Gaming Am I the only one which documents folder isn't usable?

[migles]

we all got that "documents" folder in our windows.. and back in the day i actually used it for documents
but nowadays it's just used for trash, for whatever reason every fucking software has to save something like a meaningless log file inside a folder..
games badly programmed to save in a "game name" folder inside documents, or documents\my games\ whatever they feel like doing... and since windows vista there is a "saved games" folder inside the user profile folder that some actually use

 

[DarthDub]

Not my fault you don't keep track of stuff.

 

[migles]

Not my fault you don't keep track of stuff.

what do you mean by that?

 

[Deleted User]

Not badly programmed but Engine directs them to save config files there.
Unreal Engine games do that and so does PPSSPP.

 

[migles]

Not badly programmed but Engine directs them to save config files there.
Unreal Engine games do that and so does PPSSPP.

yeah but, with different types of games, emulators, random crap programs leave..
my folder is so pilled up if i wanted to use for documents i can't actually use it.. it bothers me having a "documents folder" that you end up just creating a folder in the desktop or somewhere to save your actual "documents"

 

[Deleted User]

yeah but, with different types of games, emulators, random crap programs leave..
my folder is so pilled up if i wanted to use for documents i can't actually use it.. it bothers me having a "documents folder" that you end up just creating a folder in the desktop or somewhere to save your actual "documents"

You can hide them all and game will hopefully still have access for it.
If it bothers you this much, contact every dev and tell them how it was done in XP times.

 

[sarkwalvein]

So, you think the "Documents" folder has lost its meaning due to software throwing unrelated shit in there?
I think that might be true. But that's life.
IMHO, OS dictated folders can burn in hell, I have the whole HDD (or at least my home folder) to organize my files however I want, hopefully random software wouldn't want to touch a folder structure I created myself.

 

[Ryccardo]

In the XP and earlier days, most people were only exposed to "My Documents" with subfolders for photos/music/videos, and this is the usage that has stuck (Vista/7 added more default folders and moved them outside Documents, but they still had hidden symlinks for compatibility, and in 8/10 your home folder is again not easily accessible by default)

(and then you have Unix ports that just stick their crap in there instead of AppData, you have programs that install to AppData, and absolutely nobody knows what's more appropriate in AppData\Local vs Roaming)

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

At this point I'd imagine most people are using cloud services to save their "actual" documents vs the local Documents folder.

My personal documents and stuff I usually save in my Dropbox. My Google Drive is filled with all my review notes and reviews and such. My local Documents folder is usually used for random notes or useless things I want to save elsewhere.

 

[Deleted User]

I just started actually using the Documents Folder for Documents. Back on my old computer, I had all my files stored on this folder on my Desktop. Not the brightest move. :/

Anyways, even then, I only have a few folders in there that I really use. There's the School folder, for all my School stuff; there's the Games folder, where I store my ROMs, saves, and non-Steam games; there's a folder where I keep all my memes on (it is way larger than it should be, and every time I look at it I become more and more disappointed in myself). I have a Projects folder where I store a few of my coding projects (mostly done in Python). My Pictures folder is for random screenshots and other useless junk I want to keep. And, of course, I keep my Music in the Music folder.

I have been relying more and more on cloud storage, though; my School and Meme folders are synced to my MEGA Storage, and I have a few folders where I store emulator saves, which are also synced to my MEGA Storage. The cool part about that is that I also have synced folders on my phone, so that emulator saves are synced between my laptop and my phone; it's pretty convenient, and I don't have to worry about forgetting to transfer a save back to my phone if I want to play Pokemon or Fire Emblem on the train in the morning.

 

[mgrev]

Not so bad on my laptop, but my desktop is awful

 

[ThoD]

Mine isn't that messy, only about 15 items including the junk from movie maker, but I still have a separate folder on the desktop for important things for accessibility and I leave the VERY important things (like my uni schedule) straight on my desktop one (two actually) click away for a quick glance.

What people don't quite know is that the reason there are so many things that store "junk", logs, additional data etc. in the Documents folder is because from Windows Vista and on the folder was changed so it'll be accessible by all users unless set otherwise. Basically, the default Windows settings allow access to the folder by all users so it will be shared, as there were many problems with older programs up to Windows XP SP3 that installed for only one user (even leaving the hidden master admin out), so this was the laziest and simplest way to fix that. This of course can be avoided if the developer of the program simply changes the path to the Local/Roaming appdata folders depending on the program's function, but a large number of them can't be bothered to change a single line of code and add two more (for the accessibility privileges).