Windows 10: Explorer cant find User Shell Folders all of the sudden

I have a brand new SSD that I transferred all of the Shell Folders to, which was working fine for the last two or so weeks. Today I booted my PC and the SSD was shown at 100% in the Task Manager. When I tried accessing it via the explorer, everything crashed and I had to force it to shut down. I changed the SATA cable that the SSD is connected with since that was a problem I had before with an old HDD, touched nothing else. Suddenly, the Explorer is claiming it can't access Downloads, Videos, and Music, even though I was accessing and using the Downloads folder without issue just earlier today

:)

 

Desktop Shell Folder Merged with User Shell Folder

To reset the shell folder paths to defaults, download and run w10_usf_defaults_hkcu.zip (Src: Windows 10/11 User Shell Folders Restore Default Paths)

Restart the Explorer shell, or log off and log back in for the changes to take effect.

 

Desktop Shell Folder Merged with User Shell Folder

Tried to move some files between drives to free up space on C. Ended up transferring the entire Desktop Shell to D. When I moved it back, it merged Desktop with User and now the User Shell Folders in Registry are a bit of a mess.

I moved Desktop back into its own User Shell Folder but am at a bit of a loss with dealing with the other folders that are now %SystemDrive% instead of %USERPROFILE% as well as the duplicates.

The User Shells that are now %SystemDrive% include:

Pictures, 3D Objects, Videos, both Download shells, Saved Games, Contacts, Searches, Music, Links, and Favorites

Additionally, The Desktop Shell now contains:

-Appdata folder containing Roaming, Local, and LocalLow data

-Onedrive

-A copy of the .ms-ad and ansel folders

-ntuser.dat

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Images would be included but the screenshots of the Registry and the Desktop shell failed to upload

 

Update user shell folders registry keys with GPO

Hello people,

My goal is to change the location of two user Shell Folders located under %USERPROFILE%\AppData with a GPO.

The keys in question are named Local AppData and AppData, which are located under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders.

I defined a create-GPO and a replace-GPO by selecting the specific registry keys inside the GPO management console, which is pretty straightforward.

Desired values for those keys would be the following.

• Local AppData
  %USERPROFILE%\Documents\AppData\Local
  
• AppData
  %USERPROFILE%\Documents\AppData\Roaming
  

After user login, the values are not being updated nor do the folders redirect to the desired location.

• Server OS: Windows Server 2016 Standard
  
• Client OS: Windows 10
  

I appreciate any efforts.

Thanks in advance.

Have a nice one,

Andreas