Specifying user file locations

When Windows operating system earlier than Windows Vista is used, Four Winds by default tries to save user files (e.g. saved games, customized rules and pattern names, game statistics, high scores and favorites, and user-defined themes) in sub folders under the Four Winds main program folder (which also means that all users will have common data files). If this is not possible because of restrictions on current user account’s privileges – or if Windows Vista or later is used – the default system paths for personal and common document locations will be used, instead.

To specify locations for user files:

Choose Preferences on the File menu.
Choose General under the User Interface section in the category tree of the Preferences dialog box and click the Folders button.
Specify the paths for desired user files.

You can use Auto Private button to specify the default user-specific folder (typically C:\Documents and Settings\[User name]\[My Documents]\4Winds2 or C:\[Users]\[User name]\[Documents]\4Winds2), and Auto Common button to specify the default public folder (typically C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\[Shared Documents]\4Winds2 or C:\[Users]\[Public]\[Documents]\4Winds2). (The folder names in brackets indicate names that might be localized in different language versions of Windows.) To revert to default values, click Reset, and to specify a custom folder, click Modify.

Note: When Windows Vista or later is used, and folder path with restricted privileges is used (e.g., any folder under C:\Program Files), the files are actually saved in Windows virtual storage under C:\[Users]\[User name]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\4Winds2. This means that all data files will be user-specific, and also, that within Four Winds the files appear to be in different locations, which can be a bit confusing. Therefore it is recommended that on Windows Vista and later Windows operating systems the default user-specific and public folders are used.