I am trying to change the directory that my desktop is stored in.
Instead of the current directory C:\Documents and Settings\David
Parks\Desktop, I'd like to define my own directory for it.  I am
running XP Professional.

Here's the catch. I used to do this on previous versions of windows
simply by finding that directory in the registry and changing the
directory it looked for my desktop in, that was very simply and worked
perfectly.  However the problem that occurs in XP that didn't occure
in other Windows OS's is that XP has a process that 'Fixes' my
changes.

The Key I need to change is:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell
Folders\Desktop

Whenever I change this, log out, and log back in again the key will be
reset to the default value, it will not keep my change.

I looked into what process was doing this. I used a registry capture
program to monitor the registry using a different user account and
(leaving the app running under the other user) I made the change,
logged out, and logged in again as myself.  When I looked back at the
registry capture app I found that winlogin.exe had changed the value
back to the default when I logged in as that user.

I have been all over the internet looking for how to disable or work
around this 'Feature' of windows, and while I've found many
interesting registry hacks on the way, I have been unable to stop
winlogon.exe (winlogon, or winlogin, I forget, I know one is a trojan
horse, but I just don't remember how to spell it, I don't have that
trojan horse, just in case someone noticed a spelling error).

I need to do this because of my backup scheme. I keep all important
data in 4 directories I maintain. Everything I need to backup on the
system is stored in those directories, everything else I can loose.
That way if I loose my os, and I have those 4 directories backed up I
can rebuild my system without loosing anything.  I also need to backup
data from the desktop, so rather than making an exception to my backup
policies (which I consider high risk for failure) I preffer to just
change where my desktop is.  Just to give you some reason why I'm
asking this question.

Thanks in advance for whomever can get me an answer to this.

David

p.s. If you'd let me know what resources you used to find the answer
I'd be terribly interested to know as well.  But this would just be a
bonus and is not required.

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Request for Question Clarification by denco-ga on 11 Sep 2003 22:03 PDT

Howdy davidparks21,

Have you tried using TweakUI yet?

denco-ga

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Request for Question Clarification by mathtalk-ga on 12 Sep 2003 00:18 PDT

Hi, David:

Here's something I came across in researching repair for the Blaster
worm.  Basically the Restore process can bring back infected versions
of things, so you need to turn it off during the repair process.

[How to turn off or turn on Windows XP System Restore] 
http://www.vpsb.k12.la.us/tech/4039.htm 

These instructions are written for a system that has the "XP" look and
feel, rather than reverting to "Classic", but includes directions for
restoring that XP menu system.  Let me know if it works!

regards, mathtalk-ga

I think what you're looking for is called Folder Redirection.  You
will need to set up a group policy that includes details for XP to
find the redirected folder.  I have located the appropriate Microsoft
Support article.  See the following link for further details.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;232692

Hope this helps! :)

Thank you everyone for your fantastic comments. You all should be
working as answer'ers (If that's a word in the google world).  I used
TweakUI, it did it all for me, I'll take a look at some of the other
things that were suggested just for my personal knowledge.

Thanks again everyone!

Dave