Newbie question about setting up XP - coming from win98se background

  • Thread starter Thread starter niteowl
  • Start date Start date
N

niteowl

Hi all,

I recently stepped up to Windows XP Pro, have have been migrating all
my folders and files to the the new XP machine, and I was setting it
up as I usually would do, which is to install the O/S to C: and
everything else to D: however - when I was checking the different
users accounts (there are 2 others - limited) I am seeing all my
stuff on their menus... is this because of the way I'm installing????

Is there any way to isolate the programs I'm installing to D: to just
my user account or am I going to have to reinstall everything ? ;-(

My C: drive is only 6Gigs, as this is the way I got used to doing
things as a way of isolating the O/S in case of the need to reformat
and begin again.. My second physical drive is 120G partitioned into 3
logical drives.

I'm hoping there's a way to do this so I don't have to start over with
this, but I have a sinking feeling...........

hopefully,
niteowl
 
A 6 GB C: is a little smaller than I would use since I
install the OS and the applications to C: since if you have
to reinstall the OS the applications will also need to be
reinstalled anyway.
XP has a nice feature, if you right click on My Documents
and select properties, you can move the entire folder out of
the OS folder on C: to a drive of your choice, do this for
each user account. Also use the Tools/Options/maintenance
menu in Outlook Express to move the message store folders
for each account, that will preserve the data if you have to
reinstall.

Is D: a partition or is it on your second physical drive,
that wasn't clear?


--
Merry Christmas
Have a Safe and Happy New Year
Live Long and Prosper
Jim Macklin
message | Hi all,
|
| I recently stepped up to Windows XP Pro, have have been
migrating all
| my folders and files to the the new XP machine, and I was
setting it
| up as I usually would do, which is to install the O/S to
C: and
| everything else to D: however - when I was checking
the different
| users accounts (there are 2 others - limited) I am seeing
all my
| stuff on their menus... is this because of the way I'm
installing????
|
| Is there any way to isolate the programs I'm installing to
D: to just
| my user account or am I going to have to reinstall
everything ? ;-(
|
| My C: drive is only 6Gigs, as this is the way I got used
to doing
| things as a way of isolating the O/S in case of the need
to reformat
| and begin again.. My second physical drive is 120G
partitioned into 3
| logical drives.
|
| I'm hoping there's a way to do this so I don't have to
start over with
| this, but I have a sinking feeling...........
|
| hopefully,
| niteowl
 
A 6 GB C: is a little smaller than I would use since I
install the OS and the applications to C: since if you have
to reinstall the OS the applications will also need to be
reinstalled anyway.
XP has a nice feature, if you right click on My Documents
and select properties, you can move the entire folder out of
the OS folder on C: to a drive of your choice, do this for
each user account. Also use the Tools/Options/maintenance
menu in Outlook Express to move the message store folders
for each account, that will preserve the data if you have to
reinstall.

Is D: a partition or is it on your second physical drive,
that wasn't clear?

C: is a 6G phsyical drive

D:, E: and F: are logical drives on a separate physical drive.

How is moving the My Documents folder going to isolate from the other
users the different programs I've installed to D: ??

I don't really understand the directory structure I guess. This is my
first experience with Adminstrative stuff. ;-\

Thanks for your patience and wisdom.. awaiting your input.

niteowl
 
If you don't move My Documents, for each user from the
default C: location, your small 6 GB C: drive will fill-up
and you will not be able to defrag or handle Windows updates
due to lack of free space for temp files.

Windows XP is designed as a multi-user OS, it completely
isolates each user account from the others, unless you allow
sharing of certain folders.

You can have each user account on the same drive/partition,
they cannot access the other users data. Did you say
whether you are running XP Home or Pro? The basic user
account types are administrative and limited. Any
administrative account can get into and modify any account
on the computer and install/remove programs. A limited
account cannot access other users accounts or add/remove
programs.
Their accounts, email and settings are private unless set to
be shared.

With your setup I think you're making a mistake using the 6
GB drive as your boot drive because it is probably a slow
drive with a small cache [guessing 5400 RPM].
If it was my computer I would consider, when an opportunity
presented itself, to set it up with the faster 120 GB,
partitioned as it is now, in three partitions... move the
data from the D: partition to a folder on E:, then format
D:.
Turn the computer OFF, open it up, re-set the jumpers so the
120 GB drive was master and the 6 GB a slave. Close it back
up, do a clean install to the C: partition (formerly the
D:), resizing it to about 25 GB leaving some unused space to
be handled later.

