Symptoms

The Shared Documents folder may get renamed to Documents. The changes may be reflected in Windows Explorer, My Computer and other areas. Also, accessing the folder may cause Access Denied error message.

Cause

This may happen due to any of the following reasons:

  • Missing Desktop.ini file in the Documents folder
  • The read-only attribute for the Documents folder has been removed
  • Incorrect permissions assigned for the Documents folder (for NTFS only)

Resolution

Missing Desktop.ini file in the Documents folder

The Shared Documents folder is located here:

%Allusersprofile%\Documents

The Desktop.ini in that folder contains a line named LocalizedResourceName which specifies a resource module and the string ID to use as the name of the folder to display when viewed using the File Explorer or the Shell. When viewed in Windows Explorer, the Documents folder (above location) is displayed as Shared Documents.

Therefore, missing Desktop.ini means that the special folder name is not assigned, and Windows Explorer displays the actual folder name (Documents). To reinstate the folder name back, simply create a file named Desktop.ini using Notepad, in the above path. The Desktop.ini file should contain the following content:

[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@shell32.dll,-21785

Set the read-only attribute for the Documents folder

In order for the shell to process the Desktop.ini in a folder, that particular folder has to be marked with the Read only attribute. Follow these steps to set the read-only attribute for the Documents folder.

Click Start, Run and type this exactly as given:

cmd /c attrib +r "%allusersprofile%\documents"

Tip: Unlike the Read-only attribute for a file, the Read-only attribute for a folder is typically ignored by Windows, Windows components and accessories, and other programs. For example, you can delete, rename, and change a folder with the Read-only attribute by using Windows Explorer. The Read-only and System attributes is only used by Windows Explorer to determine whether the folder is a special folder, such as a system folder that has its view customized by Windows (for example, My Documents, Favorites, Fonts, Downloaded Program Files), or a folder that you customized by using the Customize tab of the folder's Properties dialog box.

Verify the Permissions for the Documents folder

Incorrect permissions to the Documents folder causes "Access Denied" error message. Also, the Desktop.ini file may not get processed. As a result, the folder may simply show as Documents, instead of displaying the special name (Shared Documents). To fix the permissions, see instructions in the following article:

Access is denied when opening the Shared Documents folder?