Where Did These Settings Go?

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Guest

Always seem to be endlessly searching for things in Vista. I caught my wife
nearly in tears because of the number of changes (to Win Explorer alone) made
more difficult by a far busier display (not *everything* has to look like
bent aluminum), helped somewhat by switching the theme to Windows Classic. So
much for the pretty Aero buttons.

Anyways, seems we're just not smart enough for Vista, so I hoped someone
could help:

I know I saw it somewhere, but how do I get rid of the fade effect when
windows are being sized? (in XP one used to right click on the desktop,
select advanced settings I believe). Where is the help topic for this?
Certainly not found when entering "effect" or any derivation thereof into the
search field;

Where is the setting to leave underlined menu letters on? As it is, I only
see the underlined letter if I press Alt key.

Is there a doc, FAQ or other place that lists these changes?

I'd be happy if someone could send me somewhere for clarification on the
following:

With full admin control:

- I cannot access the Application directory. What's the difference between
this and the AppData directory? If they are different or changed, why are
they both there?

- I cannot access the My Documents directory. What's the difference between
this and the Documents directory? If they are different or changed, why are
they both there?

- I cannot access My Music, My Pictures, My Videos, but I can access My
Webs. Has the word "My" been dropped from a lot of these folders? Is there a
rhyme or a reason as to which, why and as to why I can often see both?

Special thanks to whomever made me change such a large number of macros and
VB apps that always referenced "C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\..." and
now, for reasons unknown to me, have to be redirected to
"C:\Users\<username>\..."

I tried going through What's New materials but the ones I've found have been
no assistance.

Thank you for any help.
 
Hi John,
I know I saw it somewhere, but how do I get rid of the fade effect when
windows are being sized? (in XP one used to right click on the desktop,
select advanced settings I believe). Where is the help topic for this?
Certainly not found when entering "effect" or any derivation thereof into
the
search field;
Click to expand...

There are advanced options under personalize/Windows Color and Appearance
when right clicking the desktop. There are also advanced settings in the
System control panel applet, check performance settings on the advanced tab.
Where is the setting to leave underlined menu letters on? As it is, I only
see the underlined letter if I press Alt key.
Click to expand...

Control Panel/Easy of Access/Make keyboard easier to use, the setting for
this is at the bottom.
Is there a doc, FAQ or other place that lists these changes?
Click to expand...

Just the Help and Support center, and it takes some practice to learn "how"
to ask the question.
I'd be happy if someone could send me somewhere for clarification on the
following:

With full admin control:

- I cannot access the Application directory. What's the difference between
this and the AppData directory? If they are different or changed, why are
they both there?
Click to expand...

This is a biggie. Programs in Vista run within a virtual directory in the
user profile. This is the purpose of the Appdata folder. They do not run
from or write to the actual Program Folder (hence why when you run
non-compliant software you have to run elevated). The Program Files
directory houses the files, but a user doesn't (or at least isn't supposed
to be) run them from there. Even installing requires elevated privileges so
the appropriate folders and files can be created.
- I cannot access the My Documents directory. What's the difference
between
this and the Documents directory? If they are different or changed, why
are
they both there?
Click to expand...

"My <anything>" are only pointers in a Vista user profile, they just serve
as redirects for a program that expects those folders to be present. There
is nothing in them, a user now just has the plan vanilla Documents, Music,
and other folders. "My" was dropped based on user feedback and usability
studies.
- I cannot access My Music, My Pictures, My Videos, but I can access My
Webs. Has the word "My" been dropped from a lot of these folders? Is there
a
rhyme or a reason as to which, why and as to why I can often see both?
Click to expand...

Unless you have folder options set to see hidden and system files, you
normally wouldn't see them. They are as explained above except for "My
Webs". That is not a default userprofile folder, but was created rather by
some software that you or the system manufacturer installed.
Special thanks to whomever made me change such a large number of macros
and
VB apps that always referenced "C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\..."
and
now, for reasons unknown to me, have to be redirected to
"C:\Users\<username>\..."
Click to expand...

Good coding practice to use the variable %userprofile% rather than a hard
path.
Thank you for any help.
Click to expand...

Hope this was useful.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
 
Thank you very much, Rick. I really appreciate your time and expertise.

(FYI, I wasn't able to find that "effect" for window sizing control.)

I'm afraid that a few more things have gone loopy and/or incompatible. We're
struggling too much and will likely go back to XP.

Thanks again, Rick!
 
I hope by go back, you mean you had XP on the same machine. Otherwise, many
Vista delivered computers, especially laptops, do not have the drivers for
XP. If this is your case, make sure the XP drivers are available or see if
you can return a new computer for one delivered with XP.
 
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