Information about Special Windows Folders

SHGetSpecialFolderLocation Function

Retrieves a pointer to the ITEMIDLIST structure of a special folder.

Syntax

HRESULTSHGetSpecialFolderLocation(
HWNDhwndOwner,intnFolder,PIDLIST_ABSOLUTE*ppidl);

Parameters

hwndOwner

[in]Reserved.

nFolder

[in]A CSIDL value that identifies the folder of interest.

ppidl

[out]A pointer to an item identifier list (PIDL) specifying the folder's location relative to the root of the namespace (the desktop). It is the responsibility of the calling application to free the returned IDList by using CoTaskMemFree.

Return Value

Remarks

With Microsoft Windows 2000, this function is superseded by SHGetFolderLocation.

FunctionInformation

Minimum DLL Version	shell32.dll version 4.0 or later
Custom Implementation	No
Header	shlobj.h
Import library	shell32.lib
Minimum operating systems	Windows NT4.0, Windows95

See Also

SHGetSpecialFolderPath

** Information about Special Windows Folders **

Windows has a number of special folders such as My Documents and My Programs that are located in different location on you system depending on the version of Windows, the way you computer is set up - both for hardware and software - and who is currently logged on to the system.

FileBoss can give you agreat deal of information about these special folders on your system.

From the main menu select 'Tools | Special Folders..' to bring up the following dialog.

Special Folders List
( 'Tools | Special Folders...')

Below are explanations of all the possible folders through Windows 2003.

Admin Tools

File system directory used to store administrative tools for an individual user. The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) saves customized consoles to this directory, and it roams with the user.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools\

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_ADMINTOOLS

Admin Tools, Common

Folder that contains administrative tools for all users.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_COMMON_ADMINTOOLS

App Data

Default folder for storing application-specific data files.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\Application Data

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_APPDATA

App Data, Common

Application data for all users.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA

App Data, Local

Default folder for storing local (nonroaming) applications.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\Local Settings\Application Data

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_LOCAL_APPDATA

CD Burn Area

File system folder used to hold data for burning to a CD.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\CD Burning\

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_CDBURN_AREA

Cookies

Default folder for storing Internet cook!es.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\Cookies

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_COOKIES

Desktop

Windows desktop: All of the items you see on the screen that represent real files and folders. See also Desktop, Common and Desktop Directoy.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\Desktop

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_DESKTOP

Desktop Dir

Folder that physically stores file objects on the desktop (this may or may not be the same folder as the Desktop folder itself). See also Desktop, Common and Desktop.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\Desktop

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_DESKTOPDIRECTORY

Desktop Dir, Common

Folder that contains files and folders that appear on the desktop for all users. See also Desktop and Desktop Directoy.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_COMMON_DESKTOPDIRECTORY

Documents, Common

Folder containing d0cuments that are common to all users.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_COMMON_DOCUMENTS

Favorites

Default folder for storing a user's favorite items.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\Favorites

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_FAVORITES

Favorites, Common

Default folder for storing all user's favorite items.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Favorites

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_COMMON_FAVORITES

Fonts

Folder that contains the font definition files.

Example: C:\Windows\Fonts

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_ FONTS

History

Default folder for storing Internet history items.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\Local Settings\History

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_HISTORY

Internet Temp Files

Default folder for storing temporary Internet files.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_INTERNET_CACHE

My Documents

Default folder for storing d0cuments. Note that this is usually different from the virtual My Documents folder in the name space (normally on the desktop).

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\My Documents

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_PERSONAL

My Music

Folder that serves as a common place to store music files.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\My Music

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_ MYMUSIC

My Music, Common

My Music folder for all users. For more information, see CSIDL_MYMUSIC.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Music

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_COMMON_MUSIC

My Pictures

My Pictures folder for current user. Typically located below the user's My Documents folder

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\My Documents\My Pictures

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_MYPICTURES

My Pictures, Common

My Pictures folder for all users. For more information, see CSIDL_MYPICTURES.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Pictures

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_COMMON_PICTURES

My Video

Folder that serves as a common place to store video files.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\My Video

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_ MYVIDEO

My Video, Common

My Video folder for all users. For more information, see CSIDL_MYVIDEO.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Video

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_COMMON_VIDEO

NetHood

Contains the physical link objects that can exist in the My Network Places virtual folder.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\NetHood

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_ NETHOOD

OEM Links, Common

Folder containing links to OEM specific applications for all users.

Example: C:\

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_COMMON_OEM_LINKS

PrintHood

Folder containing link objects that can exist in the Printers virtual folder.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\PrintHood

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_PRINTHOOD

Profile

See User Profile.

Program Files

Program Files folder.

Example: C:\Program Files

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES

Program Files, Common

A folder for components that are shared across applications.

Example: C:\Program Files\Common Files

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES_COMMON

Program Groups

Folder containing the user's program groups (folders). These are the entries that appear in the Programs section of the Start Menu.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\Start Menu\Programs

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_ PROGRAMS

Program Groups, Common

Folder that contains the directories for the common program groups that appear in the Start Menu for all users.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_COMMON_PROGRAMS

Recently Used Docs

Folder that contains the user's most recently used d0cuments. The entries in this folder are short cuts to the actual d0cuments.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\My Recent Documents

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_RECENT

Resources

System resource directory.

Example: C:\Windows\Resources

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_RESOURCES

Resources, Localized

Localized resource directory. For more information, see CSIDL_RESOURCES.

Example: C:\

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_RESOURCES_LOCALIZED

SendTo

Folder that contains Send To menu items. Normally theses are the folders, both real and virtual, that appear under the Send To item on the Edit and popup menus

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\SendTo

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_SENDTO

StartMenu

Folder that contains Start Menu items.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\Start Menu

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_STARTMENU

StartMenu, Common

Folder that contains the programs and folders that appear on the Start Menu for all users.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_COMMON_STARTMENU

StartUp

Folder that corresponds to the user's Startup program group. The system starts these programs whenever a user logs onto Windows NT??, 2000, XP or starts Windows?? 98.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_STARTUP

StartUp, Alternate

Folder that corresponds to the user's nonlocalized Startup program group.

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_ALTSTARTUP

StartUp, Common

Folder that contains the programs that appear in the Startup folder for all users.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Start Up

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_COMMON_STARTUP

StartUp, Common Alternate

Folder that corresponds to the nonlocalized Startup program group for all users. Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_COMMON_ALTSTARTUP

System

System folder. Contains operating system files and application extensions.

Example: C:\Windows\System32\

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_SYSTEM

SystemX86

The x86 system directory on Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) systems. (Also valid on some recent versions of Windows where it is commonly set to the same directory as System.

Example: C:\Windows\System32

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_SYSTEMX86

Templates

Default folder for storing d0cument templates.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John\Templates

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_TEMPLATES

Templates, Common

Folder that contains the templates that are available to all users.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Templates

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_COMMON_TEMPLATES

User Profile

User's profile folder.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\John

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_PROFILE

Windows

Windows directory or SYSROOT. This is the same as the %windir% or %SYSTEMROOT% environment variables.

Example: C:\Windows\

Programmer's symbol: CSIDL_WINDOWS