Application Installation - what Account to use.

  • Thread starter Thread starter John Baker
  • Start date Start date
J

John Baker

Hi:

When you want to install applications that can be accessed through ALL accounts, should
you install using the Admin account? I am new to this and have only used W98. IN a similar
vein, if you are using one of the unique named accounts is it possible to access data in
another account, or is that prohibited?

Thanks for tips.

John Baker
 
John said:
Hi:

When you want to install applications that can be accessed through
ALL accounts, should you install using the Admin account? I am new to
this and have only used W98. IN a similar vein, if you are using one
of the unique named accounts is it possible to access data in another
account, or is that prohibited?
Click to expand...

Most programs that are designed for XP (which after all has been out
since 2001) will give you an option whether to install for All Users or
just for the user installing it. You need to be logged into any account
with administrative privileges to install software (as opposed to a
Limited account), not in the built-in Administrator account.

Whether you can access data in someone else's account depends on whether
you have XP Pro or Home and how you have set sharing permissions. XP
Home does not allow sharing of users' home directories (My Documents)
or the Program Files folder. If you have Home edition and want to share
files between accounts on the same computer, put those files in the
Shared Documents folder. That is its purpose.

Malke
 
Wed said:
You need to be logged into any account
with administrative privileges to install software (as opposed to a
Limited account), not in the built-in Administrator account.
Click to expand...

Malke, did you mean "not in the built-in Administrator" or "not
necessarily in the built-in Administrator"? In other words, can
"Administrator" install software?
 
Hi:

When you want to install applications that can be accessed through ALL accounts, should
you install using the Admin account? I am new to this and have only used W98. IN a similar
vein, if you are using one of the unique named accounts is it possible to access data in
another account, or is that prohibited?

Thanks for tips.

John Baker
Click to expand...

Yes, install from an account in the Administrator group. It does not need
to be from "the" account named Administrator. Any account in the
administrator group can do this.

Programs designed for WinXP will have a screen in their setup asking if you
want to install the program for just yourself or for all users. Results are
as expected. When another user logs on and uses that software, they may
experience a slight delay while registry settings and possibly files and
folders related to the new program are created for that specific user.

Programs not specifically designed for XP: These will not have that setup
screen so there is no control in the setup stage over how it will install
for other users. Results will vary based on choices the author of the
installation program made. Sometimes you're lucky and it installs for all
users and limited users can run the program trouble free.

And sometimes... If it installed for only your account, try copying the
program's shortcuts to the All Users folders. If all users then have access
to the program, you're done.

Otherwise... You will probably run into some situations where permissions
get in the way of limited users accessing newly installed software. There
are several different workarounds available. Rather than typing them all
out, I'm going to refer you to a nice page that MVP Rick Rogers has written
on this subject: http://www.rickrogers.org/xpsware.htm
 
Sharon said:
Yes, install from an account in the Administrator group. It does not
need to be from "the" account named Administrator. Any account in the
administrator group can do this.

Programs designed for WinXP will have a screen in their setup asking
if you want to install the program for just yourself or for all users.
Results are as expected. When another user logs on and uses that
software, they may experience a slight delay while registry settings
and possibly files and folders related to the new program are created
for that specific user.

Programs not specifically designed for XP: These will not have that
setup screen so there is no control in the setup stage over how it
will install for other users. Results will vary based on choices the
author of the installation program made. Sometimes you're lucky and it
installs for all users and limited users can run the program trouble
free.

And sometimes... If it installed for only your account, try copying
the program's shortcuts to the All Users folders. If all users then
have access to the program, you're done.

Otherwise... You will probably run into some situations where
permissions get in the way of limited users accessing newly installed
software. There are several different workarounds available. Rather
than typing them all out, I'm going to refer you to a nice page that
MVP Rick Rogers has written on this subject:
http://www.rickrogers.org/xpsware.htm
Click to expand...

Thanks Sharon. Stan, what Sharon said. ;-)

Malke
 
Wed, 26 Oct 2005 10:36:14 -0400 from Stan Brown
Malke, did you mean "not in the built-in Administrator" or "not
necessarily in the built-in Administrator"? In other words, can
"Administrator" install software?
Click to expand...

This may be a moot point. I tried to log in to the built-in
Administrator -- by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del twice on the Welcome
screen, to bring up the old-format logon screen -- and it said the
account was "inactive". That must mean "inactive in normal mode",
because in Safe Mode I'm automatically prompted for the built-in
Administrator account password.
 
Stan said:
Wed, 26 Oct 2005 10:36:14 -0400 from Stan Brown


This may be a moot point. I tried to log in to the built-in
Administrator -- by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del twice on the Welcome
screen, to bring up the old-format logon screen -- and it said the
account was "inactive". That must mean "inactive in normal mode",
because in Safe Mode I'm automatically prompted for the built-in
Administrator account password.
Click to expand...
If you have XP Home Edition, you can only access the built-in
Administrator account in Safe Mode. As Sharon said, you do not have to
install software using the built-in Administrator account and in fact,
this account should not be used except in an emergency. Any account
with administrative privileges can be used to install software.

Malke
 
Thu said:
If you have XP Home Edition, you can only access the built-in
Administrator account in Safe Mode. As Sharon said, you do not have to
install software using the built-in Administrator account and in fact,
this account should not be used except in an emergency. Any account
with administrative privileges can be used to install software.
Click to expand...

Hmm ... seems to be true XP Pro SP2 also: I can't log in as built-in
Administrator in normal mode.

I'm not worried about it, just curious, because I've been doing all
admin tasks including software installs using the admin-level account
I created when I first got my computer.
 
Stan said:
Hmm ... seems to be true XP Pro SP2 also: I can't log in as built-in
Administrator in normal mode.

I'm not worried about it, just curious, because I've been doing all
admin tasks including software installs using the admin-level account
I created when I first got my computer.
Click to expand...
If you can't log into the Administrator account in Normal Mode in XP
Pro, something is wrong. The Administrator account doesn't show up on
the Welcome Screen if you have other administrative-level accounts
(which of course you do); however, by doing Ctrl-Alt-Del twice to get
the classic logon box (or having the computer set to show the classic
logon box) you should be able to enter Adminstrator and its password
and log on. I can't tell you what that something wrong is, however.

Malke
 
Thu said:
If you can't log into the Administrator account in Normal Mode in XP
Pro, something is wrong.
Click to expand...

This motivated me to do some digging; read on.
The Administrator account doesn't show up on
the Welcome Screen if you have other administrative-level accounts
(which of course you do); however, by doing Ctrl-Alt-Del twice to get
the classic logon box (or having the computer set to show the classic
logon box) you should be able to enter Adminstrator and its password
and log on. I can't tell you what that something wrong is, however.
Click to expand...

Yes, as I described earlier, when I Ctrl-ALt-Del twice and type
Administrator and the password, I get "This account is inactive.
Contact your administrator." I have successfully logged into my
limited account from that screen, though usually I use the Welcome
screen.

When I logged in as admin, and opened Control Panel Users applet,
Administrator wasn't listed there either.

But I don't think anything's wrong. I ran compmgmt.msc (not .exe) as
an admin, and the Administrator account is listed there. I viewed
properties, and it's disabled. I'm virtually certain I did that
myself when I first got muy computer, as a security measure.(*) That
"Account is disabled" setting doesn't affect Safe Mode, however.


(*) as recommended by Thomas Greene's excellent book /Computer
Security/, which also lists the Windows services that should be
disabled, and explains why. The book is pre-SP2, and _some_ of its
recommendations were incorporated in SP2.
 
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