In Windows there are several folders/objects, which have a special meaning. Some of these objects have a real file system path, e.g. the "Program Files" folder or the "Fonts" folder. Others do not belong to any file system, nevertheless they can be browsed in the Windows Explorer, e.g. the "My Computer" object or the "Control Panel".

The most important special folders/objects are listed in the following enumeration type:

type   TSpecialFolder = (     // objects, no file system path available     sfDesktopObj,          // desktop object     sfMyComputer,          // my computer     sfNetworkObj,          // My Network Places object     sfRecycleBin,          // recycle bin     sfControlPanel,        // control panel     sfPrintersObj,         // printers     sfDialupNetwork,       // network and dialup connections     sfMyDocumentsObj,      // my documents object     sfIEObj,               // internet explorer object     sfComputersNearMe,     // computers near me (workgroup)     // system directories, user independent     sfWindows,             // windows folder     sfSystem,              // system(32) folder     sfSystemX86,           // RISC: x86 system directory     sfFonts,               // fonts     sfResources,           // resource directory     sfLocalizedResources,  // localized resource directory     sfProgramFiles,        // program files     sfProgramFilesX86,     // RISC: x86 program files directory     sfCommonFiles,         // program files \ common     sfCommonFilesX86,      // RISC: x86 program files \ common folder     sfTemp,                // windows temp folder     sfProfiles,            // root directory of all user profiles     // directories of the current user     sfMyProfile,           // \ .     sfDesktopDir,          // \ desktop     sfStartMenu,           // \ start menu     sfPrograms,            // \ start menu \ programs     sfStartup,             // \ start menu \ programs \ startup     sfAltStartup,          // \ non localized startup     sfMyDocumentsDir,      // \ my documents     sfMyMusic,             // \ my music     sfMyPictures,          // \ my pictures     sfMyVideo,             // \ my video     sfTemplates,           // \ templates     sfFavorites,           // \ favorites     sfIECache,             // \ ie cache folder     sfIECookies,           // \ ie cookie folder     sfIEHistory,           // \ ie history folder     sfRecent,              // \ recent     sfSendTo,              // \ sendto     sfAppData,             // \ application data     sfLocalSettings,       // \ local settings \ .     sfLocalAppData,        // \ local settings \ application data     sfCdBurning,           // \ local settings \ application data \ microsoft \ cd burning     sfPrintersDir,         // \ printhood     sfNetworkDir,          // \ nethood     sfAdminTools,          // \ administrative tools     // directories of all users     sfAllUsersProfile,     // all users \ .     sfAllUsersDesktopDir,  // all users \ desktop     sfAllUsersStartMenu,   // all users \ start menu     sfAllUsersPrograms,    // all users \ start menu \ programs     sfAllUsersStartup,     // all users \ start menu \ programs \ startup     sfAllUsersAltStartup,  // all users \ non localized startup     sfAllUsersDocuments,   // all users \ documents     sfAllUsersMusic,       // all users \ music     sfAllUsersPictures,    // all users \ pictures     sfAllUsersVideo,       // all users \ video     sfAllUsersTemplates,   // all users \ templates     sfAllUsersFavorites,   // all users \ favorites     sfAllUsersAppData,     // all users \ application data     sfAllUsersAdminTools,  // all users \ administrative tools     sfAllUsersOemLinks     // all users \ links to OEM specific apps   );

The function "GetSpecialFolder" returns the path of the specified special folder. You should call it only for file system folders:

function GetSpecialFolder (sf: TSpecialFolder; out path: string) : boolean; // Examples: GetSpecialFolder(sfProgramFiles)  ->  'C:\Program Files' GetSpecialFolder(sfSendTo      )  ->  'C:\Profiles\CurrentUser\SendTo'

The following 2 functions return the path of the "Windows" and of the "System" folder:

function WinFolder : string;  // e.g. "C:\Windows"        or "C:\WinNT" function SysFolder : string;  // e.g. "C:\Windows\System" or "C:\WinNT\System32"