The 6 GB drive could then be used for swap files as D: and
the present E: and F: would remain the same.

You would see better, faster performance using the faster
big drive (assuming it is 7200 RPM) and the small drive
could be used for the swap file (virtual memory by manually
setting it up) and that would also speed up operation.


--
Merry Christmas
Have a Safe and Happy New Year
Live Long and Prosper
Jim Macklin
message | On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 06:11:04 -0600, "Jim Macklin"
|
| >A 6 GB C: is a little smaller than I would use since I
| >install the OS and the applications to C: since if you
have
| >to reinstall the OS the applications will also need to be
| >reinstalled anyway.
| >XP has a nice feature, if you right click on My Documents
| >and select properties, you can move the entire folder out
of
| >the OS folder on C: to a drive of your choice, do this
for
| >each user account. Also use the
Tools/Options/maintenance
| >menu in Outlook Express to move the message store folders
| >for each account, that will preserve the data if you have
to
| >reinstall.
| >
| >Is D: a partition or is it on your second physical drive,
| >that wasn't clear?
|
| C: is a 6G phsyical drive
|
| D:, E: and F: are logical drives on a separate physical
drive.
|
| How is moving the My Documents folder going to isolate
from the other
| users the different programs I've installed to D: ??
|
| I don't really understand the directory structure I guess.
This is my
| first experience with Adminstrative stuff. ;-\
|
| Thanks for your patience and wisdom.. awaiting your input.
|
| niteowl
 
If you don't move My Documents, for each user from the
default C: location, your small 6 GB C: drive will fill-up
and you will not be able to defrag or handle Windows updates
due to lack of free space for temp files.

okay, that I understand.
Windows XP is designed as a multi-user OS, it completely
isolates each user account from the others, unless you allow
sharing of certain folders.

at this moment I have D:, E: and F: shared fully, so is that why all
the stuff is showing up in every acct. ?? If I unshare the D: drive
and leave E: and F: (my storage drives) shared, will that isolate
those programs?
You can have each user account on the same drive/partition,
they cannot access the other users data. Did you say
whether you are running XP Home or Pro?
Pro

The basic user
account types are administrative and limited. Any
administrative account can get into and modify any account
on the computer and install/remove programs. A limited
account cannot access other users accounts or add/remove
programs.
Their accounts, email and settings are private unless set to
be shared.

I have the only administrative acct, the other 2 are limited.
With your setup I think you're making a mistake using the 6
GB drive as your boot drive because it is probably a slow
drive with a small cache [guessing 5400 RPM].
yes

If it was my computer I would consider, when an opportunity
presented itself, to set it up with the faster 120 GB,
partitioned as it is now, in three partitions... move the
data from the D: partition to a folder on E:, then format
D:.
Turn the computer OFF, open it up, re-set the jumpers so the
120 GB drive was master and the 6 GB a slave. Close it back
up, do a clean install to the C: partition (formerly the
D:), resizing it to about 25 GB leaving some unused space to
be handled later.

my initial setup was C: 20G, D: and E: 50G ea. so that should be
adequate, yes? D: has about 1.4G on it so far, E: is almost full
(about 1.5G available), F: is empty still.
The 6 GB drive could then be used for swap files as D: and
the present E: and F: would remain the same.

and I can just ressign the drive letters?
You would see better, faster performance using the faster
big drive (assuming it is 7200 RPM) and the small drive
could be used for the swap file (virtual memory by manually
setting it up) and that would also speed up operation.

nope, it's a 5400rpm drive also.. ;-( price must have been better.

I do have a 60G 7200rpm drive available, I think I'll just swap out
the 6G and replace it, if I have to reinstall anyway, might as well do
it that way... and might as well do it now than later..

thanks for the info? knowledge is power.. ;-)

please still answer the above questions though, it will help me
understand this better, mostly about the sharing issue.. if I just
unshare the D: drive, will those program then be unavailable to the
other users?

