Please help me with problem after installing Vista...Thanx!

[Robert Meek dba Tangentals Design]

I was using an XPS 600, 3.0 Ghz dual processor, 2 mg ram, sli connected
Nvidia graphic cards, Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Internal sound board, with a 20
inch flat HD super sharp screen, and a few other goodies i cannot recal at
the moment because I just got out of the hospital after having a slight
stroke. ( Talk about scary! <g> )
Anyway, I'm a freelance programmer on disability so I cannot afford
Microsoft's technical help. I'm hopful that someone on this group can help
me. And I will be more than happy to help anyone with problems in Delphi
for Win32 and/or VS 2005 for NET 3.0 no matter what anyone can do for me!

I made the attempt to install Vista Ultimate 32 bit upgrade DVD over XP
Pro SP/2 w/ NET 3.0 also installed, on the system described above. In the
middle of the installation, which otherwisewent smoothly, I was notified
that it was going to do a clean install rather that a regular upgrade, which
was alright with me as my backups to RW-CDs were up to date.
Everything is basically working fine, with it even having saved my
archives and a directory names "Windows.Old" wich I found is holding all
items that were under the original Documents & Settings.
Here's the main problem:
Under my old install of XP, I had made a shortcut somewhere under C:\,
the only partition of my RAID 0 disc, or possibly under Desktop...I can't be
sure...of my \Documents and Settings\Username\ directory. This way when I
opened my File manager I didn't have to search for my documents and other
information folders but could find a direcrtory named "My Documents" at the
near bottom of the directory list between The end of the C:\ listings and
before the CD burner and DVD listings. I had my shortcut to open the
Explorer and that directory by default.
I'm guessing that because I did that, and because of the way Vista did
it's install, this must have caused some confusion because Explorer when
opened shows just as I've copied to the attachments named "Capture1.jpg and
Capture2.jpg" included in this message. I could fit the opened copy of
explorer into one jpg so the first one is of the topmost sect when opened,
and the second jpg of the bottom most. And those folders I've marked...all
of them being shortcuts to other folders...give me a "I don't have access
rights' message when ever I attempt to open them! This continues even
thought I am the ONLY user and am logged on as an admisistrator with fill
rights! I checked the security rights on all folders and made sure they are
correct and that their settings include all sub-folders and files as well,
and even tried turning all user rights options completely off and o,
restarting each time, but the problem still exists!
As you'll note I have marked some of these same type of important
folders under the Docs and Settings folder that SHOULD normally be
accessible to an administrator under Vista, so the problem is very serious!

Note: after two hours struggling to get signed up to communitiies which is
now
required to use a Microsoft newsgroup it seems, they cut out my attachments
as well!
If someone can help and needs to see either of them please contact me
personally.

What I ultimatly wish to accomplish is to get rid of or otherwise delete
any duplicate and/or uneccesary folders on my system which were created
wrongly when I upgraded to Vista, and make sure the all folders and files
are accessible to me as the ONLY user and the Only Administrator. I have
only one user profile setup using a Username and password other then those
normally setup by Vista by default, and this one I've created is the only
one with full rights as an Administrator.

I greatly hope someone will be able to help me solve this problem so
that I can get back to work. Thanks in advance!

 

[Don]

...I just got out of the hospital after having a slight
stroke. ( Talk about scary! <g> )

The most important single thing you can do for yourself is keep your
blood pressure low -- and upgrading to Vista is antithetical to that
goal, to say the least.

Anyway, I'm a freelance programmer on disability so I cannot afford
Microsoft's technical help...

Hell, Bill Gates is the only person who can afford it.

After reading your post, I think the most helpful advice I can give you
is to learn about 'junctions' which are new in Vista, and very confusing
even when you already know about them.

Junctions are similar to the familiar Shortcut, but are only for the
benefit of legacy programs which try to write into locations where
they shouldn't be writing in the first place, and now Vista has finally
put an end to that sloppy habit )

Open a command window and type, say, dir /a c:\Users and you will
see what I mean. Next try cd'ing to a 'junction' and try dir /a
again.

The frustrating part comes when you try to navigate around using the
left pane of Explorer. Most of the old familiar spots are now junctions
and are therefore forbidden territory. I'm at a loss why junctions are
even visible in Explorer since they are of no use whatever.

If anyone can 'splain this to me I'd be very grateful.

P.S. -- Take your blood pressure medicine!

