Re: only one user

[dave @ stejonda]

In message >, Holli
> writes
>Hi ... I have windows XP Home edition. There is only me. I am getting
>VERY confused by all the different places XP puts things. I have me,
>me as administrator, all users, etc.

>How can I tell Windows XP that there is only me and have only one place
>for things to go??

As I understand it, if you have any form of Net access, it is much more
secure even if you are a single user to generally run your machine as a
Limited user and only log in with Administrator priviliges when you
absolutely need to.

--
dave @ stejonda

"To materialist eyes, India is a developing country;
to spiritual eyes, the United States is a developing country."
Ram Dass (an optimist)

[Shenan Stanley]

Holli wrote:
> Hi ... I have windows XP Home edition. There is only me. I am
> getting VERY confused by all the different places XP puts things. I
> have me, me as administrator, all users, etc.
>
> How can I tell Windows XP that there is only me and have only one
> place for things to go??

Windows XP is a multi-user OS, even when used by one person only, the
fundamentals don't change.

Documents and Settings is the directory that contains your user
information/documents/etc. It also contains a few extra directories used by
Windows.

One is "Default User" - This is used whenever a new account is created. It
bases the initial setup of that account off this directory.

Another is "All Users" - This is used by.. all users. If you want something
to appear on the desktop of every user of the machine, you put it on this
users desktop (in the desktop folder.) Etc.

You may also see "Administrator" - depending on your setup, this is the
original administrator user and if you know that account's password, you
should leave him alone and use him only in an emergency.

You could also (if you have it where you can see ALL files) see
"LocalService" and "NetworkService" folders. These are service accounts,
normally unused by the standard user.

Should you erase any of the above? No. No reason to. The only ones that a
single user will really ever use is the one under their username (ie:
whatever username you log in with) and the "All Users" account. If
something goes wrong(or you add a new user), the default user will be used
(recreated if not there) to create the new account needed. The
Administrator account will hopefully never be used and would just be
recreated if you logged in as administrator (assuming you even have the
user - which you do.) Sometimes your account may be listed as "owner" or
"administrator" under the documents and settings folder.. This all depends
on how things were setup. The name you use and the name of the folder do
NOT have to correspond if the name was changed manually after the account
was created initially.

--
<- Shenan ->
--

[Shenan Stanley]

Holli wrote:
> Thanks for all the good advice.
>
> Shenan - the information you gave me will perhaps help me see things
> differently and I will then be able to sort it all out in my mind.


Glad to help!

--
<- Shenan ->
--