Thanks for your paitience.

niteowl
 
PS.. I just tried unsharing the drive, didn't work,

I also just tried removing the shortcuts from the other user's menu..
got an error saying removing that would affect ALL USERS, so cancelled
that and am now once again waiting for your answers.. ;-)

niteowl


If you don't move My Documents, for each user from the
default C: location, your small 6 GB C: drive will fill-up
and you will not be able to defrag or handle Windows updates
due to lack of free space for temp files.

okay, that I understand.
Windows XP is designed as a multi-user OS, it completely
isolates each user account from the others, unless you allow
sharing of certain folders.

at this moment I have D:, E: and F: shared fully, so is that why all
the stuff is showing up in every acct. ?? If I unshare the D: drive
and leave E: and F: (my storage drives) shared, will that isolate
those programs?
You can have each user account on the same drive/partition,
they cannot access the other users data. Did you say
whether you are running XP Home or Pro?
Pro

The basic user
account types are administrative and limited. Any
administrative account can get into and modify any account
on the computer and install/remove programs. A limited
account cannot access other users accounts or add/remove
programs.
Their accounts, email and settings are private unless set to
be shared.

I have the only administrative acct, the other 2 are limited.
With your setup I think you're making a mistake using the 6
GB drive as your boot drive because it is probably a slow
drive with a small cache [guessing 5400 RPM].
yes

If it was my computer I would consider, when an opportunity
presented itself, to set it up with the faster 120 GB,
partitioned as it is now, in three partitions... move the
data from the D: partition to a folder on E:, then format
D:.
Turn the computer OFF, open it up, re-set the jumpers so the
120 GB drive was master and the 6 GB a slave. Close it back
up, do a clean install to the C: partition (formerly the
D:), resizing it to about 25 GB leaving some unused space to
be handled later.

my initial setup was C: 20G, D: and E: 50G ea. so that should be
adequate, yes? D: has about 1.4G on it so far, E: is almost full
(about 1.5G available), F: is empty still.
The 6 GB drive could then be used for swap files as D: and
the present E: and F: would remain the same.

and I can just ressign the drive letters?
You would see better, faster performance using the faster
big drive (assuming it is 7200 RPM) and the small drive
could be used for the swap file (virtual memory by manually
setting it up) and that would also speed up operation.

nope, it's a 5400rpm drive also.. ;-( price must have been better.

I do have a 60G 7200rpm drive available, I think I'll just swap out
the 6G and replace it, if I have to reinstall anyway, might as well do
it that way... and might as well do it now than later..

thanks for the info? knowledge is power.. ;-)

please still answer the above questions though, it will help me
understand this better, mostly about the sharing issue.. if I just
unshare the D: drive, will those program then be unavailable to the
other users?

Thanks for your paitience.

niteowl
 
If you put shortcuts into the "all users", then all users will have access..
if you want the other accounts to have fewer facilities, then put the
shortcuts into your account, and then just copy what you want the other
accounts to have.. obviously, if you move items from "all users", it will
affect ALL USERS..
 
niteowl said:
I recently stepped up to Windows XP Pro, have have been migrating all
my folders and files to the the new XP machine, and I was setting it
up as I usually would do, which is to install the O/S to C: and
everything else to D: however - when I was checking the different
users accounts (there are 2 others - limited) I am seeing all my
stuff on their menus... is this because of the way I'm installing????

Is there any way to isolate the programs I'm installing to D: to just
my user account or am I going to have to reinstall everything ? ;-(

Are you referring to the programs on the Start-menu? These are shortcuts
that are stored on one out of two different places. Take a look at
'c:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Start Menu'. This is the location for
the user specific start menu shortcuts. You will also notice that in the
'Documents and Settings' folder there is a subfolder called 'All users'.
Shortcuts in this folder will be shown to all users.

If you also want your users to be unable to run the programs by finding the
program files manually you will have to apply suitable security settings in
your 'Program files' folders. You may want to read up on NTFS and file
permissions.
My C: drive is only 6Gigs, as this is the way I got used to doing
things as a way of isolating the O/S in case of the need to reformat
and begin again.. My second physical drive is 120G partitioned into 3
logical drives.

Two things:

1) 6 GB is not a lot of space for Windows XP. With service pack uninstall
files, documents, hibernation- and page files, system restore points etc
this is likely to fill up rather quickly. Even if you put your programs on
another partition.

2) I would assume that your 6 GB drive is quite a lot slower than your 120
GB drive. If this is the case I would recommend installing XP on the 120 GB
drive. Personally I would probably even remove the 6 GB drive. Your computer
would be more silent, and you lose less than 5% of your total storage
capacity.
 
What you need to remember about XP is that it is a true
multi-user OS. Unlike W98/ME which did not really work well
with multi-user accounts and provide security and privacy,
XP does, by default prevent one user from accessing the
another users data files (My Documents and email). In W98
just hitting cancel on the user logon, will boot to a
default user account and all files and data is readable.

