sharing programs with other users on my system

[Carmel]

I have installed a couple of programs as comp. admin; but these programs are
unavailable to the other user accounts. As program software should be
installed under program files, the instruction to 'drag the folder to the
shared documents folder' seems inappropriate. Surely I do not have to have
two copies of each program installed on the system - besides, office is only
in program files and yet it is shared. Can anyone help???

 

[george]

inline

I have installed a couple of programs as comp. admin; but these programs
are unavailable to the other user accounts. As program software should be
installed under program files, the instruction to 'drag the folder to the
shared documents folder' seems inappropriate. Surely I do not have to have
two copies of each program installed on the system -

That depends (is decided by) on the softwaremanufacturer and how he put the
software and install routine together.
If the software is 'handled' (developed and installed) as being for 'all
users' (like Office) then you don't have to.
If it isn't (and a lot of software isn't) you have to install it for every
user, so every user gets the correct registry entries put into *his/her*
part of the registry. You just install it again into the same folders as the
first time, so you don't have to choose seperate folder structures for it.
(At least that's a relief )
Office puts its stuff mainly in a that part of the registry that is
accessible for 'All Users'.
Hope this helps clarify why.

george

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Carmel,

See if this helps explains things:
http://users.westelcom.com/rogersr/xpsware.htm

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have installed a couple of programs as comp. admin; but these
programs are unavailable to the other user accounts. As program
software should be installed under program files, the instruction to
'drag the folder to the shared documents folder' seems inappropriate.
Surely I do not have to have two copies of each program installed on
the system - besides, office is only in program files and yet it is
shared. Can anyone help???

HOW TO: Create and Configure User Accounts in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;279783&Product=winxp

HOW TO: Set, View, Change, or Remove Special Permissions for Files and
Folders in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308419&Product=winxp

Doug's Windows XP Security Console
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_securityconsole.htm

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.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I have installed a couple of programs as comp. admin; but these
programs are unavailable to the other user accounts. As program
software should be installed under program files, the instruction to
'drag the folder to the shared documents folder' seems
inappropriate.
Surely I do not have to have two copies of each program installed on
the system - besides, office is only in program files and yet it is
shared. Can anyone help???

This is quite common if the software was designed for Win9x/Me, or
if it was intended for WinNT/2K/XP, but was improperly designed. Quite
simply, the installation routine for this application doesn't "know"
how to handle individual user profiles, or the application tries to
make changes to "off-limits" sections of the registry. Quite often,
you can make this software available to other users by _copying_ the
Start Menu folder and Desktop folder shortcuts from the user profile
from which the software was installed in the corresponding folders in
the user profile(s) in which you'd like the software to be accessible.
If the application is something that can/should be made available to
all current and future users, copying the shortcuts into the
corresponding locations of the All Users profile will do the trick.

NOTE: This may not work if the software requires access to parts
of the hard drive and/or registry that are not normally accessible to
regular users. (This won't occur if the application was properly
written.) If this does prove to be the case, however, you're left
with two options: Either grant the necessary users appropriate higher
access privileges (either as Power Users or local administrators), or
replace the application with one that was properly designed
specifically for WinNT/2K/XP.

Some Programs Do Not Work If You Log On from Limited Account
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q307091

Additionally, here are a couple of tips suggested, in a reply to a
different post, by MS-MVP Kent W. England:

"If your game or application works with admin accounts, but not with
limited accounts, you can fix it to allow limited users to access the
program files folder with "change" capability rather than "read" which
is the default.

C:\>cacls "Program Files\appfolder" /e /t /p users:c

where "appfolder" is the folder where the application is installed.

If you wish to undo these changes, then run

C:\>cacls "Program Files\appfolder" /e /t /p users:r

If you still have a problem with running the program or saving
settings on limited accounts, you may need to change permissions on
the registry keys. Run regedit.exe and go to HKLM\Software\vendor\app,
where "vendor\app" is the key that the software vendor used for your
specific program. Change the permissions on this key to allow Users
full control."

--

Bruce Chambers

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