What to do with all the stupid and unnecessary "other/guest" user accounts and directories?
thanatoid
Is it possible to move all the directories from All Users to
Administrator or vice versa and change the re;evant/necessary
shortcuts? It is driving me INSANE to have to check in two
different places every time I want to make a change to the start
menu. (Not to mention the set-up it totally illogical - at least
to a non-MS employee.)
Any thoughts/suggestions on this and related themes would be
greatly appreciated. I am new to XP and while I am beginning to
get used to it, the redundancy of 5 (or more) copies of the
identical file (were it only *one* file - it seems there are
HUNDREDS) in different places and the unnecessary presence of
other user accounts on machine which only one person in the
world ever touches is driving me nuts.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
t.
Leonard Grey
Whether or not you think it's "stupid and unnecessary" is irrelevent --
that's how Windows XP was designed. If you try to break Windows, you
will suffer the consequences.
If you are driven INSANE by something as miniscule as the user account
structure in an operating system, you really need to get out more.
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est
Tim Meddick
registry that will make the "Start Menu" within that users' "home" folder the only
one that the system uses.
(e.g. "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Start Menu")
The changes would be as follows :
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders]
"Common Start Menu"="%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu"
"Common Startup"="%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell
Folders]
"Common Start Menu"="%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu"
"Common Startup"="%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup"
...All the above values would normally have the values: %ALLUSERSPROFILE% as part of
them - by changing this to: %USERPROFILE% you change the focus to the current users
profile and make the Start Menu in the "All Users" folder redundant.
P.S.
I have also included a reg-file attachment (if you are using a news-reader capable of
"seeing" attachments) that will make these changes.
Another way of implementing these changes would be to copy and paste each of the
following four commands into a Command Prompt ("DOS-box") and press [ENTER] after
each...
reg ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders" /v
"Common Start Menu" /d "%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu" /f
reg ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders" /v
"Common Startup" /d "%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup" /f
reg ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders"
/v "Common Start Menu" /d "%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu" /f
reg ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders"
/v "Common Startup" /d "%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup" /f
(The above [4] commands should all be one-liners but may not appear so due to
line-wrap. Please ensure that each command begins with 'reg' and ends with '/f')
*Note - Please exercise care when editing the registry, always create a backup and /
or create a 'System Restore' point first.
==
Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)
"thanatoid" <wai...@the.exit.invalid> wrote in message
news:Xns9CE3E601F...@188.40.43.245...
thanatoid
news:Oakl0vtf...@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl:
>
> Whether or not you think it's "stupid and unnecessary" is
> irrelevent -- that's how Windows XP was designed. If you
> try to break Windows, you will suffer the consequences.
Well, I suppose we have all known MS is only good at making
money, and even Apple is running a (significantly) prettied-up
version of a 35-year old OS, so it would seem there IS NO HOPE.
> If you are driven INSANE by something as miniscule as the
> user account structure in an operating system, you really
> need to get out more.
Since you seem to be the kind of person that likes the
expression, I will use it:
"That ship has sailed."
I have little to do in my life aside from sitting in front of
idiot box #2. Sad but true.
> ---
> Leonard Grey
> Errare humanum est
Too bad humanum includes MS.
thanatoid
news:#gWL$OvfKH...@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl:
> If you only ever use one profile (i.e. Administrator) you
> can make a change to the registry that will make the "Start
> Menu" within that users' "home" folder the only one that
> the system uses.
This sounds promising, I will try it.
<SNIP>
> I have also included a reg-file attachment (if you are
> using a news-reader capable of "seeing" attachments) that
> will make these changes.
I use XNews and I did not even know you CAN include
"attachments" with non-binary posts.
If you could post them or post links to them, I would be MOST
grateful. I have no binaries access now, I'm on eternal-
september.
UPDATE: I just checked the DL dir where I saved you post, and
there IS a "SingleStartMenu.reg" file there. HOW it got there I
don't know. You learn something new about XNews (AND Total
Commander) almost every day.
> Another way of implementing these changes would be to copy
> and paste each of the following four commands into a
> Command Prompt ("DOS-box") and press [ENTER] after each...