 

[Rock]

I was using an XPS 600, 3.0 Ghz dual processor, 2 mg ram, sli connected
Nvidia graphic cards, Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Internal sound board, with a
20
inch flat HD super sharp screen, and a few other goodies i cannot recal at
the moment because I just got out of the hospital after having a slight
stroke. ( Talk about scary! <g> )
Anyway, I'm a freelance programmer on disability so I cannot afford
Microsoft's technical help. I'm hopful that someone on this group can
help
me. And I will be more than happy to help anyone with problems in Delphi
for Win32 and/or VS 2005 for NET 3.0 no matter what anyone can do for me!

I made the attempt to install Vista Ultimate 32 bit upgrade DVD over XP
Pro SP/2 w/ NET 3.0 also installed, on the system described above. In the
middle of the installation, which otherwisewent smoothly, I was notified
that it was going to do a clean install rather that a regular upgrade,
which
was alright with me as my backups to RW-CDs were up to date.
Everything is basically working fine, with it even having saved my
archives and a directory names "Windows.Old" wich I found is holding all
items that were under the original Documents & Settings.
Here's the main problem:
Under my old install of XP, I had made a shortcut somewhere under C:\,
the only partition of my RAID 0 disc, or possibly under Desktop...I can't
be
sure...of my \Documents and Settings\Username\ directory. This way when I
opened my File manager I didn't have to search for my documents and other
information folders but could find a direcrtory named "My Documents" at
the
near bottom of the directory list between The end of the C:\ listings and
before the CD burner and DVD listings. I had my shortcut to open the
Explorer and that directory by default.
I'm guessing that because I did that, and because of the way Vista did
it's install, this must have caused some confusion because Explorer when
opened shows just as I've copied to the attachments named "Capture1.jpg
and
Capture2.jpg" included in this message. I could fit the opened copy of
explorer into one jpg so the first one is of the topmost sect when opened,
and the second jpg of the bottom most. And those folders I've
marked...all
of them being shortcuts to other folders...give me a "I don't have access
rights' message when ever I attempt to open them! This continues even
thought I am the ONLY user and am logged on as an admisistrator with fill
rights! I checked the security rights on all folders and made sure they
are
correct and that their settings include all sub-folders and files as well,
and even tried turning all user rights options completely off and o,
restarting each time, but the problem still exists!
As you'll note I have marked some of these same type of important
folders under the Docs and Settings folder that SHOULD normally be
accessible to an administrator under Vista, so the problem is very
serious!

Note: after two hours struggling to get signed up to communitiies which is
now
required to use a Microsoft newsgroup it seems, they cut out my
attachments as well!
If someone can help and needs to see either of them please contact me
personally.

What I ultimatly wish to accomplish is to get rid of or otherwise
delete
any duplicate and/or uneccesary folders on my system which were created
wrongly when I upgraded to Vista, and make sure the all folders and files
are accessible to me as the ONLY user and the Only Administrator. I have
only one user profile setup using a Username and password other then those
normally setup by Vista by default, and this one I've created is the only
one with full rights as an Administrator.

I greatly hope someone will be able to help me solve this problem so
that I can get back to work. Thanks in advance!

Those two jpg's you mentioned are not included so I'm not sure what they
refer to, however the access denied error occurs because Vista uses a
different folder structure than XP. Those folders visible in Vista's
Explorer, which are faded, have the curved arrow, and give an access denied
are actually junction points. Those folders are included with Vista for
compatibility with legacy apps, but there is no data in those junction
points. All they contain are pointers to the new folders in vista where
that data is now stored. There is no need to get into them because there is
nothing in there, and changing the permissions on them might cause problems
with those legacy apps.

To see what folder they point to, where the data is actually stored, open an
elevated command prompt. By that I mean go to the start orb, enter cmd,
when cmd.exe appears at the top left right click on it, and choose Run as
Administrator. Enter the password for an admin account for elevation or
give permission as needed. From the command line navigate to the folder
that contains the folders in question. Then give the command
dir /al

Any junction points will be designated by <Junction> and the real folder
will be listed at the end of the line in brackets. For the Documents and
Settings folder, which is a junction point, the real folder is C:\Users.

There is a paradigm shift in Vista. You cannot assume things in Vista are
the same as they were in XP. There will be a learning curve. Don't fight
it, ask questions.

