Accessing files on external hard drive

[ellet777]

I bought a new external hard drive. Worked great when I plugged it into my 2 laptops running XP. Copied folders/files successfully, including the "My Documents" folder.

However... then I plugged it into my new laptop which uses Vista. Vista changed the "My Documents" folder on the external hard drive to a "shortcut" folder type.

Now when I go to access the "My Documents" folder on the external hard drive, it doesn't open to show me the files I initially saved there. Instead, it acts as a shortcut and opens "My Documents" on whichever computer I am on.

I have tried changing "target" and "location" on the folders properties to no avail.

Is there a way to access the files on the hard drive without going through this link? Or is there another way I can change the settings on this folder so that it is no longer a shortcut?

Also, does anyone know the name of the genius who added this nifty little trick to Vista so I can hunt him down and beat him with a stick- that would be much appreciated as well.