How to stop the My eBooks, My Videos, and My Music subfolders from appearing in 
the My Documents folder in Windows XP and later:

Here is a more efficient way to do that.

Each new version of Windows seems to add a new set of subfolders to the My Documents 
folder. If you delete these subfolders, Windows will automatically recreate them 
the next time you log on. To stop Windows from creating these subfolders every time, 
perform the following steps: 

From the Start menu, select Run, enter the command
 
regsvr32 /u mydocs.dll 

to unregister the .dll file, then click OK. 

Navigate to My Documents, then delete the automatically created folders that you 
no longer want to appear. 

The steps above disable the My Documents functions, so if your system is missing 
some functionality, you'll need to reregister mydocs.dll. If you want to reregister 
the .dll file, perform the above steps again but use the command 

regsvr32 mydocs.dll

Tip: Run a free scan for common Windows errors ad

re: Question about 'Stop Windows XP from creating the My Pictures folder' Saturday, December 18, 2004 at 6:04 am Posted by Bob Hawkes (4 messages posted) I was really pleased to find all the advice given, as I too hate the My Pictures folder. Unfortunately Microsoft Office Picture Manager also opens up a new My Pictures folder each time I use it. OK, I know that one answer is not to use the Picture Manager, but is there another solution please? On Thursday, October 14, 2004 at 3:01 pm, Hugo Miura wrote: >How to stop the My eBooks, My Videos, and My Music subfolders from appearing in >the My Documents folder in Windows XP and later: > >Here is a more efficient way to do that. > >Each new version of Windows seems to add a new set of subfolders to the My Documents >folder. If you delete these subfolders, Windows will automatically recreate them >the next time you log on. To stop Windows from creating these subfolders every time, >perform the following steps: > >From the Start menu, select Run, enter the command > >regsvr32 /u mydocs.dll > >to unregister the .dll file, then click OK. > >Navigate to My Documents, then delete the automatically created folders that you >no longer want to appear. > >The steps above disable the My Documents functions, so if your system is missing >some functionality, you'll need to reregister mydocs.dll. If you want to reregister >the .dll file, perform the above steps again but use the command > >regsvr32 mydocs.dll > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question about 'Stop Windows XP from creating the My Pictures folder' Tuesday, January 4, 2005 at 5:07 pm Posted by Kory Luke (1 messages posted) I followed your instructions and disabled the .dll file but PhotoDraw still created a My Pictures folder when I tried to Save. Is there anyway to stop programs from automatically creating these folders (ie. My Pictures, My Music, My Ebooks, etc...) On Saturday, December 18, 2004 at 6:04 am, Bob Hawkes wrote: >I was really pleased to find all the advice given, as I too hate the My Pictures >folder. Unfortunately Microsoft Office Picture Manager also opens up a new My Pictures >folder each time I use it. OK, I know that one answer is not to use the Picture Manager, >but is there another solution please? > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question about 'Stop Windows XP from creating the My Pictures folder' Monday, July 25, 2005 at 3:40 am Posted by mark d. doiron (1 messages posted) unfortunately, while this obviously is working for some folks, it doesn't work on my system for several reasons. first, regserv32.* does not work on my win xp home system. not only do i get a "file doesn't exist" error at the command prompt, but a hard drive search says the file doesn't exist. second, these folders are not all created by win xp. my pictures is created every time i open powerpoint. my ebooks is created every time i open adobe reader. and myvideos is created when i go to save a job in windows moviemaker. ulead dvd maker also creates its own file folders. i've complained to microsoft that they shouldn't be so presumptive as to assume that i want all my work stored by file type. i work by projects, and i store my work that way. it's no wonder folks are looking for better ways to find things if they store all the same types of files together. think how ludicrous it would be for me to store the thousands of images i shoot in one folder? and, sometimes i shoot videos and write doc's in conjunction with those images, and maybe make a powerpoint presentation, and i want all the same job stored together. sorry, this seems so terribly obvious that i'm frustrated because the programmers out there don't get it. mark d. On Thursday, October 14, 2004 at 3:01 pm, Hugo Miura wrote: >How to stop the My eBooks, My Videos, and My Music subfolders from appearing in >the My Documents folder in Windows XP and later: > >Here is a more efficient way to do that. > >Each new version of Windows seems to add a new set of subfolders to the My Documents >folder. If you delete these subfolders, Windows will automatically recreate them >the next time you log on. To stop Windows from creating these subfolders every time, >perform the following steps: > >From the Start menu, select Run, enter the command > >regsvr32 /u mydocs.dll > >to unregister the .dll file, then click OK. > >Navigate to My Documents, then delete the automatically created folders that you >no longer want to appear. > >The steps above disable the My Documents functions, so if your system is missing >some functionality, you'll need to reregister mydocs.dll. If you want to reregister >the .dll file, perform the above steps again but use the command > >regsvr32 mydocs.dll > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question about 'Stop Windows XP from creating the My Pictures folder' Monday, July 25, 2005 at 7:12 am Posted by Falcon (13489 messages posted) That's regsvr32. Spelling it right helps alot. Delete the file ebooks.api--I think that's the name--from Adobe's plugins folder. EBooks should be gone. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders My Malware Removal Instructions Perform the following: Disable System Restore * Perform an online virus scan * * * * . Download, update, and run these tools: Spybot Search & Destroy * Lavasoft Adaware * CWShredder * Repeat as necessary until clean. If you still experience problems after doing these steps, download HijackThis * and post a log to this forum. To protect against reinfection, download and use these: If at all possible, I recommend that you use alternative software, particularly web browsers and email clients: Web Browsers * * * Email Clients * * If this is not a viable option, or for additional protection, use these: Javacool's SpywareBlaster * Javacool's SpywareGuard * Malware-blocking HOSTS file * IE-SPYAD * , Internet Explorer only Optionally Reenable System Restore * . Better alternatives to System Restore. If you encounter any broken links, please inform me of them. Also note that these links direct through my web server to allow me to keep them up-to-date or post additional info. If you are unable to use the links above, click the stars instead, which are a direct link to the page in question. [Reply or follow-up to this message] All this trouble and it still keeps re-appearing Tuesday, April 18, 2006 at 1:17 am Posted by Roel (1 messages posted) I tried all the tips in this forum, but even after unregging mydocs.dll and deleting all copies of it, that blasted My Pictures directory kept re-appearing to feed my angst and hate. Does anyone have a tip to at least stop it from showing those horrible thumbnails instead of a nice and tidy list of icons? [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: All this trouble and it still keeps re-appearing Wednesday, April 26, 2006 at 12:55 am Posted by Kashif Noorani (1 messages posted) Try TweakUI: http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/c/a/fca6767b-9ed9-45a6-b352-839afb2a2679/TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe It allows you to redirect the "My Pictures" and "My Documents" folders. Use the "Special Folders" combo box. On Tuesday, April 18, 2006 at 1:17 am, Roel wrote: >I tried all the tips in this forum, but even after unregging mydocs.dll and deleting >all copies of it, that blasted My Pictures directory kept re-appearing to feed my >angst and hate. > >Does anyone have a tip to at least stop it from showing those horrible thumbnails >instead of a nice and tidy list of icons? [Reply or follow-up to this message] Tip: Use one of the [Reply or follow-up to this message] links above to add a message to this thread Search this forum Start a new thread on a different subject Report abuse of the forum Return to the Windows XP Discussion Forum