 

[Chad Harris]

Hello Robert--

MSFT's technical help for end users is eggregiously terrible. They outsource
it to Convergys of Ohio who outsources it to predominantly Indian call
centers who are challenged beyond their capabilities in speaking English or
doing much of anything with Vista or Office or other MSFT software--and they
are called PSS. MSFT has little interest in their being quality support for
end users--quality support from MSFT is supplied to Enterprise customers by
actual MSFT personnel in collaberation with the IT personnel from the
specific enterprise and in those settings somme high quality creative
adaptations are developed. That's because enterprise represents big bucks
to MSFT and it is a company focused on the big money customers.

We supply much better quality of help on these groups than MSFT's so-called
PSS (phone tech support and I would want them to pay the customer for using
it--not the other way around). MSFT is a truly amazing company and I get a
lot of pleasure from their products, but tech support for end users is
something they've conceded to be an eggregious failure for years. I cannot
imagine they do any competent quality control on it.

It's also one of those taboo subjects along with OEMs not providing an OS
DVD that they will never discuss in public. In private, I know they know
it's horrible--believe me.

Hypertension is just one element in the equation of TIAs and CVAs or
strokes. What most people don't appreciate is that normal anticoagulants
aren't carotid artery specific, hence the introduction of medications like
TICLID (ticlopodine HCL) several years ago (for use when there are no
contraindications) in certain clinical situations. Aspirin for example,
only has a 40% anticoagulant impact on the carotid system. I wish you best
of luck in a full recovery, am sorry this occured to you, and hope your
programming is soon thriving.

Maybe this will be of help:

Stroke Treatment Update 2007
http://www.patientcareonline.com/patcare/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=410785

I am trying to figure out what you want done in your message. You
understand that if you upgrade XP to Vista normally, instead of C:\Documents
and Settings\Robert Meek's XP Profile\My Documents that besides junctions
which have been well explained on the Vista general group, your Documents on
Vista are at C or Vista Drive\Users\Robert Meek's Profile\Documents. I
wasn't sure if you did.

Rock has explained junctions and why they exist very nicely. Jimmy Brush
has done some elegant explanations of them on the Vista general group as
have many others, probably including Rock. You could search junctions on
either group, but I don't think the existence of junctions have anything to
do with causing any problem you have.

1) It sounds like your upgrade went normally. In XP, you could easily make
a shortcut to your documents by simply opening them by typing in run the
pathway above, and holding down the left mouse and draging the folder icon
in the upper left corner of the window onto your desktop. In Vista, you can
do the same thing by typing in the file path above.

2) Your making the shortcut on your XP system had no impact on the location
of Documents on the upgrade to Vista. I'm not sure I follow the reference
to the capture.jpegs-sorry. If this is a refernce to attachments of pics
you included to illustrate your problem, they didn't upload here. I don't
see them and if they had uploaded I would.

3) If you can't open Documents on the Start menu which is also located at
the file path I've posted above, and are getting a UAC access message, then
I would simply

Click Start button>right click Documents>Security Tab>highlight your
profile>edit>put checkmarks in all boxes in the permissions dialogue box and
if any problem doing that simply click Add>type users in the box>check all
the permission dialogue boxes>ok.

4) I'm at a total loss as to why in the world it would take more than 30
seconds max to configure your Win Mail in Vista to access newsgroups and you
can still access them via the primitive html web system but I can't imagine
why anyone would want to--it's so slow and clunky and ridiculously
configured by MSFT. They are to be commended however, by simply requiring
you to open Win Mail>click on Communities> and it automatically configures
newsgroups for you. If you type Newsgroups in help and support (underused
in XP and vastly underused in Vista considering 50% of the questions on
these groups would be answered if people used it) you will get instructions
of how to configure the groups in Vista's Win Mail. It could not be easier.

I've linked all the help you could need doing this at the Online Vista Help
site here:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/search.aspx?=&qu=configure+newsgroups+win+mail

You can do the same by clicking Start>Help and Support>and type in search
"configuring newsgroups Win Mail".

5) I doubt you have any folders created unnecessarily when you upgraded to
Vista Robert. There is simply no reason why you should.

Let me know if this helps. I want you to get back to work and enjoy your
Vista installation. It doesn't seem to me like you have a big problem at
all. Please let us know if this helps you find and shortcut your documents,
or if you are experiencing any other problem at all with Vista. I tried my
best to understand what is bugging you.

