How to set up individual accounts?

I have XP Pro. The first time I started the new system and
went through the setup wizard, I created two accounts --
call it "husband" and "wife".

My intention was to create isolated accounts which could be
customized to each individual's tastes.

But when I ("husband") changed my desktop, it also changed
the desktop when "wife" logs in.

Moreover, instead of "My Document" under each account, I
see "husband's Documents" and "wife's Documents".

How can I set up distinct accounts that do not affect each
other?

PS: If it matters, both "husband" and "wife" are admin
accounts. I want it that way. But I wonder if that is
creating problems with "isolation".

wrote:
I have XP Pro. The first time I started the new system and
went through the setup wizard, I created two accounts --
call it "husband" and "wife".

My intention was to create isolated accounts which could be
customized to each individual's tastes.

But when I ("husband") changed my desktop, it also changed
the desktop when "wife" logs in.



This is normal. WinXP's display settings are, by design, system-wide,
and not user-specific.

Display Resolution and Color Depth Settings Apply to All Users
http://support.microsoft.com/directo...;EN-US;Q281565

However, this utility provided by MS-MVP Doug Knox might prove
useful:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_userdisplay.htm



Moreover, instead of "My Document" under each account, I
see "husband's Documents" and "wife's Documents".


This is to be expected.


How can I set up distinct accounts that do not affect each
other?


You've already done so. Or were you expecting one another's files to
be *invisible* to the other?


PS: If it matters, both "husband" and "wife" are admin
accounts. I want it that way. But I wonder if that is
creating problems with "isolation".


This is true. Any administrator will have full privileges to the
entire hard drive.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

Bruce Chambers wrote:
wrote:
I have XP Pro. The first time I started the new system and
went through the setup wizard, I created two accounts --
call it "husband" and "wife".
My intention was to create isolated accounts which could be
customized to each individual's tastes.
But when I ("husband") changed my desktop, it also changed
the desktop when "wife" logs in.

This is normal. WinXP's display settings are, by design,
system-wide, and not user-specific.

But on my office XP system, which my company IT folks set
up, each account seems to have a different and independent
desktop.

I was also hoping that MSWord and MSExcel settings, for
example, could also be account-specific.

wrote:



But on my office XP system, which my company IT folks set
up, each account seems to have a different and independent
desktop.


There is no such operating system as "Office XP." What operating
system is your employer using? The desktop icons and wall-paper can be
different for each user account, but not the specific display settings
(number of colors, resolution, refressh rate) that your first post
seemed to be asking about. Also, if WinXP Pro is the OS at work, the
behaviour of the OS when configured as a domain member is considerably
different from that of a stand-alone machine.


I was also hoping that MSWord and MSExcel settings, for
example, could also be account-specific.


Those should be, but you didn't mention these applications at all in
your first post. For better answers concerning these Office
applications, you'll have better luck asking in a news group devoted to
them, rather than a news group devoted to the operating system.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

I take him to be saying "my XP system at the office."

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
"Bruce Chambers" wrote in message
...
wrote:



But on my office XP system, which my company IT folks set
up, each account seems to have a different and independent
desktop.


There is no such operating system as "Office XP." What operating system
is your employer using? The desktop icons and wall-paper can be different
for each user account, but not the specific display settings (number of
colors, resolution, refressh rate) that your first post seemed to be
asking about. Also, if WinXP Pro is the OS at work, the behaviour of the
OS when configured as a domain member is considerably different from that
of a stand-alone machine.


I was also hoping that MSWord and MSExcel settings, for
example, could also be account-specific.


Those should be, but you didn't mention these applications at all in your
first post. For better answers concerning these Office applications,
you'll have better luck asking in a news group devoted to them, rather
than a news group devoted to the operating system.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

Colin Barnhorst wrote:
I take him to be saying "my XP system at the office."



That's probably correct, but because there is actually an Office XP,
and the OP has mentioned both Word and Excel, it's hard to say.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

Colin Barnhorst (nojunk) wrote:
I take him to be saying "my XP system at the office."

Very good, Colin. Thanks.