Will try them...
<SNIP>
> (The above [4] commands should all be one-liners but may
> not appear so due to line-wrap. Please ensure that each
> command begins with 'reg' and ends with '/f')
>
> *Note - Please exercise care when editing the registry,
> always create a backup and / or create a 'System Restore'
> point first.
I'll make a registry backup. "System Restores" have never
sounded very reliable - and I have read many SR-related horror
posts.
I very much appreciate your help. Sounds like specific stuff
that may help me solve some of the annoyances.
Anteaus
what drives the bulk of the overcomplexity present in modern OS's.
Thinking in particular of a site I was asked to troubleshoot recently, it
turned-out to have only three desktops, but these were joined to an SBS
domain with roaming profiles. To compound the situation two were XP and one
Vista, so between three computers there were six sets of roaming profiles.
Sorting this unholy mess out took two days work, and even then there were
still some odd glitches which would have to taken so long to resolve that I
advised the client to live-with them.
I could've installed a new system -minus AD domain and roaming profiles- in
less time than it took to fix the profile-related problems. In fact I did
suggest this, but the client decided to stick with the existing setup.
In an era when providing a computer (or two) for each user is almost a
trivial cost, multiuser profiling does seem like a farcical way to go about
things, especially for small sites. I begin to wonder if the reason why
small-site installers favour this route is because it's what they're trained
to do by Microsoft, or if it's a case of 'milking' the client by making
things as complex and as time-consuming as possible, to maximize support
bills.
"thanatoid" wrote:
> .
>
Tim Meddick
you can also download my reg file from :
http://www.4shared.com/file/176172591/d9f0067a/SingleStartMenu.html
This Reg-file will make changes to the registry to use the current user's
"Start Menu" ONLY and therefore make the "Start Menu" in the "All Users" folder
redundant.
Please Note that this will make active the Start Menu (as and when you use this
reg file) for the CURRENT USER and will then apply to ALL OTHER USER PROFILES
*Note - Please exercise care when editing the registry, always create a backup and /
or create a 'System Restore' point first.
==
Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)
"thanatoid" <wai...@the.exit.invalid> wrote in message
news:Xns9CE4F0426...@188.40.43.245...
Tim Meddick
the network.
If User Profiles did not exist as you suggest - a worker could only access stuff from
his OWN console and not from any other PC in his network.
I can log on to my profile from any PC in a number of locations on our employer's
network.
And on a single PC - it enables two or more users to keep files separate and secure
from each other stored either on that machine or a shared resource on the network.
Profiles are not used just for single PCs - but as "roaming profiles" can access the
same resources from multiple locations.
You recommend buying a PC for every user, but it's all about sharing resources that
makes life easier...
==
Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)
"Anteaus" <Ant...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F717FC97-F5CE-4DB2...@microsoft.com...
thanatoid
> Sorry,
> you can also download my reg file from :
>
> http://www.4shared.com/file/176172591/d9f0067a/SingleStartMe
> nu.html
You may have missed this from my last post:
UPDATE: I just checked the DL dir where I saved you post, and
there IS a "SingleStartMenu.reg" file there. HOW it got there I
don't know. You learn something new about XNews (AND Total
Commander) almost every day.
I have yet to try your suggestions, but they sound very
promising. Thanks again.
thanatoid
wrote in
news:F717FC97-F5CE-4DB2...@microsoft.com:
> Purely an observational comment, but it seems to me that
> userprofiling is what drives the bulk of the overcomplexity
> present in modern OS's.
<SNIP>
> In an era when providing a computer (or two) for each user
> is almost a trivial cost, multiuser profiling does seem
> like a farcical way to go about things, especially for
> small sites. I begin to wonder if the reason why small-site
> installers favour this route is because it's what they're
> trained to do by Microsoft, or if it's a case of 'milking'
> the client by making things as complex and as
> time-consuming as possible, to maximize support bills.
I have very often thought that maximizing support costs (as part
of the "You sell Windows in your shop, and ONLY Windows, or
else..." strategy) was one of the main reasons for making
computer setups so unnecessarily complex.