Windows XP Pro has more levels of user accounts and user
rights control. Using NTFS also improves data security.

When a user creates a file in their account, it is private,
by default, unless the folder is being shared, even then a
file on a shared drive can be encrypted and locked with a
password.

Applications and services may be controlled using XP Pro and
to a lesser extent using XP Home. So you can have accounts
with full access (administrator accounts) and limited
accounts that may have some application unavailable and they
won't be able to change their own permissions.

Each User Account will have a default My Documents folder in
the C: drive. Moving these My Documents folders has the
advantage of isolating the data from a system crash which
could result in data loss if reformatting and reinstallation
was required. Moving the files is essential if the drive
(partition) is small because you need to keep a minimum of
15% free disk space to allow defrag to run.

You can help us with user accounts setup, security and such
by saying exactly what you are trying to setup and for whom.
For instance, You are the administrator and need the default
administrator (which is hidden when you create the first
user account) and you need a user account with admin rights
so you can do required computer maintenance and setup w/o
screwing up the default admin acct. These accounts should
have passwords. Then it is good practice to have a limited
user account for your routine use.

Then you will get to the issue of other users and what they
need and what you want them to be able to do. Do they need
to access the Internet, send a FAX, install programs, do you
want them to have no access to adult sites (your children?)
and what version of XP you have will determine what you can
and cannot do.

BTW, don't snip to much, I don't want to have to go back and
look for your previous posts to see what questions and info
you have previously posted.

Yes, I would certainly switch to the faster drive, you will
notice that things happen 50% faster.

When you install a program, by default it will be useable to
all users ad Windows will put a link to programs in each
users startup and program menus. But as an administrator
you can remove access on a user's account by deleting the
program on that user's account.

In general, programs ARE NOT shared, you have programs
installed, data is shared.


--
Merry Christmas
Have a Safe and Happy New Year
Live Long and Prosper
Jim Macklin
message | On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 07:46:12 -0600, "Jim Macklin"
|
| >If you don't move My Documents, for each user from the
| >default C: location, your small 6 GB C: drive will
fill-up
| >and you will not be able to defrag or handle Windows
updates
| >due to lack of free space for temp files.
|
| okay, that I understand.
|
| >Windows XP is designed as a multi-user OS, it completely
| >isolates each user account from the others, unless you
allow
| >sharing of certain folders.
|
| at this moment I have D:, E: and F: shared fully, so is
that why all
| the stuff is showing up in every acct. ?? If I unshare
the D: drive
| and leave E: and F: (my storage drives) shared, will that
isolate
| those programs?
|
| >You can have each user account on the same
drive/partition,
| >they cannot access the other users data. Did you say
| >whether you are running XP Home or Pro?
|
| Pro
|
| >The basic user
| >account types are administrative and limited. Any
| >administrative account can get into and modify any
account
| >on the computer and install/remove programs. A limited
| >account cannot access other users accounts or add/remove
| >programs.
| >Their accounts, email and settings are private unless set
to
| >be shared.
|
| I have the only administrative acct, the other 2 are
limited.
|
| >With your setup I think you're making a mistake using the
6
| >GB drive as your boot drive because it is probably a slow
| >drive with a small cache [guessing 5400 RPM].
|
| yes
|
| >If it was my computer I would consider, when an
opportunity
| >presented itself, to set it up with the faster 120 GB,
| >partitioned as it is now, in three partitions... move the
| >data from the D: partition to a folder on E:, then format
| >D:.
| >Turn the computer OFF, open it up, re-set the jumpers so
the
| >120 GB drive was master and the 6 GB a slave. Close it
back
| >up, do a clean install to the C: partition (formerly the
| >D:), resizing it to about 25 GB leaving some unused space
to
| >be handled later.
|
| my initial setup was C: 20G, D: and E: 50G ea. so that
should be
| adequate, yes? D: has about 1.4G on it so far, E: is
almost full
| (about 1.5G available), F: is empty still.
|
| >The 6 GB drive could then be used for swap files as D:
and
| >the present E: and F: would remain the same.
|
| and I can just ressign the drive letters?
|
| >You would see better, faster performance using the faster
| >big drive (assuming it is 7200 RPM) and the small drive
| >could be used for the swap file (virtual memory by
manually
| >setting it up) and that would also speed up operation.
|
| nope, it's a 5400rpm drive also.. ;-( price must have
been better.
|
| I do have a 60G 7200rpm drive available, I think I'll just
swap out
| the 6G and replace it, if I have to reinstall anyway,
might as well do
| it that way... and might as well do it now than later..
|
| thanks for the info? knowledge is power.. ;-)
|
| please still answer the above questions though, it will
help me
| understand this better, mostly about the sharing issue..
if I just
| unshare the D: drive, will those program then be
unavailable to the
| other users?
|
| Thanks for your paitience.
|
| niteowl
|
 
I didn't realize I was snipping, I thought I was just typing between
your paragraphs... oh well, I'll just top post then..

