moving Microsoft User Data

[pk]

I don't like having a Microsoft User Data directory automatically created under Documents. With previous versions of Office, I was able to move this to Library/Preferences and Office applications would keep Documents uncontaminated. This no longer seems to work under Office 2008. Is there a workaround?

 

[Diane Ross]

I don't like having a Microsoft User Data directory automatically created
under Documents. With previous versions of Office, I was able to move this to
Library/Preferences and Office applications would keep Documents
uncontaminated. This no longer seems to work under Office 2008. Is there a
workaround?

Using an alias or symlink works just like 2004 did.

 

[Mr. Strat]

Using an alias or symlink works just like 2004 did.

Better yet, leave the damned thing alone.

 

[pk]

There have been debates over the placement of Microsoft User Data in many forums over the past several years. Basically, well-behaved applications place per-user configuration data under ~/Library/Application Support (or ~/Library/Preferences) and the Documents folder is left uncluttered for user-data. Microsoft User Data is something I shouldn't see or touch.

In my case, I sync my Documents folder with my backup server and several other Macs and PCs in my home. I don't want to see or sync this directory. I could modify my scripts and I could use a symbolic link but I was hoping that there would be a comparable solution to what worked with Office 2004: simply move it to ~/Library/Preferences and Office applications would just find it.

The weird thing is that I did just that on one of my MacBook Pros and it worked just fine. I also did this on an older PowerBook and it did not work (Office applications would go and re-create Microsoft User Data in Documents)! Both run Leopard. Maybe it's a G4 vs intel thing. I'll investigate as I install Office on other machines.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

well-behaved applications place per-user configuration data under
~/Library/Application Support (or ~/Library/Preferences) and the
Documents folder is left uncluttered for user-data.

Preferences would be the LAST place I'd put anything in the MUD folder.
Preferences should be able to be blown away without losing anything not
resettable within the program.

I agree though with Application Support. I'm happy that Office 2008
stores User templates there by default. I'd have preferred the whole MUD
folder to be put there, but I'll take incremental progress...

I was hoping that there would be a comparable solution to what worked
with Office 2004: simply move it to ~/Library/Preferences and Office
applications would just find it.

That hasn't been my experience on either platform...

 

[John McGhie]

Yeah, debate HAS raged

Also in the MUD are ALL Entourage mail, and the user templates. These are
very definitely "user-created content" and as such, were regarded as
"documents".

And *I* have been arguing with Microsoft about this for about five years
now, ever since the MUD folder appeared in Documents. I lost

Cheers

There have been debates over the placement of Microsoft User Data in many
forums over the past several years. Basically, well-behaved applications place
per-user configuration data under ~/Library/Application Support (or
~/Library/Preferences) and the Documents folder is left uncluttered for
user-data. Microsoft User Data is something I shouldn't see or touch.

In my case, I sync my Documents folder with my backup server and several other
Macs and PCs in my home. I don't want to see or sync this directory. I could
modify my scripts and I could use a symbolic link but I was hoping that there
would be a comparable solution to what worked with Office 2004: simply move it
to ~/Library/Preferences and Office applications would just find it.

The weird thing is that I did just that on one of my MacBook Pros and it
worked just fine. I also did this on an older PowerBook and it did not work
(Office applications would go and re-create Microsoft User Data in Documents)!
Both run Leopard. Maybe it's a G4 vs intel thing. I'll investigate as I
install Office on other machines.

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John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Norman R. Nager, Ph.D.]

There is another option:

My MUD resides on a data-only volume. To make it work, I aliased it to
~/Documents and then nipped off the word " alias" including the leading
space before alias. That worked with Tiger and Office 2004 and it works
with Leopard and Office 2008.

Respectfully, Norm