Anteaus
"Tim Meddick" wrote:
> User Profiles give access to shared resources from any terminal a user logs
> onto in the network.
>
> If User Profiles did not exist as you suggest - a worker could only access stuff > from his OWN console and not from any other PC in his network.
News to me.
Lst time I checked, having a userprofile (roaming or static) didn't give any
access to server shared ares.
Loading a profile might bring a group policy into force which causes
drve-mappings to appear. That is purely an incidental effect though. In order
to set a mapping the user must first have access-rights to the share, and
profiles do not grant rights. If the user has rights then they are able to
access the share, roaming profile or no.
The issue which profiling fails to address is that in many smaller firms the
computers are task-specific, for example a firm has a bank of powerful
desktops for design work, another has specialst software for accounting,
another is set-up for voicemail and reception duties. If one of these guys
is off sick or on vacation someone needs to take over, but the moment they
log-in the computer's settings revert, and it will no longer perform the task
it was set-up for.
The textbook remedies I'm always given to this are to use mandatory
profiles, or modify the Default profile. With a little thought you can see
that neither are applicable. Mandatory profiles lock-down all settings, which
is useless. The default profile is only applied to first-time users, and in
any case will not provide settings for any software installed since its
creation.
The upshot is that security is thrown to the window, and passwords are all
made the same, or written on post-its. Then, it becomes established practice
that on computer A you log-on as Susan, no matter who you actually are. On
computer B you log-on as James. When you ask, 'Who is Susan, anyway?' you are
told that she left a couple of years back to work for a competitior.
Not just hypothetical either, I suspect that a fair proportion of small
firms work that way.
Roaming profiles work for large companies, but they have the benefit of
onsite IT, and a very uniform and 'faceless' set of computers. Outside of
this environment it's a different matter.
Then, we have the issue of being 'stuck in the past' - since Windows 7's
roaming profiles are incompatible with XP, the choices are to stick with XP
for the forseeable future, face a long period of disruptive working, or
upgrade the entire site in one go. Which latter most small firms cannot
afford, either in licensing costs or downtime. I wonder if Microsoft have
considered the effect this design-decision must have on Windows 7 sales?
Tim Meddick
also created an "Undo" reg file and both can be downloaded together in a .zip file
below :
SingleStartMenu.zip
http://www.4shared.com/file/178081162/cbee7314/SingleStartMenu.html
Tim Meddick
If no profiles existed the user would have to keep any personal files on his own hd.
Any files he saved to a public drive would be visible to all!
WITH profiles - a user can store files on a networked public drive with his profile's
security credentials and access them from any console on the network providing he
logs in to his profile.
For example - I log in to any PC as %user% and get access to a "My Documents" folder
on the public drive.
Any files saved to this folder can be accessed again by logging into any other PC on
the network as %user% again.
No-one else but %admin% can "see" the files in "My Documents" even though they are on
the "public" drive.
==
Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)
"Anteaus" <Ant...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:6CCD5B1C-2CEF-4E44...@microsoft.com...
thanatoid
> I have updated the reg-file as it did not contain all the
> necessary changes, I have also created an "Undo" reg file
> and both can be downloaded together in a .zip file below :
Thanks for the update. Good thing I haven't had the "intestinal
fortitude" to try it yet...
Great to have the "undo" as well. I really appreciate your help.
Cheers,
t.
Tim Meddick
Start Menu the only one that the system will refer to, and therefore, make the Start
This is ALL it does and the "undo" reg file re-instates the "All Users" Start Menu.
I have tested both and know that they work.
However, it's only worth using on a system where ONLY one profile is usually used
from day to day, and it is from this profile you would execute (import) the
SingleStartMenu.reg file (the "undo" file can be imported from any profile).
Because if any other profile is then used, they would find their Start Menu located
in another's folder (and unless Admin, would be read-only for them).
But if you only ever use one profile, then I can well see the advantages of having
only one location for the Start Menu.
