When I first started working with Windows 7, I was pleased that the USERPROFILE envar was still available and pointed to the correct directory. Today I'm trying to use ALLUSERSPROFILE with disappointing results. Why is it set to c:\ProgramData rather than to c:\Users\Public? I feel like I must be missing something obvious.

Hi, This was modified after Windows Vista, please kindly refer to the following system directory junctions: C:\Users\All Users points to C:\ProgramData C:\ProgramData\Desktop points to C:\Users\Public\Desktop. C:\ProgramData\Documents points to C:\Users\Public\Documents. C:\ProgramData\Favorites points to C:\Users\Public\Favorites For more information, you could look into the following links: Modifying the All Users profile in Vista or Windows Server 2008 Application Compatibility: Junction Points and Backup Applications Hope it helps. Alex ZhaoPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

hmmm, so how do you explain this behaviour: <pre> C:\temp>dir %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Desktop Volume in drive C is GonZo Volume Serial Number is 03B2-79CA Directory of C:\ProgramData\Desktop File Not Found C:\temp>dir C:\Users\Public\Desktop Volume in drive C is GonZo Volume Serial Number is 03B2-79CA Directory of C:\Users\Public\Desktop [file list snipped] 24 File(s) 39,339 bytes 0 Dir(s) 1,745,463,898,112 bytes free C:\temp> </pre>