I have Adobe Acrobat 5 (not just the reader) on my computer, and after i installed it a folder entitled “Adobe,” with a subfolder “Acrobat,” appeared in “My Documents.” These folder were empty, and i didn’t see the need for them, so i deleted them. But when i started my computer the next time, there they were. I tried deleting them again; same story.
I went into Edit>Preferences>General in Acrobat, because i thought there might be a control there that would allow me to delete the folder, but i couldn’t find it. Can anyone help me with this (admittedly minor) problem.
Are you on a LAN where mandatory user profiles are enforced? If I log on to the network server I get a mandatory profile shoved down my throat and the “my documents” shortcut from the start menu points to some alien folder on a central network machine.
On 2nd read, you say this just started happening after your Adobe install so I’m probably off target.
IIRC, Acrobat installs its engine as a printer driver, which loads at startup. That’s probably what’s creating the directory. What it’s used for is a different question.
Does Save default to that Acrobat folder? Lots of apps come with a built-in standard location for new files (though good ones remember where you saved last), and I’ve seen a few that create the directory automatically.
No, just me and my computer at home. Along with everyone on SDMB, of course.
It does install itself as a printer driver, which is good for me because i don’t actually own a printer and i can now “print” webpages that i want to keep for my records (online receipts, etc.). But i always save to a different folder, and Acrobat seems to remember the folder fine, so i don’t know why the new folders are always created.
You haven’t specified the OS, so it may be a bit difficult. I have both Win98 and Win2K, with Acrobat 5 (reader only), and the mysterious folders aren’t there. This should point you in the direction that the full-blown Adobe package could be the culprit. Depends, of course, on you OS.
Just one more reason I don’t use my “My Documents” folder at all. Quite apart from the annoyingly twee name that sets my teeth on edge (don’t people grow out of labelling things that way by age 10?), every other application (Acrobat included) feels at liberty to dip into it, setting up more annoyingly named directories to suit itself without a by-your-leave.
That’s a great idea. I always just used My Documents without thinking too much about it. But now i’ve transferred all my own files to another folder, and left My Documents alone with its empty Adobe folders.
Actually, I think the ‘my documents’ directory is a great idea. Over the last 5 years I have changed computers and or wiped a machine and started from stratch (at home and at work) about 15 times, and let me tell you, it’s a lot easier to grab a single directory, dump it some where (on the network, to another drive etc) that to grab a whole bunch or random directories all over the computer. This is actually one of the things that I hated about MacOS pre OSX… the user was free to put thier files anywhere they wanted, resulting in upgrade nightmares.
You know, inside the ‘my documents’ directory you free to organize the files however you wish. Even Apple, the computer organization for the free thinking computer user, has moved on to assigned user directories for files.
For those that dispise the ‘my documents’ directory, I’d say it’s time to bite the bullet and realize that computers are going to be organized with indiviral user directories for quite some time… you absolutely right that you don;t have to use it, but your just making it more difficult on your self when you upgrade to your next computer (unless you plan on using that PIII/800 for the rest of your life)
Seriously, though, you have a point. But you can also just create another directory with a different name, and put all your files in there so they are easy to move.
Who says my directories are all over the place? As I said, I organise my files as I want them. There’s no place for any directories that start off with “My”.
And if you think that grabbing just your “My Documents” folder is going to do the job, then you’re in for a surprise. No one could ever accuse Microsoft of consistancy, some of their own applications break the rules.
Like Outlook, for example. It’s as if they don’t want you to be able to find the file where it stores all its info! Running Office XP under Win XP, it ends up in C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. Whew!