==
Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)
"thanatoid" <wai...@the.exit.invalid> wrote in message
news:Xns9CE8C59AF...@188.40.43.245...
thanatoid
> Let me again assure you that all this reg file will do is
> make the CURRENT user's Start Menu the only one that the
> system will refer to, and therefore, make the Start Menu in
> the "All Users" folder redundant.
If that "CURRENT" users is me, ie Admin in "E:\Documents and
Settings\Administrator\Start Menu"
then that is all I want.
> This is ALL it does and the "undo" reg file re-instates the
> "All Users" Start Menu.
>
> I have tested both and know that they work.
I trust you.
> However, it's only worth using on a system where ONLY one
> profile is usually used from day to day, and it is from
> this profile you would execute (import) the
> SingleStartMenu.reg file (the "undo" file can be imported
> from any profile).
I am the only person who ever touches or will touch this
computer, and I automatically log on as Admin.
> Because if any other profile is then used, they would find
> their Start Menu located in another's folder (and unless
> Admin, would be read-only for them).
Irrelevant in this case, I trust.
> But if you only ever use one profile, then I can well see
> the advantages of having only one location for the Start
> Menu.
That's an understatement.
Thanks again. I'll try it soon. (I have a lot of other things to
do right now...)
Will report on success/etc.
Cheers
t.
Tim Meddick
Import while in Admin, and then reboot (just remember to do this at the end of a
session so you don't have to reboot specially).
Then the "Start Menu" within the "All Users" folder will be ignored and the only
"Start Menu" used will be the one within :
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Start Menu
thanatoid
> If you only ever use Admin[istrator] profile then it will
> work just fine.
>
> Import while in Admin, and then reboot (just remember to do
> this at the end of a session so you don't have to reboot
> specially).
>
> Then the "Start Menu" within the "All Users" folder will be
> ignored and the only "Start Menu" used will be the one
> within :
>
> C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Start Menu
Yes, that sounds great. I still have to do it... Currently
having a minor weird problem with the XP defragger - in the
xpbasics group if you care - not a big deal...
I was wondering whether this change is "permanent" (I know you
made an undo.reg file, but) in the sense that when I install
more programs, will they all go to the Admin start menu from now
on, instead of giving me 2 choices of all start menu subgroups -
without full paths needless to say - as an older program I
installed just the other day did - very frustrating...
Your willingness to help is as impressive as your knowledge, I
really appreciate it.
Anteaus
Rather old post and I've been away for a few days so sorry for delay in
reply, but..
Home Folders have absolutely nothing to do with local userprofiles, in fact
we used to allocate home folders on Netware 3.x servers for DOS clients, in
the dim and distant past. All you need to achieve this is some variable such
as %username% which can be included in a NET USE command (Or MAP for Netware)
so that the mapping is user-dependent.
The only client this won't work for is a laptop user - and they always are
the most difficult to cater-for satisfactorily. Point of fact, roaming
profiles don't work too well for laptop users either, since they will rarely
be in-sync with the local copy.
Tim Meddick
The simple facts are these:
1). I have a roaming profile.
2). The profile has a "personal" folder (My Documents) on the same network drive as
the profile settings folder (home folder) is on.
3). The personal (My Documents) folder has permissions assigned that prevent other
"Users" from accessing it although I can "see" other Documents folders belonging to
other [roaming] users, likewise, I cannot access them.
4). To my thinking, having a works folder I can access from any PC in the building
where I work IS a convenience, whether or not you agree or disagree with that, the
fact remains that this folder still exists.
I have never configured networked "roaming" profiles but just use one. I don't know
how they set it up but can only say what I see.
And that is that I can "see" all the "Documents" folders of the various user's
profiles, in one place on the network drive, and can only access my own.
Plus, I can see all the "home" folders on the network drive, but in different area of
the drive.
The "local" drives are NOT used for the "My Documents" folder in these profiles.
==
Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)
"Anteaus" <Ant...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:704D89AC-2741-4971...@microsoft.com...
thanatoid
I've been meaning to update you on the "admin Vs. users" thing
with my XP install. Unfortunately I can not be as clear about
everything as I'd like to, because I did (of course - even
though I KNOW one shouldn't) do more than one thing at once and
since I'm not getting any younger, it is even more confusing. I
installed a little StartUp manager (the Mike Lin one - which I
was [later] glad to see was #1 in the list of "best startup
utils" somewhere, the 2nd being sysinternals Autoruns; I have
known and respected Russinovich's work for a long time so I
installed that one too, but I have yet to see what the one minor
change I made with it will cause, if anything).
