Changing desktop folder

Question

I know that this question is replied thousand times but,
I change Desktop folder of my Windows XP by Regedit, from HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders I change "Desktop" value to "C:\MynewDesktop"

Then I close regedit, go back to my desktop an I press F5. I take this error:

c:\Myfancydesktop is unknown location. It may be in hard disk or in network.

The error gives the folder name of my old desktop. But I deleted that folder.

I reopen regedit and check for Desktop key. I see that value is empty. So how can I change my desktop folder in XP?

Solution

I change Desktop folder of my Windows XP by Regedit, from HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders I change "Desktop" value to "C:\MynewDesktop"

That is the wrong key. You should not modify the values in Shell Folders, you should modify them in User Shell Folders. When you boot, Windows reads the values in User Shell Folders, expands any environment variables, then copies them to Shell Folders.

Then I close regedit, go back to my desktop an I press F5. I take this error:

c:\Myfancydesktop is unknown location. It may be in hard disk or in network.

The error gives the folder name of my old desktop. But I deleted that folder.

Because you need to reboot (or log out and back in) for the new value to take effect (assuming you modify the correct value of course).

I reopen regedit and check for Desktop key. I see that value is empty.

Because Explorer over-wrote it.

So how can I change my desktop folder in XP?

Edit the Desktop value under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders. You can use environment variables there, just make sure to leave it as a REG_EXPAND_SZ.