The differences between XP and Vista folder locations

April 30th, 2008 by Ross McKillop | Print This Post Print This Post
Windows

So you’ve upgraded to Vista. Now you’re wondering where exactly your files and folders went. This chart breaks down the differences between where Windows XP kept files and where Windows Vista keeps files.

Windows XP         Windows Vista
 
C:\Documents and Settings\         C:\Users\
C:\Documents and Settings\your-username\My Documents\         C:\Users\your-username\Documents\
C:\Documents and Settings\your-username\My Documents\My Pictures\         C:\Users\your-username\Pictures\
C:\Documents and Settings\your-username\My Documents\My Music\         C:\Users\your-username\Music\
C:\Documents and Settings\your-username\Local Settings\         C:\Users\your-username\AppData\Local\
C:\Documents and Settings\your-username\Local Settings\Temp\         C:\Users\your-user-name\AppData\Local\Temp\
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\         C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\

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  1. 6 Responses to “The differences between XP and Vista folder locations”

  2. By Colin on May 1, 2008 | Reply

    Windows 7 will introduce a new shorthand for your home directory: ~/

    ;)

  3. By Don White on May 3, 2008 | Reply

    And C:\Users\ will simply become /home/

  4. By linuxamp on May 6, 2008 | Reply

    If you can’t find your data in the expected directory check the ‘low’ directories. Low integrity apps which write to the directories above in XP may be redirected to write to the ‘low’ directory in Vista.

  5. By Bobkat on May 8, 2008 | Reply

    No I haven’t upgraded to Vista … I’ve upgraded to UBUNTU.
    no problem its all in my Home folder

  6. By Xenomorph on May 8, 2008 | Reply

    C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\ is the shortcut for ALL USERS Start Menu, NOT the “your username” location.

  7. By Ross McKillop on May 8, 2008 | Reply

    @Xenomorph:

    You’re absolutely right, I’ll fix that right now. Cheers!

    Ross

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