Well, after running your reg file, the first thing I noticed was
that "E:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start
Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools" remained where it was, even
though all the other start Menu items from "all users" were gone
- the problem is - and I really apologize for my stupidity - I
can't remember whether I had not moved them manually by that
time, or some of them, or none... Sigh... And that "Adm. Tools"
section is an exact copy of "E:\Documents and
Settings\Administrator\Start
Menu\Programs\SYSTEM\Accessories\Administrative Tools" (as you
can see I had by then tried to organize things a little).
The next thing was that (needless to say, not having studied the
deceptively obvious Mike Lin "Startup" program), I deleted the
four "all users" startup items (mainly because one of them was
giving me an "X is already running!" message at each startup).
Well, after deleting them from "all users" I found they were
(probably not to YOUR surprise) also gone from "current user" -
I guess the logic being that the current user (who may or may
not be the admin) is certainly one of "all users". IOW, there IS
a logic, albeit a MS logic at work here.
Anyway, I replaced the start up items (the hard way, manually -
I couldn't bring them back within the Startup program since I
just hit delete - it never having occurred to me to see what
happened if I right-clicked on an entry...).
Then I ran Autoruns and saw double entries for those startup
programs and deleted one of each of the pairs. Have not rebooted
XP since - I am very disorganized these days... Will be
rebooting into XP later on and will update you...
At this point I have a feeling I may have started to mess with
things too much too early and that your advice - while
deceptively simple - may be too advanced for me at this stage. I
wish I could get hold of an XP book where the logic behind the
'admin', 'all users' and 'current user' directories and startup
programs (etc.) is explained. I remember the first time I
installed XP I was utterly perplexed by TWO startup menus in
"start", and that's where it all began...
Anyway... Thank you very much for the help you have offered, I
will continue to work on this slowly. I have decided that
cleaning my drive of all the crap that has accumulated over the
years is the #1 priority so I am not spending as much time on my
"XP test install" as I really should be if I was as serious as I
thought I was... But I am more confused than serious...
Anyway, thanks /again/ and I'll leave it here for now...
t.
Tim Meddick
;
Use the "Undo" reg-file I included, first of all.
Then logoff /logon again - *immidiately*
It is my advice that you get used to the Two "Start Menu" folders - rather than try
to attempt to modify them in any way.
You see - if a shortcut (or folder) appears in the both "All Users" and personal
"Start Menu" you still only see the ONE copy (of the shortcut or folder) in the
resultant Start Menu.
They have made it this way so that common programs that all users will use such as
Internet Explorer, can have jsut one copy of the shortcut in the "All Users" menu and
it will appear for every user in their Start Menu.
However, some programs you install you might want only yourself to be able to use
t. - In this case, all you have to do is make sure it appears ONLY in YOUR
profile's "Start Menu" folder and it will ONLY appear in YOUR Start Menu and no
other.
So here we have an example of a use of "personal Start Menu" folders for security
reasons.
On public PCs, for another example, they would have all the Admin Tools shortcuts
appear in the Administrator's profile "Start Menu" only - so that they would not
appear in the other users Start Menus.
Another reason for the "All Users" menu is so that all the shortcuts, that will be
common for all users, don't have to be repeated in all the other profile's Start Menu
folders - only the *differences* (only those shortcuts unique to a particular
profile) need appear in personal Start Menu folders. Else, the Start Menu will "fall
back" on the "All Users" menu.
For instance - "Windows Explorer" shortcut can appear once only in the "All Users"
menu and it will then appear in every Start Menu for all users.
It doesn't take long to work out how this setup can have it's advantages in not
having repeat copies of shortcuts in every user's Start Menu folder, and, how having
individual Start Menu folders, gives you more control and security over who sees what
in their menu.