Good luck,

CH

 

[Robert Meek dba Tangentals Design]

First of all, I have placed a message ment primarily for those three
whom first replied to me and are BELOW the topical comments on Vista
beginning in the next paragraph. I place that information below everything
else because I consider it Off Topic. Anyone may read it, and I hope they
will because it may provide information some my not be aware of or that are
missinformed on such subjects. In reply to all the comments i recieved
on my problems after upgrading to Vista Ultimate, an action I did because I
wanted to be able to make my newer applications fit in visually as well as
more compatible with the OS that will sooner than we would think be the most
prominent in the world due to Vista being chosen by OEMs as choice! In fact
I've been working on a shareware application which i had hoped to release
last November to make the season, but found out that some of the desktop
features I created had similarities with new features being offered by
various editions of Vists! Naturally I think MY versions are much better,
but each would condradict with the other so I held off and now will nee to
do a lot of re-writing before i can even consider releasing the application
now!
So about this situation. Thanks for telling me about "Junctions". I
hadn't even heard about them before your replies, so I Looked into the whole
concept and can say that at this point I really don't see their value,
especially in the Ultimate version as that is made for professionals and is
rediculas as is hiding system files and/or extensions are as far as I am
concerned!
In any case I was at first very confused, because the way you all
described them, as faded in comparison to other regular shortcuts one might
find in Explorer. Now this, AND the fact that many more are actually
accessible than it would appear should not be, may in fact be due to the
many times and ways i tried altering the security settings before contacing
you...I simply don't know. So I'm asking first if someone could do this for
me. If privately given your e-mail address...mine being: 'meek SPM tan@com
SPM cast.net' Just remove the spaces and "SPM" on both sides of the @
sign...and promising i will not let anyone else have it, I can send them the
two jpg's I mentioned
in the original message, and perhaps you could send me on of what a correct
install of Vista
should look like via Explorer, Markering off any visually apparant changes
you have made
since you installed it.
I really cannot think of a way other than this that would allow me to
see it as I should and thus
be able to be sure I correctly make any necessary changes. Trying to list
the main directories
and their proper order via any written means would be difficult at best.
If you can do so let me know, otherwise I will attempt to trace each one
individually and delete
any directories and /or shortcuts that are redundant on the system and hide
those that stay inaccessible.
Either way I thank you for your help and any other advice or information
you can offer.

