Automatic File Recovery In Windows Explorer

Hello everyone,

I just spent more than four hours moving about 500 audio files from various subdirectories on my PC's C: drive into a more logical sequence. Please note that these are not "protected" files; they are MP3s, AIFFs and WMAs that I have created myself.

For example, I have a half-dozen MP3s by the Four Tops. Some came off of compilation CDs (into a "Various Artists" folder) while others came off of Four Tops collections (into folders named either "Four Tops, The" or "The Four Tops," depending upon which software I used). My logic: move them into a single folder named:

C:/AudioFiles/Four Tops

It just makes sense. I moved all my Beatles, Beach Boys, Temptations, Elvis, Supremes, etc., into logical folders along these same lines. After getting all of this done and getting rid of duplicates, etc., I rebooted my PC...

....and found that Windows (?!) had moved all of the files back to where they originated from around my C: drive. My Four Tops folder, for example, was emptied, with each song had returned back to a "new" version of its original folder, such as:

C:/Documents and Settings/DJ/My Documents/My Music/Various Artists/Classic Rock- 1965 - Blowin' Your Mind/Ask the Lonely.mp3

There is also a little system file called "desktop.ini" in the same "new" folder

I tested this again by moving an MP3 to another folder, deleting the "original" folder, then going so far as to empty my Recycle Bin to make sure the "original" folder was dead, buried and gone to the hereafter. I sat back and, sure enough, a few seconds later Windows Explorer flickered a few times, and the MP3 file was returned to an "automatically generated" folder that was identical to the one I had deleted

I've just wasted an entire afternoon doing this, only to see my work instantly erased. Can anyone please tell me what I'm doing wrong, or what I can do to stop this from happening?

Thanks for your help,

DJ