I think the key here for you might be experimentation - I am sure it will not take
half as long as you think to master, if you give a little of your time to it...
thanatoid
> Perhaps the best thing for you to do, if you are getting
> inot ANY difficulty is this ;
>
> Use the "Undo" reg-file I included, first of all.
I considered it, but nothing is really /wrong/ that I can tell,
just a little strange /overall/, except that one little utility
telling me it is already running - quite possibly the other
utils would tell me that too [and perhaps MANY programs] if the
authors had bothered to include this feature! And after all, all
it takes is a click on OK ( and I have "Push the Freakin'
Button" installed, too, so I just have to add am entry if I can
NOT get rid of the double-start...).
> Then logoff /logon again - *immediately*
Right.
> It is my advice that you get used to the Two "Start Menu"
> folders - rather than try to attempt to modify them in any
> way.
> You see - if a shortcut (or folder) appears in the both
> "All Users" and personal "Start Menu" you still only see
> the ONE copy (of the shortcut or folder) in the resultant
> Start Menu.
IIRC (and I may not) that's not what happened in my /first/ XP
test install, and that's what totally confused me. I had a
"startup" directory under "start" which I had added a few little
utils into, and then I had ANOTHER "startup" directory somewhere
under Admin tools or wherever - I forget - which had completely
different things in it. Something like that. I thought that was
just crazy - but maybe I should have given it a few days...
> They have made it this way so that common programs that all
> users will use such as Internet Explorer, can have jsut one
> copy of the shortcut in the "All Users" menu and it will
> appear for every user in their Start Menu.
Yes, I am /slowly/ beginning to understand the MS logic here.
Still (grr) WHY couldn't they have put in a simple "make this a
single-user computer" check box SOMEWHERE?
> However, some programs you install you might want only
> yourself to be able to use t. - In this case, all you
> have to do is make sure it appears ONLY in YOUR profile's
> "Start Menu" folder and it will ONLY appear in YOUR Start
> Menu and no other.
AT least I don't have to worry about that - no one else ever
touches this computer and probably won't until I am dead, if
then. I am a kind of a solitary creature.
> So here we have an example of a use of "personal Start
> Menu" folders for security reasons.
Right, I understand that - but aren't MS aware that there are
people who use computers mainly because NO ONE will talk to them
in RL?
> On public PCs, for another example, they would have all the
> Admin Tools shortcuts appear in the Administrator's profile
> "Start Menu" only - so that they would not appear in the
> other users Start Menus.
Makes sense.
> Another reason for the "All Users" menu is so that all the
> shortcuts, that will be common for all users, don't have to
> be repeated in all the other profile's Start Menu folders
> - only the *differences* (only those shortcuts unique to a
> particular profile) need appear in personal Start Menu
> folders. Else, the Start Menu will "fall back" on the "All
> Users" menu.
This is where I got freaked out - some things repeating, some
not, weird things happening if you move stuff... The 9x start
menu was SO simple to set up in comparison - and I DO have the
"classic" start menu enabled. And now that I have seen that it
gives you a lovely sub- "docs and sett's" tree of 3 bloated
redundant directories and you have to put/move/copy things
into/between one of three "startmenu" sections (directories) I
can understand why most people's XP "start" menus look like the
rat's nests that they are.
> For instance - "Windows Explorer" shortcut can appear once
> only in the "All Users" menu and it will then appear in
> every Start Menu for all users.
> It doesn't take long to work out how this setup can have
> it's advantages in not having repeat copies of shortcuts in
> every user's Start Menu folder, and, how having individual
> Start Menu folders, gives you more control and security
> over who sees what in their menu.
Yes, once you get out of over 15 years in the 9x mindset... Not
that easy...
> I think the key here for you might be experimentation - I
> am sure it will not take half as long as you think to
> master, if you give a little of your time to it...
Yes, I just have to be a little patient - the funny thing it
REALLY doesn't matter, because as I may have mentioned, I only
need XP (for now anyway) because I want to digitalize some old
VHS tapes, and the card only works under XP, so I /really/
shouldn't try to set up the whole damn machine "just the way I
likes it" while I'm at it! Still, old habits die hard...
