Unable to Use the My Documents Shortcut on the Desktop
This article was previously published under Q189952
If this article does not describe the error message that you are receiving, view the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article to view more articles that describe error messages: 315854 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315854/EN-US/) Windows 98 and Windows Me Error Message Resource Center
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you
modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore
the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the
registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986/EN-US/) Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry
SYMPTOMS
When you double-click or right-click the My Documents shortcut on the
desktop, you may receive the following error message:
Explorer This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If you then click Details, you may see either of the following informational messages:
CAUSE
This problem can occur if the value of the Personal value in the following
registry key does not have the path to the My Documents folder or is
blank:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders RESOLUTION
WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that
may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot
guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry
Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. To resolve this problem, restart your computer, and then use Registry Editor to view the following registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders Modify the value of the Personal value to be the path to the My Documents folder (by default, this is c:\My Documents). STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows 98.
MORE INFORMATION
For related information about a similar issue, please see the following
article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
ARTICLE-ID: 188604 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/188604/EN-US/) TITLE : Problems When You Click Find Target on a Desktop Shortcut
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