I think I'm getting this a bit now.. someone else suggested moving the
shortcuts from the "All Users" into the acct where I wanted them, and
that worked sorta.

You brought up somethine else though about the Adminstrative
accounts.. There is more than one? Well, I looked in the windows
explorer and on the C: drive I am showing the following folders:

Local Disk (C:)
.file_store_32
+Documents and Settings
+All Users
+All Users.WINDOWS
+Default User
+Default User.WINDOWS
+Kalehli
+LocalService
+LocalService.NT AUTHORITY
+Maurine
+NetworkService
+NetworkService.NT AUTHORITY
niteowl
+Niteowl.ALLAING
dwnlds
+epson
+Program Files
RECYCLER
System Volume Information
+WINDOWS

The "niteowl" (without the +) folder I can't access, gives me an error
message, saying it is "not accessible, Access is denied" Why?

It appears to me that Kalehli and Maurine are the limited account's
folders, the "Niteowl.ALLAING" is the administrative account, and the
one I use, I think, when I boot up. Is the Default User the hidden
admin acct?

I remember setting up the Niteowl acct as the Admin acct during the
installation, is there another one that was setup without me knowing
about it.. and does it have a password, and if so what it is???? or
how do I access it, and WHY would I need to? If I have an
adminstrative acct, why would I still need another hidden admin acct?

On bootup I show 3 names to choose from on the welcome screen,
Kalehli, Maurine, and Niteowl. Niteowl is password protected, the
others are not.

What is the LocalService and NetworkService stuff?

If I'm "sharing" a drive so I can transfer files to and from other
stations, does that give other users on the same machine access to
them also? I'm just trying to understand the limitations and how the
flow works. In all actuality I probably won't share my working
drives, C: and D:, the file archive storage drives will be fully
shared. These are mainly image and music/media files.

I have Outlook Express setup usually, but only for access to hotmail
accts. which I understand won't be lasting that much longer anyway,
but my default email program is Eudora, moving the shortcut out of the
All Users folder seemed to take care of that issue though.

So, when I put in the new 60G drive, if I partition it to C: and D:
40% and 60%, move the "My Documents" folders to the D drive, leave C:
and D: unshared, can I still setup a specific folder to share anyway
over the my network?

Anyway, my main purpose I guess is to limit my daughters internet
access and limit what progrrams she can use on the system... Since
this is the fastest machine on my network, she'll want to be playing
her favorite online games on this machine when I'm not using it, so
basically yes, I need to limit the adult stuff for her acct. and other
than that she doesn't need to do anything else on my machine. She
does have her own computer and the limitations are enforced so far by
looking over her shoulder occassionally. ;-) I'll need something
better soon though..

I am building another machine for her and will install XP to that one
also, so this is just an interim arrangement for her to be on my
machine, but I do need to understand this anyway as I have taken on
the task of maintaining 50 computers at the new charter middle school
she goes to, and this is all pretty new to me. I thought working with
this at home would help educate me for the schools needs also. I'm
just a volunteer there as the funding isn't available for a hired IT
guy, so we're making do with me. ;-)

I do have a better understanding now, the list of accts above is still
fuzzy, but I'm sure it'll clear up.

Again, thanks for your efforts to educate me. and your patience.

niteowl
 
I recently stepped up to Windows XP Pro, have have been migrating all
my folders and files to the the new XP machine, and I was setting it
up as I usually would do, which is to install the O/S to C: and
everything else to D: however - when I was checking the different
users accounts (there are 2 others - limited) I am seeing all my
stuff on their menus... is this because of the way I'm installing????

Is there any way to isolate the programs I'm installing to D: to just
my user account or am I going to have to reinstall everything ? ;-(

The items you're seeing in the other user's start menus are only shortcuts.
Very small in size. They point to the same program folder that you
installed the program to.

