Windows XP how to grant limited xp user a program?

[tstockma]

how to grant limited xp userids a program?

I'm reinstalling XP on up a friend's machine which got hit by one of the worms that turn a machine into a zombie and downloads lots of nasties. I'm installing anti-spyware, -malware, and a really good firewall.

However after I got partway thru the installation, I added a new administrative account ("admin") and made her default account into a limited account, then continued install those utilities; the utilities after that don't show up in her account.

Reading the only MS knowledge base article I could find, I followed it's suggestion and turn her account back into an admin account--those programs still don't show!

Anyone know how this is usually done? Something like, uninstall them, then reinstall them? And if so, should I be sure to install them using the future-limited account, then make the account limited? Or can I install them in the "admin" account as long as her account is still admin, then make hers limited?

Or is there a better way I just don't know about--I seem to remember something in W2K like going into one account's configuration settings, finding the directory tree for the application, and copying those files into another user's account--anyone know if this is right?

Thanks, all comments and info much appreciated!

 

[tstockma]

a technical followup...

OK, at about.com, I found a pretty helpful post.

To make your applications available to everyone using the PC, open Windows Explorer and select your default Start Menu folder. If you're using Windows 98 or Me, it's probably C:\Windows\Start Menu\Programs. In Windows 2000 or XP, the path is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs. Click the Windows Start button, select Programs ( All Programs in XP), and choose the program or submenu you want to add to everyone's Start menu. Right-click and drag the shortcut to the open Explorer window, and select Copy Here.

In my admin user account on a W2K machine, the malware and spyware detection programs aren't in the Startup Menu, but if I follow the above procedure on the limited account, they end up in the Start Menu (Start Button) so at least they can be manually executed. I don't want my computer illiterate friend to have to manually start protection programs--instead I want them up when her computer comes up and she signs in on her non-admin account. (At least the ZoneAlarm firewall is in Startup on her account!)

Now, I can add a step to that quoted-above procedure, where I also paste them into the Startup folder.

But on the Admin account, those missing programs fire because they're told to in the Registry (I believe) which means they come up before the Startup Folder programs do. And that's good, I want them active as quick as possible, as the bad stuff is also usually buried in the Registry, not the Startup Folder.

But could I perhaps--and this is lots messier--go into RegEdit, find the relevent folder in the Admin account, and copy those entries to the various User Account areas in the Registry? Or maybe there's also an "All Users" area in the Registry to paste to that would be better?

Again, any help appreciated with this, obviously I'm a little out of my depth here. Thanks! Tom

 

[Techy]

just copy the admin start menu to the limited user's profile.

j

 

[muckshifter]

Half the problem Tom is not how you are going about installing the programs, but how these programs are not true XP compatible.

Take Ad-Aware SE ... when installing this program, from an Admin account, it asks if you want the program to be available to ALL users ... and so it should.

I'm a bit behind in how to manage other programs that do not follow "Designed for XP" but my 'silly' solution was to re-install those programs again for every user. Now because its been a while since I have had to do that, you have at least re-awakened my interest and set me a task to investigate.

I'll certainly let you know.

 

[tstockma]

thanks for info...more from me...

Thank you both for the info, I'll be working on that machine again next week...things incredibly hectic so I'm unable to check in with the forum often at the moment, but I'll be doing so next week about this.

It was easy to get the start button list the same, likewise on creating desktop images, it's system startup that's the rub.

Muckshifter, asking an expert I know and trial-and-error shows you're exactly right that it's programs that don't know about or properly install to the multi-user environment of XP that's the issue. Techy's suggestion makes each user's start-button folder the same, I can also instead move entries from admin's profile to the "all users" profile, as it is included for every user's signon then the specific user's is. Same applies to the startup folders.

Turns out the culprits are Pop-Up Stopper and one other--I almost remember it as SpyBot--that don't start up at user logon for the main user account. Normal installation doesn't have them in the startup folder, or in anything I recognized using the run-command msconfig utility, so my task is to ID where their startup occurs and dup it to the other account.

I'm suspecting they start from the registry, which means I'll have my work cut out. I'm speculating it also will have areas for "all users" and then "specific user", if so I'll move the errant apps from "admin user" to "all users" or else copy them into this specific "limited user". I do have a few notes on what keys I'm looking for, but it'll be a few days before I can spend time on this.

Sheesh! Thanks for the help, I'll report back next week and if anyone knows more--muchshifter, I'd love hearing what you find, if you can get to it--I'd appreciating knowing (when I have time to check the forum again).

Tom