Windows 7 / Getting Started

Managing Libraries

Administrators can control which default libraries are available directly on a user's Start menu by configuring the following Group Policy settings found under User Configuration\Policies \Administrative Templates\Start Menu And Taskbar:

  • Remove Documents Icon From Start Menu
  • Remove Pictures Icon From Start Menu
  • Remove Music Icon From Start Menu
  • Remove Videos Link From Start Menu

These policy settings will be applied to the targeted users after their next logon. Administrators can also hide selected default libraries such as Music and Videos in business environments where such libraries are not appropriate. However, hiding a library from view only removes the library from the navigation pane of Windows Explorer. To hide a default library such as the Music library, use Group Policy to run the following script the next time the targeted users log on.

@echo off
%SystemDrive%
cd\
cd %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries
attrib +h Music.library-ms

Note If you hide a library using this script, you should also remove it from the users' Start menus.

Administrators can deploy additional custom libraries to users by manually creating Library Description files for them and then deploying them to users by using either logon scripts or Group Policy preferences to copy the Library Description files to the %UserProfile%\Appdata \Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries folder on the targeted computers.

Administrators that have environments in which known folders are redirected to server shares that are not indexed remotely and cannot be made available for offline use can configure libraries to use basic-level functionality by enabling the following Group Policy setting:

User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Explorer \Turn off Windows Libraries Features That Rely On Indexed File Data Note that library functionality is severely degraded if this policy setting is enabled, even for libraries that contain only indexed files. However, if your environment does not support local indexing, enabling this Group Policy may help minimize user feedback, indicating that an unsupported location is included in a library, and can help reduce network impact from grep searches of remote nonindexed locations.

Enabling this policy disables the following library functionality:

  • Searching libraries in the Start menu
  • Applying Arrange By views other than By Folder and Clear Changes
  • Using Library Search Filter suggestions other than Date Modified and Size
  • Using the Unsupported tag in the Library Management dialog box
  • Applying rich functionality to user-created libraries
  • Viewing file content snippets in the Content View mode
  • Notifying users that unsupported locations are included in libraries
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In this tutorial:

  1. Managing Users and User Data
  2. Understanding User Profiles in Windows 7
  3. Types of User Profiles
  4. User Profile Namespace
  5. User Profile Namespace in Windows XP
  6. User Profile Namespace in Windows Vista and Windows 7
  7. Application Compatibility Issue
  8. Disabling Known Folders
  9. Windows 7 Understanding Libraries
  10. Working with Libraries
  11. Including Indexed Folders in a Library
  12. Adding Nonindexed Remote Locations to a Library
  13. Creating Additional Libraries
  14. Managing Libraries
  15. Implementing Corporate Roaming
  16. Understanding Roaming User Profiles and Folder Redirection
  17. Understanding Roaming User Profiles in Earlier Versions of Windows
  18. Understanding Folder Redirection in Earlier Versions of Windows
  19. Enhancements to Roaming User Profiles and Folder Redirection Previously Introduced in Windows Vista
  20. Additional Enhancements to Roaming User Profiles and Folder Redirection Introduced in Windows 7
  21. Improved First Logon Performance With Folder Redirection
  22. Implementing Folder Redirection
  23. Configuring the Redirection Method
  24. Configuring Target Folder Location
  25. Configuring Redirection Options
  26. Configuring Policy Removal Options
  27. Folder Redirection and Sync Center
  28. Considerations for Mixed Environments
  29. Additional Group Policy Settings for Folder Redirection
  30. Troubleshooting Folder Redirection
  31. Implementing Roaming User Profiles
  32. Creating a Default Network Profile
  33. Configuring a User Account to Use a Roaming Profile
  34. Implementing Mandatory Profiles
  35. Implementing Super-Mandatory Profiles
  36. Managing User Profiles Using Group Policy
  37. Working with Offline Files
  38. Enhancements to Offline Files Introduced Previously in Windows Vista
  39. Additional Enhancements to Offline Files Introduced in Windows 7
  40. Understanding Offline File Sync
  41. Modes of Operation in Offline Files
  42. Managing Offline Files
  43. Managing Offline Files Using Windows Explorer
  44. Managing Offline Files Using the Offline Files Control Panel
  45. Managing Offline Files Using Sync Center
  46. Configuring Offline Files on the Server
  47. Managing Offline Files Using Group Policy
  48. Offline Files Policy Settings Introduced in Windows Vista
  49. Additional Offline Files Policy Settings for Windows 7