for lack of info'[R-COM wrote:LITOralis.nMd;1957373']old HDD was C: drive?
new HDD is what letter?
old BF2 was installed on which drive letter?
new BF2 is installed on which drive letter?
Quick test for user folder locations:
Go to your User folder.
Right click your user folder you want to examine (ex. the "My Documents" folder).
Click "Properties."
Click the "Location" tab.
Is it C:\Users\[USERNAME]\Documents or D:\Users\[USERNAME]\Documents?
You "broke" your user folder locations I think, but that's just a guess on the limited info you gave us.
Is vanilla BF2 working, cause you should be experiencing a similar problem on Documents\Battlefield 2\
You can try to install another program that places file in the My Documents directory, I'd suggest Razer Gamebooster , since it's useful for PR and other games. That will try to create a directory Documents\Razer .. at which point you should get the same error msg.
try this:
I had a SSD as my C:
Old HDD was M: (bf2 then)
New HDD is N: (bf2 now)
Weird, but in my user folder, there is no "my documents." Im guessing this is a problem.
Youre correct, bf2 vanilla is also not working. No error message though
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LITOralis.nMd
- Retired PR Developer
- Posts: 5658
- Joined: 2010-04-10 16:15
Re: "Unable to expand shell folder 'userdocs'"
Quick solution would be to change the drive letter for the new hard drive to M:
this would fix some of the problems.
Did you move your user folder locations to save space on the SSD?
this would fix some of the problems.
Is there a Pictures ? Music? subdirectory?Weird, but in my user folder, there is no "my documents."
Did you move your user folder locations to save space on the SSD?
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LittleMerrill
- Posts: 21
- Joined: 2010-05-04 05:35
Re: "Unable to expand shell folder 'userdocs'"
True, but if I do that, every other program will no longer work.[R-COM]LITOralis.nMd wrote:Quick solution would be to change the drive letter for the new hard drive to M:
this would fix some of the problems.
Yes, seems every user subdirectory is there, just the documents is gone. I had moved a few different folder locations to different drives (documents was obviously on the bad drive).[R-COM]LITOralis.nMd wrote:Is there a Pictures ? Music? subdirectory?
Did you move your user folder locations to save space on the SSD?
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LITOralis.nMd
- Retired PR Developer
- Posts: 5658
- Joined: 2010-04-10 16:15
Re: "Unable to expand shell folder 'userdocs'"
EDIT: The "PCs for Dummies" way to fix this is to create a new admin user account,... and reinstall progs and copy your stuff over.
More interesting start of a solution:
You might be aware of what I'm mentioning here,
here's where to start:
Download Junction Link Magic from the developer here:
Junction Link Magic
Using Junction Link Magic to scan the complete system for junctions will let you find all the junctions, including ones that were broken when the hdd died. Junction links do NOT get deleted if you delete the source directory, and that is probably your problem.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1156654/sean ... -ssds-hdds
Scroll down to post 3, expand the Optimizations after System Setup: , and basically either do the reverse to recreate your Documents folder, or create a new one.
More interesting start of a solution:
You might be aware of what I'm mentioning here,
here's where to start:
Download Junction Link Magic from the developer here:
Junction Link Magic
The default My Documents directory in win7 is a junction link to C:\users\[username]\My DocumentsJunction Link Magic lets you create and manage NTFS junction points in a very easy way.
Junction Link Magic automatically lists existing junction points, and it offers you an easy interface to add, modify or remove junction points.
Using Junction Link Magic to scan the complete system for junctions will let you find all the junctions, including ones that were broken when the hdd died. Junction links do NOT get deleted if you delete the source directory, and that is probably your problem.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1156654/sean ... -ssds-hdds
Scroll down to post 3, expand the Optimizations after System Setup: , and basically either do the reverse to recreate your Documents folder, or create a new one.
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LittleMerrill
- Posts: 21
- Joined: 2010-05-04 05:35
Re: "Unable to expand shell folder 'userdocs'"
Testing this as we speak. Hoping it works out. I will let you know'[R-COM wrote:LITOralis.nMd;1957472']
Download Junction Link Magic from the developer here:
Junction Link Magic
The default My Documents directory in win7 is a junction link to C:\users\[username]\My Documents
Using Junction Link Magic to scan the complete system for junctions will let you find all the junctions, including ones that were broken when the hdd died. Junction links do NOT get deleted if you delete the source directory, and that is probably your problem.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1156654/sean ... -ssds-hdds
Scroll down to post 3, expand the Optimizations after System Setup: , and basically either do the reverse to recreate your Documents folder, or create a new one.
EDIT: Just tried it. Found my documents junction is to the C:/User/public/Public Documents folder. But i am unable to move this or create a junction with it. Any ideas?
Last edited by LittleMerrill on 2013-10-16 16:37, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Tested
Reason: Tested
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LITOralis.nMd
- Retired PR Developer
- Posts: 5658
- Joined: 2010-04-10 16:15
Re: "Unable to expand shell folder 'userdocs'"
C:/User/public/Public Documents is for the "Guest" account, not your account.
The safest way to do this is to create a new admin user account.
If you want to keep your current user account:
IDK your user account name, so for this example I will use LittleMerrill
Create a directory at C:\Users\LittleMerrill\My Documents
Notice the space between "My" and "Documents"
2
Download Link Shell Extension (LSE) [1] and select the Users folder, make a right click and click Pick Link Source . Now make a right click again and click on Drop As..->Junction. Now rename this to "Documents" set the attributes to hidden and system (use the attrib command from the command line).
[1] Link Shell Extension
That will give you a directory, C:\Users\LittleMerrill\My Documents
Right click Directory C:\Users\LittleMerrill\My Documents, click Properties
Click Security Tab
Click Users ([PC-NAME]\users)

The safest way to do this is to create a new admin user account.
If you want to keep your current user account:
IDK your user account name, so for this example I will use LittleMerrill
Create a directory at C:\Users\LittleMerrill\My Documents
Notice the space between "My" and "Documents"
2
Download Link Shell Extension (LSE) [1] and select the Users folder, make a right click and click Pick Link Source . Now make a right click again and click on Drop As..->Junction. Now rename this to "Documents" set the attributes to hidden and system (use the attrib command from the command line).
[1] Link Shell Extension
That will give you a directory, C:\Users\LittleMerrill\My Documents
Right click Directory C:\Users\LittleMerrill\My Documents, click Properties
Click Security Tab
Click Users ([PC-NAME]\users)