When logged onto other users' accounts, you *might* run into a program or
two that asks you to run setup again. The point of doing so would be
creating program related registry entries for that user. The program can be
installed to the same folder where it was installed before so that the bulk
of the program's files would not be duplicated.

In general, older programs tend to set themselves up for the user running
the setup program only - or - they will setup for all users. Most newer
programs will ask during setup if you are installing for yourself only or
for all users. Whatever you choose will, among other things, decide where
the start menu shortcuts will go.

Each user's start menu is a composite derived from two sources:
...\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu
...\Documents and Settings\<user account>\Start Menu

You can copy the shortcuts from the All Users start menu folders to those
belonging to the users that want/need the shortcut. Once the copy is done,
then you can delete the original shortcuts in the All Users folders.
 
I see that you have XP Pro, you can turn Simple File Sharing
OFF and then set permissions as you want. Also, if you
right click on My Computer and select Manage, you will see
Local Users and Groups, you can see and control how the
accounts work there. But be careful and read the help files
and change only one thing at a time, else you can break your
system.

To gain access to files and folders you may need to take
ownership
see http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421

Be sure to read Sharon's answer too. Also, you might be
interested in a getting a book or two, Windows XP Inside/Out
is most complete, but there are many good books.

Also, XP help (press F1 ) has some good material and is
on-line to MS Knowledge Base articles.


--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.


