Forum Discussion
What are known folders ???????
I am reading a Microsoft article called Redirect known folders to onedrive for business.
But I can not see any description as to what known folders actually are. Can someone list what the known folders are??
Eg is it Desktop, Downloads, pictures, videos, etc.
Sure there is information like here.
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/bb776911(v=vs.85).aspx
but I still dont know what folders are going to be redirected cause I know know the real names of these folders.
I understand that they are some new way if giving folders some sort of Identification, I read all that.
But What folders are they ??? Im confused.
Thanks.
Yes they are those special folders you mentioned such as Desktop, Documents, Program Files, etc. You can actually list them with this https://weblogs.asp.net/kennykerr/Known-Folders-Browser-1.0-_2800_for-Vista-and-Beyond_2900_, which I tried out and works ok:
9 Replies
stev Wolf - To keep it simple in the OneDrive context, Known Folders = Documents, Desktop, and Pictures.
Lou_Mickley Thanks for that answer. That was what I was looking for. Just the folders that are migrated to OneDrive for Business when the Group Policy is enabled to redirect known folders. Now that I know just what folders are used I can right a PowerShell Script that will report the total disk drive space used by a user in those 3 known folder trees.
Why? Because if you were to enable the GPO for this to all your users at one time you could bring your network to its knees as thousands of users began to automatically sync to the cloud the contents of those folders.
By determining ahead of time how much a user has in those folders and having that for all users, knowing that it will be a "snapshot" in time will allow larger groups of users with lower disk space needs to be "activated" using Group Policy Advanced Delegation permission to be enabled. Keep in mind that we want to use "Computer" group policy, so the delegated permissions are achieved by removing the "apply" right from the GPO to the "Authenticated Users" group and creating a security group that you then put the users computer objects into, you then add to the security filtering group listing and then it will appear under the delegation tab with the default rights, which include "Read" and "Apply", Read lets it "Read" the GPO if it is linked to an OU with that machine in it and "Apply" allows it to actually be applied after it is read.
WARNING: DO NOT REMOVE the READ right from the Authenticated users group. Why? because the "Authenticated Users" group always contains ALL user objects AND all computer objects. So if you remove the read right from the Authenticated user group, the GPO will not be read by any object.
- You are on your way. You can also throttle the upload speed in the GPO if you are concerned about saturating your internet pipes.
Yes they are those special folders you mentioned such as Desktop, Documents, Program Files, etc. You can actually list them with this https://weblogs.asp.net/kennykerr/Known-Folders-Browser-1.0-_2800_for-Vista-and-Beyond_2900_, which I tried out and works ok:
Thank you very much I have downloaded the program it shows alot of files.
Thats a neat program. I wonder if any subfolder is a known folder?
regards
Yes I think so, anything listed with an identifier (GUID) looks like a Known Folder. Many of them listed in the program can be cross-referenced with this list as well - https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd378457(v=vs.85).aspx like Downloads - 374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B for example.
