Redirect folders? aka move folders that games create in My Documents

[gamingexpert13]

Ok how can I move the folders that games/programs create in My Documents and not have them reappear?

Some games/programs that do it are:
Age of Empires 3
Crysis_SP_DEMO
Unreal Tournament 3 Demo
Deus Ex - Invisible War Demo
In The Groove Demo
Visual Studio 2008 (dont really care about this one)
Maya 2008 (already fixed)

I already know about:
- Folder redirection through powertoys Tweak UI, but I dont want to redirect My Documents, just these folders.
- Folder redirection through the Group Policy Editor sounds like the same thing too, can only redirect 4 or 5 special folders.
- Junctions, but I dont just want to move where the files are stored, I want the folders to be gone from My Documents.
- Setting the folders to hidden, but I dont want to do that because I like having windows set to show hidden files (although if there was a way to make a button on the explorer toolbar to show/hide hidden files that would be awesome).

I found out how to move the folder for Maya already, in control panel you have to go into System, then Advanced tab, then Environment Variables, then make a new system variable with the name MAYA_APP_DIR then make the value be where you want the folder to be.

Is there a way to use Environment Variables to enter one path and make it redirect to another path, so when programs try to create stuff there it will end up in a different location? Like have C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\My Games redirect to C:\Program Files\Games\Settings (and have no My Games folder show up in My Documents). Or is there any other way?

 

[Morazl]

It might be a game-specific thing that you have to dig through the registry to find for each game... just a guess though

 

[PaulusDev]

Yes I think it would be game specific, and even the registry may not help you.

You could run games in a sandbox using Sandboxie (you can google it). This will prevent games from *writing* to your hard disk (but the files are saved inside the sandbox, and appear to be written to their intended location). You can allow certain files/folders to be written to your hard disk for real.
You should check whether anti-cheat programs will detect sandboxie as a cheat though.

 

[Unknown-One]

Your best bet is to just hide them, create a "My Games" folder, and put shortcuts to all the hidden directories in there.

 

[gamingexpert13]

Your best bet is to just hide them, create a "My Games" folder, and put shortcuts to all the hidden directories in there.

like i said, if there was a way to make a button on the explorer toolbar to show/hide hidden files that would be awesome, otherwise I cant just hide them because i like having windows set to show hidden files sometimes and i dont always have to go into folder options and turn it on.

It might be a game-specific thing that you have to dig through the registry to find for each game... just a guess though

ya i've looked and couldnt find anything with search, it is pretty hard to find stuff in the registry though.

Yes I think it would be game specific, and even the registry may not help you.

You could run games in a sandbox using Sandboxie (you can google it). This will prevent games from *writing* to your hard disk (but the files are saved inside the sandbox, and appear to be written to their intended location). You can allow certain files/folders to be written to your hard disk for real.
You should check whether anti-cheat programs will detect sandboxie as a cheat though.

thanks, i'll have to try it, this program looks cool and if it does what i think it does i've been wanting a program like this for a while (although it might be as good as it sounds, like i've wanted to be able to install programs without them really changing my computer like if i want to keep my current version of firefox but install a new version to try it out and dont want them conflicting. like probably registry settings is what it would mess up but idk if sandboxie does anything about those).