Cannot move "Pictures" Folder

Question

Let me first apologize for this long thread. I wanted to be accurate with the issue at hand. I have recently installed a new hard drive, with the intent of moving the "Pictures" folder to it, and using it primarily for this purpose given that my current disk is nearly full (due to photos). I have tried to move the folder by selecting it, opening properties -- location tab, and move. Current hard drive is "E:\Users\Christine\Pictures" and so I created a folder on my new G drive as "G:\Pictures", selected this folder and started the move. This moved 2 terabytes of data (the size of my original pictures folder), but when it completed, it stated that the operation failed, possibly because a file name had too many characters (I am sorry, I do not have the exact wording but that is close). It stated the operation was "Cancelled by the user", but that is not accurate -- I did not cancel it at all. When I look at my G drive, the drive appears to contain all the pictures I intended to move. At least, when comparing what is still in the original E drive location, and the G drive, the setup looks identical. I compared these by adjusting the screen size to look the same on two monitors, and scrolled through the folders, mirroring the action. Every row contains the same folder, and the apparent same images in each folder. When I open the "Properties" of each respective folder, I notice that they have the near the same size (2.19 TB each but 2,417,043,883,896 bytes on E and 2,417,043,877,748 bytes on G) . I did receive one message that a file could not be copied and I needed to skip this file. The E: drive Contains 699,744 Files, 29,285 Folders and G: contains 699,743 Files, 29,285 Folders, so I only lost one photo, apparently (I can live with that!). When I open each respective folder, the original E: drive folder still has a "locations" tab -- indicating that it can be moved, but the new G: drive folder does not have a "locations" tab. I suspect, then, that the computer still sees the E: drive folder as the primary pictures folder and would store new picture in it. Can I somehow "tell" the computer (perhaps registry edit), that the G: drive "Pictures" folder is the new default so that I can delete the E: Pictures folder? Thank you for looking at this and offering suggestions/solutions. I certainly appreciate it.

Answer 1

You said:

"Current hard drive is "E:\Users\Christine\Pictures..."

This means more than just the Pictures folder was moved, your entire User directory is now on E according to the path you give. This is never correct.

If this is not correct then please explain what the actual path is for Users\Christine and what the actual path is for Pictures.

If as you said you followed the same tutorial as I linked it will only be the Pictures folder on E. You said it still has the Location Tab. Open that and choose Restore Default, then Apply and OK. When it prompts to move files do not move them since they're already where you want them on G.

Confirm the path has restored to C:\Users\Christine\Pictures.

Restart PC, now follow the tutorial to move Pictures folder to G to the folder you created for it there, but again Do not opt to move files since they are already there. Afterwards confirm the Pictures folder on G has the Picture icon on it which signifies the official Shell Picture folder.

If any problems see Option Two here to recreate the Shell Pictures folder in it's default location: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/23504-resto.... This tutorial will always result in the folders being restored from my experience handling these cases countless thousands of times.

Answer 2

Open regedit and navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

In the right-hand pane, check the path data for 'My Pictures' and (if it exists) '{0DDD015D-B06C-45D5-8C4C-F59713854639}'

These should both have the path to your desired pictures folder. Edit as desired. This only changes what folder is designated as your user's Pictures folder --- it doesn't affect any files.

Keith

Answer 3

Thank you for the reply. My C: drive is a SSD and my computer came with it set up the way it is (at least as far as I can recall). My programs are on this drive. The E: drive is a 3 TB drive and was designated to store all the data. I actually used the tutorial you linked to, exactly. When it didn't work the first time, I tried it again and got the same result. The move takes about 9 hours to complete so I did not try a 3rd time (yet). I have not attempted a clean install as you have suggested. I'm not necessarily opposed but that is an all day job and I don't typically have more than an hour per day at this computer (home computer).

Answer 4

Hi Christine. I'm Greg, an installation specialist and 9 year Windows MVP, here to help you.

Why is WIndows on E Drive? That's quite wrong, and can only happen if it was wrongly installed from C drive to another drive without properly booting the media. There are many reasons why Windows should always be on C drive. Have you had problems yet with it on E?

It appears that it moved the folder contents but not the Location, possibly due to one file with too long of a name. But it's strange that it did not remove them from the old location as normally happens when you move a User folder and choose to include files.

What I'd do is go through the Move operation again exactly as shown in this tutorial, but this time do not choose to move the files. http://www.dummies.com/computers/operating-syst...

If this does not help then I'll help you change the location manually in registry.

But with WIndows not on C as it should be, I would also consider reinstalling properly following the illustrated steps in this link which compile the best possible Clean Install of Windows which will stay that way as long as you stick with the tools and methods given, has zero reported problems, and is better than any amount of money could buy: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki...

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and let us know how it goes. I will keep working with you until it's resolved.

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Answer 5

Hi, Olszanski,

Try Saving a Picture from the Internet to the New Folder

Use Save As option, not Save

When the Window Opens it will go to the old location

Browse to the New Location and this should change it to default

Meanwhile, open File Explorer (The folder icon in Taskbar)

Look in the Left Pane

Do you see the New Drive?

In the New Drive > Launch File Manager

Do you see Pictures Folder in the Left Pane?

If yes, Click on it

Is it the new Pictures Folder

Are the photos you describe in this folder?

Windows has set up Container Folders (i.e. Documents, Pictures, etc..

To Windows these folders are located on the Primary Drive

If you named a Folder on the New Drive Pictures you've duplicated the Containing Folder"s Name

Try naming the Folder My Pictures or something to your liking.

See if that works for you.

It's ordinarily recommended not to move System Files to a different location. This could result in complications with Windows Updates.