message |I didn't realize I was snipping, I thought I was just
typing between
| your paragraphs... oh well, I'll just top post then..
|
| I think I'm getting this a bit now.. someone else
suggested moving the
| shortcuts from the "All Users" into the acct where I
wanted them, and
| that worked sorta.
|
| You brought up somethine else though about the
Adminstrative
| accounts.. There is more than one? Well, I looked in
the windows
| explorer and on the C: drive I am showing the following
folders:
|
| Local Disk (C:)
| .file_store_32
| +Documents and Settings
| +All Users
| +All Users.WINDOWS
| +Default User
| +Default User.WINDOWS
| +Kalehli
| +LocalService
| +LocalService.NT AUTHORITY
| +Maurine
| +NetworkService
| +NetworkService.NT AUTHORITY
| niteowl
| +Niteowl.ALLAING
| dwnlds
| +epson
| +Program Files
| RECYCLER
| System Volume Information
| +WINDOWS
|
| The "niteowl" (without the +) folder I can't access, gives
me an error
| message, saying it is "not accessible, Access is denied"
Why?
|
| It appears to me that Kalehli and Maurine are the limited
account's
| folders, the "Niteowl.ALLAING" is the administrative
account, and the
| one I use, I think, when I boot up. Is the Default User
the hidden
| admin acct?
|
| I remember setting up the Niteowl acct as the Admin acct
during the
| installation, is there another one that was setup without
me knowing
| about it.. and does it have a password, and if so what it
is???? or
| how do I access it, and WHY would I need to? If I have an
| adminstrative acct, why would I still need another hidden
admin acct?
|
| On bootup I show 3 names to choose from on the welcome
screen,
| Kalehli, Maurine, and Niteowl. Niteowl is password
protected, the
| others are not.
|
| What is the LocalService and NetworkService stuff?
|
| If I'm "sharing" a drive so I can transfer files to and
from other
| stations, does that give other users on the same machine
access to
| them also? I'm just trying to understand the limitations
and how the
| flow works. In all actuality I probably won't share my
working
| drives, C: and D:, the file archive storage drives will be
fully
| shared. These are mainly image and music/media files.
|
| I have Outlook Express setup usually, but only for access
to hotmail
| accts. which I understand won't be lasting that much
longer anyway,
| but my default email program is Eudora, moving the
shortcut out of the
| All Users folder seemed to take care of that issue though.
|
| So, when I put in the new 60G drive, if I partition it to
C: and D:
| 40% and 60%, move the "My Documents" folders to the D
drive, leave C:
| and D: unshared, can I still setup a specific folder to
share anyway
| over the my network?
|
| Anyway, my main purpose I guess is to limit my daughters
internet
| access and limit what progrrams she can use on the
system... Since
| this is the fastest machine on my network, she'll want to
be playing
| her favorite online games on this machine when I'm not
using it, so
| basically yes, I need to limit the adult stuff for her
acct. and other
| than that she doesn't need to do anything else on my
machine. She
| does have her own computer and the limitations are
enforced so far by
| looking over her shoulder occassionally. ;-) I'll need
something
| better soon though..
|
| I am building another machine for her and will install XP
to that one
| also, so this is just an interim arrangement for her to be
on my
| machine, but I do need to understand this anyway as I have
taken on
| the task of maintaining 50 computers at the new charter
middle school
| she goes to, and this is all pretty new to me. I thought
working with
| this at home would help educate me for the schools needs
also. I'm
| just a volunteer there as the funding isn't available for
a hired IT
| guy, so we're making do with me. ;-)
|
| I do have a better understanding now, the list of accts
above is still
| fuzzy, but I'm sure it'll clear up.
|
| Again, thanks for your efforts to educate me. and your
patience.
|
| niteowl
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 10:14:18 -0600, "Jim Macklin"
|
| >What you need to remember about XP is that it is a true
| >multi-user OS. Unlike W98/ME which did not really work
well
| >with multi-user accounts and provide security and
privacy,
| >XP does, by default prevent one user from accessing the
| >another users data files (My Documents and email). In
W98
| >just hitting cancel on the user logon, will boot to a
| >default user account and all files and data is readable.
| >
| >Windows XP Pro has more levels of user accounts and user
| >rights control. Using NTFS also improves data security.
| >
| >When a user creates a file in their account, it is
private,
| >by default, unless the folder is being shared, even then
a
| >file on a shared drive can be encrypted and locked with a
| >password.
| >
| >Applications and services may be controlled using XP Pro
and
| >to a lesser extent using XP Home. So you can have
accounts
| >with full access (administrator accounts) and limited
| >accounts that may have some application unavailable and
they
| >won't be able to change their own permissions.
| >
| >Each User Account will have a default My Documents folder
in
| >the C: drive. Moving these My Documents folders has the
| >advantage of isolating the data from a system crash which
| >could result in data loss if reformatting and
reinstallation
| >was required. Moving the files is essential if the drive
| >(partition) is small because you need to keep a minimum
of
| >15% free disk space to allow defrag to run.
| >
| >You can help us with user accounts setup, security and
such
| >by saying exactly what you are trying to setup and for
whom.
| >For instance, You are the administrator and need the
default
| >administrator (which is hidden when you create the first
| >user account) and you need a user account with admin
rights
| >so you can do required computer maintenance and setup w/o
| >screwing up the default admin acct. These accounts
should
| >have passwords. Then it is good practice to have a
limited
| >user account for your routine use.
| >
| >Then you will get to the issue of other users and what
they
| >need and what you want them to be able to do. Do they
need
| >to access the Internet, send a FAX, install programs, do
you
| >want them to have no access to adult sites (your
children?)
| >and what version of XP you have will determine what you
can
| >and cannot do.
| >
| >BTW, don't snip to much, I don't want to have to go back
and
| >look for your previous posts to see what questions and
info
| >you have previously posted.
| >
| >Yes, I would certainly switch to the faster drive, you
will
| >notice that things happen 50% faster.
| >
| >When you install a program, by default it will be useable
to
| >all users ad Windows will put a link to programs in each
| >users startup and program menus. But as an administrator
| >you can remove access on a user's account by deleting the
| >program on that user's account.
| >
| >In general, programs ARE NOT shared, you have programs
| >installed, data is shared.
|
 
Thanks, I'm seeing that 6G isn't nearly enough.. ;-)

I'll put in a bigger drive, I have a 60G I can use.. the 120G is
only a 5400rpm drive, but the 60G is a 7200rpm drive, so that's what
I'll use for my boot drive and second partition.

Thanks for the info,
niteowl


niteowl said:
I recently stepped up to Windows XP Pro, have have been migrating all
my folders and files to the the new XP machine, and I was setting it
up as I usually would do, which is to install the O/S to C: and
everything else to D: however - when I was checking the different
users accounts (there are 2 others - limited) I am seeing all my
stuff on their menus... is this because of the way I'm installing????

Is there any way to isolate the programs I'm installing to D: to just
my user account or am I going to have to reinstall everything ? ;-(

Are you referring to the programs on the Start-menu? These are shortcuts
that are stored on one out of two different places. Take a look at
'c:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Start Menu'. This is the location for
the user specific start menu shortcuts. You will also notice that in the
'Documents and Settings' folder there is a subfolder called 'All users'.
Shortcuts in this folder will be shown to all users.

