Configuring admin and limited accounts: how to transfer settings?

Is there an easy way to transfer settings re software installed, e-mail
settings and so forth from an admin account to a limited account?

I just set up a new Win XP Pro SP2 computer with an admin account and a
limited account. Unfortunately, after loading gobs of software as admin, I
discovered that most software preferences vanished when I logged on as the
limited user. The hundreds of imported e-mail messages and folders had
wound up in the admin Documents and Settings folder, as had most software
configuration settings. Further, a few vintage windows apps looked like
they'd only be available to the user who installed them -- in this case, the
admin.

Is there an easy, safe way to transfer settings between users?

I'm the only one who will use this computer, and have established admin and
limited user accounts only as a security measure. So, one option available
to me -- if it won't make a royal mess of the computer! -- is:

1. Create a new admin account.

2. Change the current admin account to a limited account.

Would that be an option for transferring settings?

This question is a bit of a spawn of:

http://www.microsoft.com/communities...2fsettings.xml

for anyone interested in the full history. I'm trying to do things the
right way with the new computer. (If I can.)