////////////////////////////////////////Off
Topic////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Let me thank everyone who replied, showing concern for my health issues.
Of course like everyone, mine are more specific being that I am a
Hemophiliac who at my age is already living 50 years past what my supposed
mortality rate was at the time of my birth. But like this sudden problem, I
never give such issues much concern because in the end there really isn't
much you can do about it.
I have believed since the first time I spent any time in a hospital at
an age where I could actually understand what was goling on...about 3 or 4
as I recall...that some people lose their ability to live their life simply
because they have a hangnail that keeps coming back. Others I've seen over
the years endure horriffic problems and at the same time succeed in life
better than most of us!
I'm not sure what the secret is, or even if there's a secret at all!
But I decided a long tim,e ago I would do whatever I could to lead a decent
and happy life, no matter what my situation might be or what problems my
actions might cause. Not that I went out and played football or pushed
myself way beyond my physical abilities, but unlike so many people I've met
who because of much lighter problems, and though by the age of nine joint
bleeding had put me permanently into a wheelchair, I got myself a
scholarship to USC, ( I wish i had majored in computer tech but back then
most computers were the size of our local post office! <g> ), which they
took away when I had to take off the third semester to get surgury. I began
working right from there, never accepted SSI which if I had would have made
my life then and now a whole lot eaiser, drove all over the US, canadae and
Mexico, did eveything dangerous I could figure out HOW to do without killing
myself, did everything and more one does between the ages of 16 and 25,
married a beuatiful women for 12 years, have two even more beautiful
daughters from her, as well as a grandson. And through all this and more,
spent at least half my life in various hospitals! Finally in 90 when my
wife divorced me, I simply wasn't able to physically make it to work
everyday anymore, ( I'd been an Insurance brokerage office manager in
various states since leaving college ), and so applied for Disability. I
got it with no problem, but only the lowest amount which even now is less
then 800 a month and impossible to live on unless in the back of my pickup
truck's, camper which I had to take a seperate car loan on to put in a
wheelchair lift. Unlike what most people believe, unless you apply for
disability and get it under SSI when under 18 and as soon as you qualify for
it, it's very unlikely a person will recieve much more than Medicaid and a
minimal monthly check for the rest of their life. I can't even get a dollar
in foodstamps, and the only housing assistance available comes under a
standard federal designed architectural base plan the merely provides for
doorway sizes and accessibility. For most wheelchair bound people you have
to be very physically able to still be able to live in such a place by
yourself because unless you are you still can't reach and use the stove,
reach the counters, or get close enough to anything because they don't allow
for leg space! You will find it hard to believe, but in most hopitals, I've
found that it's impossible to use the bathrooms in the individual
rooms...unless of course you take a friend with you!
I'm no socialist and amy nor complaining to you in this little
tirade...that should be obvious by the fact I chose to work all my life.
The reason I took the time to say all the above is that it all adds up to
the actual reason for the stroke I had, which the three of you as well as
most others believe was caused by blood pressure. Well you're all correct,
but the reasons for the high blood pressure is the most important role in
this whole series of events! Mine is naturally very low, ( usually around
100 over 50 to 75 ), like my Father's who just turned 77 and is in great
health! But due to the lack of income over the last two years as it's been
harder and harder to find contracts they'll give to those who don't have
degrees...most of these going overseas and can't be underbid...thus being
forced to use up all my credit and no longer able to keep up with my
mortgage payments on the small one bedroom apartement I was forced to build
for myself just so i could put a roof over my head, I recieved notice of a
sheriff's sale at the courthouse scheduled for the 27th. That just finally
was too much and so I laid down in hopes of falling asleep for
awhile...which i did...but woke up many hours later unable to do little but
babble and write in a way even a code-breaker couldn't understand! <g> They
couldln't understand me on 911 nor trace me because I only have a cell
phone. I couldn't even roll down to the neighbor's house becaue I was
trapped be snow and ice! I couldn't remember anyone's phone numbers so I
tried getting them off my computer address book but found that I couldn't
remember my password either! So I simply sat there after taking medication
available these days for hemophiliacs that help replace the missing protirns
needed for proper blood clotting! What finally saved my life is that my
sister and her husband who live about three miles away called me. And as
they knew something had to be wrong when all i was able to do on my end of
the phone was babble incoherently, they drove right over, and then the 60
miles to the closest hospital able to deal with my kind of problems!
Please do NOT pity me or anyone else. Your best wishes and/or a prayer
is more than enough and is greatly appreaciated! And with the problems I've
already experianced with Visrta since and during the upgrade from XP Pro, I
very much doubt this group will NOT miss getting messages from me on more or
less a continual basis for at least the next month or two as I attempt to
get everything strainghtened out and workg properly. So unless I'm not
heard from after a month of absence or cannot be contacted by e-mail over a
couple of days, I'm sure to be okay. If the opposite turns out to be true,
THEN I've more than likely passon to the next level...which for me holds a
lot of curiosity. Not that I want to die and experiance such things right
away...I don't because I've got a lot that I need and want to accomplish
before this occurs...but I firmly believe that one's memories, experiances,
and everything else that makes his or her what they are, are all a part of
what we've labled the soul, id, and many other things. None of us can ever
really stop to exist, and I believe this because if we ever did the memories
of our existance and all that goes with it would dissappear as well! Now
tell me, what's the point of existance at all, and of attempting to exist
with honor, morality, or even the slightese consideration of self and
others, if upon death, as we can basically see it in others, trulyis the end
of existance and thus reality? Add these considerations to those many
others, such as how obvious it is that the evolutionary cycle of life shows
us that the very creation of life forms, on this planet at least, has been
such that there is much more than a simple relationship between all of them
and us based upon which form can eat or be eaten by the form above or below
it on the scale. There are just too many interdependancies and symbiotic
subtelies that we have in the past ignored in favor of politcall/religous
followings we took to out of basic fear early in our civilized growth. A
great example is that of the horse, which as a mammel was peculiarly
designed for but one purpose, and to be education to do so very easily due
to it's docility. The purpose is human service, given easily, happily,
without question, dutifully, and as if it was a strong a purpose in their
lives as is living for naught but to provide nutrition is and notheing else
for other mammels, such as the average cow!
Such relationships certainly don't exist on their own, nor have been
created by us even over the many generations they have existed, but can ONLY
be understood as a empowerment that was provided to all of humanityby a
higher power! I won't go any further into it at this point as this is
definatly not the place to disscuss or debate such things. For those who do
believe as I do however I close by wishing the world all the hope and value
that the ressurection was intended to provide humanity with!