If you also want your users to be unable to run the programs by finding the
program files manually you will have to apply suitable security settings in
your 'Program files' folders. You may want to read up on NTFS and file
permissions.
My C: drive is only 6Gigs, as this is the way I got used to doing
things as a way of isolating the O/S in case of the need to reformat
and begin again.. My second physical drive is 120G partitioned into 3
logical drives.

Two things:

1) 6 GB is not a lot of space for Windows XP. With service pack uninstall
files, documents, hibernation- and page files, system restore points etc
this is likely to fill up rather quickly. Even if you put your programs on
another partition.

2) I would assume that your 6 GB drive is quite a lot slower than your 120
GB drive. If this is the case I would recommend installing XP on the 120 GB
drive. Personally I would probably even remove the 6 GB drive. Your computer
would be more silent, and you lose less than 5% of your total storage
capacity.
 
Thanks

niteowl


If you put shortcuts into the "all users", then all users will have access..
if you want the other accounts to have fewer facilities, then put the
shortcuts into your account, and then just copy what you want the other
accounts to have.. obviously, if you move items from "all users", it will
affect ALL USERS..
 
thanks for the info about maybe having to run the setup program again,
that was good to know..

you mention "copying" the shortcuts that then going back to delete the
original... is "moving" them not good?

Thanks for responding.

niteowl
 
How do I get a "My Computer" icon on the desktop.. it never was there,
I thought maybe it wasn't suppose to be.. ???

I also don't have a Network Neighborhood, is that suppose to be there
too?

thanks,
niteowl
 
Right click on the desktop, select properties. The select
Desktop and then Customize Desktop. Should be obvious.


--
Merry Christmas
Have a Safe and Happy New Year
Live Long and Prosper
Jim Macklin
message | How do I get a "My Computer" icon on the desktop.. it
never was there,
| I thought maybe it wasn't suppose to be.. ???
|
| I also don't have a Network Neighborhood, is that suppose
to be there
| too?
|
| thanks,
| niteowl
|
|
| On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 13:39:38 -0600, "Jim Macklin"
|
| >I see that you have XP Pro, you can turn Simple File
Sharing
| >OFF and then set permissions as you want. Also, if you
| >right click on My Computer and select Manage, you will
see
| >Local Users and Groups, you can see and control how the
| >accounts work there. But be careful and read the help
files
| >and change only one thing at a time, else you can break
your
| >system.
| >
| >To gain access to files and folders you may need to take
| >ownership
| >see http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421
| >
| >Be sure to read Sharon's answer too. Also, you might be
| >interested in a getting a book or two, Windows XP
Inside/Out
| >is most complete, but there are many good books.
| >
| >Also, XP help (press F1 ) has some good material and is
| >on-line to MS Knowledge Base articles.
|
 
niteowl said:
How do I get a "My Computer" icon on the desktop.. it never was there,
I thought maybe it wasn't suppose to be.. ???

I also don't have a Network Neighborhood, is that suppose to be there
too?

thanks,
niteowl

Right click a blank spot on the desktop and choose Properties | Desktop |
Advanced and check them.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup only. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/
 
The "niteowl" (without the +) folder I can't access, gives me an error
message, saying it is "not accessible, Access is denied" Why?

It appears to me that Kalehli and Maurine are the limited account's
folders, the "Niteowl.ALLAING" is the administrative account, and the
one I use, I think, when I boot up. Is the Default User the hidden
admin acct?

You've reinstalled Windows to the same folder. It looks like "niteowl" is
your old account. "niteowl.ALLAING" is the new one. Same goes for the other
accounts - the ones that do not have "dot-something" after their name are
from a previous install. TIP: While logged on to an account you can type
%userprofile% in the Start> Run box and Windows Explorer will open with the
focus on that user's folders. That's one way to check which folders are in
use if there are similar names.

Also, Control Panel> User Accounts will show you which group each account
belongs to.

XP is protecting the old account for its owner. It doesn't know that
niteowl and niteowl.ALLAING are the same person. Take ownership of the
"niteowl" folders and you will regain access to the files they contain. Jim
mentioned this in his reply to you.

Hidden admin account folders: Folders are created for an account the first
time that it is logged on to. In other words, you won't see folders for the
hidden administrator account until then (..\Documents and
Settings\Administrator\ and subfolders).

To log on to that account with XP Pro:
Press CTRL+ALT+DEL twice at the Welcome screen.
The Win2000 style logon prompt will appear.
Type Administrator into the user name field. Leave the password field blank
if a password was not assigned during setup.
 
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