Thank you again for your help and words of encouragement, AND
for your patience.
Tim Meddick
profile's Start Menu.
Transferring all the shortcuts across, like, all the links in Accessories\Games to
the corresponding Accessories\Games folder in your profile's Start Menu. -
Then delete all the shortcuts and sub-folders in the "All Users" menu and effectively
you WILL only have to worry about ONE Start Menu.
All you will have to worry about is when installing a new program - usually they
place their shortcuts into the "All Users" menu.
Alternatively - do it the other way round and transfer all the shortcuts to the "All
Users" menu and just use that.
If you download and install the small [free] microsoft program called TweakUI.exe -
there is a feature in there that enables you to change the location of "special"
folders (such as your Start Menu) so you could make it the same as the "All Users"
menu and just use that.
Download the small TweakUI installation file from the link below :
Double-click on the [downloaded] setup file and after it's installed type :
TweakUI.exe into the "Run" BOX or make a shortcut to :
c:\windows\system32\tweakui.exe and start it from that.
After you start TweakUI.exe, go to the item called "My Computer" > "Special Folders"
then choose "Start Menu" from the drop-down list and click on the "Change Location"
button.
There's loads of other groovy stuff you can "Tweak" with it as well - hours of fun!
==
Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)
"thanatoid" <wai...@the.exit.invalid> wrote in message
news:Xns9CF59E5B7...@188.40.43.245...
>
> < clipped >
thanatoid
> You could just copy all the shortcuts from the "All Users"
> start menu into your profile's Start Menu.
>
> Transferring all the shortcuts across, like, all the links
> in Accessories\Games to the corresponding
> Accessories\Games folder in your profile's Start Menu. -
>
> Then delete all the shortcuts and sub-folders in the "All
> Users" menu and effectively you WILL only have to worry
> about ONE Start Menu.
>
> All you will have to worry about is when installing a new
> program - usually they place their shortcuts into the "All
> Users" menu.
>
> Alternatively - do it the other way round and transfer all
> the shortcuts to the "All Users" menu and just use that.
Thanks, I will follow this specific route I think.
<SNIP>
> TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe
I could NOT live without TweakUI which I have been using since
1997 (when I bought my first, a 95B machine) but I NEVER COULD
understand what MS means by "special".
> Double-click on the [downloaded] setup file and after it's
> installed type : TweakUI.exe into the "Run" BOX or make a
> shortcut to : c:\windows\system32\tweakui.exe and start
> it from that.
>
> After you start TweakUI.exe, go to the item called "My
> Computer" > "Special Folders" then choose "Start Menu" from
> the drop-down list and click on the "Change Location"
> button.
I will try, although laden with fear... Change location to
WHERE?
> There's loads of other groovy stuff you can "Tweak" with it
> as well - hours of fun!
See above. One thing that kind of boggles me about the XP
TweakUI is the "Group Policy Editor". Also, WHY isn't there a
search function in something as complicated as this XP version?
It can take an HOUR to find the setting you are looking for
unless it VERY basic!
Thanks again, Tim.
Tim Meddick
version)
I still use the older (cpl) versions as well as the new XP one.
Some of the functions are the same and are easier to find in the old one.
If you liked TweakUI then you should also like FreshUI !!
Now here is an application that really *does* need a "search" function.
Despite all this - it's still a brilliant program, and, especially if you like
TweakUI, because it's really just an extension of it.
FreshUI is available [free] from www.freshdevices.com/freshui.html
Follow the various links and input your email address to receive the free
registration code.
==
Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)
"thanatoid" <wai...@the.exit.invalid> wrote in message
news:Xns9CF5DF400...@188.40.43.245...
thanatoid
<SNIP>
> FreshUI is available [free] from
> www.freshdevices.com/freshui.html
>
> Follow the various links and input your email address to
> receive the free registration code.
I think I tried it early on and everything it offered had
"already been taken care of"...
But I may try it again on your recommendation...
Thanks,
t.
(I found it sadly amusing to see someone else complain about all
the redundant and pointless accounts in the other group... At
least I'm not alone...)