simplify start and start up menu(s)

[Robert J. Lafayette]

XP Home, SP2.


I have several folders in my C drive under the
"Documents and Settings" folder:

Administrator
All Users
Default User (shaded)
Guest
Owner
Robert (me)

I usually log on from "Robert"

I am concurrently the Owner and Administrator also.

I am the sole user of the computer, though from time to time
I may have a house guest who I give access to the Guest
portion of the computer when logging on.

Each of these folders listed above,
though I can not enter the Default folder,
contains a Start folder.

Most Start folders have Program folders and some have Start Up folders
within.

This seems a bit confusing and complicated, with lots of duplication.

How can I simplify the Start and Start Up folders,
or do I need to simplify them at all?


And I hope this information is useful,

I have run "msconfig" by clicking on Start and then Run
and looked at the tab for startup...,

and have about 38 various programs listed.

How do I determine if I need all these programs at startup?

Am I overloading my system unnecessarily?

I am not a real beginner but am not too advanced either.

And a bit confused.


Please advise,

Thank you in advance,
Robert

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Robert,

I have several folders in my C drive under the "Documents and Settings"
folder:

That's normal, this is what true user profiles are all about.

Administrator

System account, not to be removed.

All Users

This one's the catch all. What's in it will apply to everyone.

Default User (shaded)

Likely an initial account setup when the system was first used until a
regular user account was set up. This one can usually be removed.

Guest

Another system account, there by design. It's use is exactly as its name
implies.

Owner

Created by the system manufacturer, similar to the "Default User" account.
Again, it can be removed if you do not use it.

Robert (me)

This is your account, one you created.

I usually log on from "Robert"

I am concurrently the Owner and Administrator also.

I am the sole user of the computer, though from time to time
I may have a house guest who I give access to the Guest
portion of the computer when logging on.

So, basically, the owner and default user accounts are not needed.

Each of these folders listed above, though I can not enter the Default
folder, contains a Start folder.

Normal, this is how the profiles are set up to be individualized.

Most Start folders have Program folders and some have Start Up folders
within.

Same as above.

This seems a bit confusing and complicated, with lots of duplication.

But actually, they aren't duplicates. What is applied to each account is
their personal profile folders, and the All Users folders.

How can I simplify the Start and Start Up folders, or do I need to
simplify them at all?

You only need your regular account folders, the administrator, all users,
and guest.

And I hope this information is useful, I have run "msconfig" by clicking
on Start and then Run
and looked at the tab for startup..., and have about 38 various programs
listed.

Probably way too many. Look for ones that pertain to programs that were
installed after the system was set up. Most, except perhaps antivirus and
security ones, can be disabled. If you are unsure about an entry, post back
with it.

How do I determine if I need all these programs at startup?

Common sense mostly. Google is your friend, search on anything you are
unsure of to find out what it is. Ask here if it still doesn't make sense -
some may not be "friendly".

Am I overloading my system unnecessarily?

Perhaps, perhaps not. Depends on the applications and your system
configuration. At a guess, I'd say yes.

I am not a real beginner but am not too advanced either.

Everybody's somewhere along that line.

And a bit confused.

That one too. Hope this helps, please feel free to ask follow-up questions.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Robert J. Lafayette]

Rick:
Thank you for that very detailed answer.

Do you think I ought to eliminate, that is delete,
the Default and Owner
accounts or could that cause more problems than it is worth?

Guess I will experiment with the msconfig startup list and attempt to
eliminate the programs from Startup I do not need.

Again is this an exercise that could lead to serious problems?

In msconfig / startup,
Most programs are shown as in location HKLM, one is in location HKCU,
and then there are those programs showing location of Common Startup (9)
and finally the location of Startup (9) ...

of which most of the nine location Startup programs
are duplicates of Common Startup programs.

Do you think I can eliminate with minimum of problems the duplicate programs
showing in the location of Startup?

Thanks again,
Robert

 

[SeaMaid]

My questions are similar. In addition to All Users, the default system
adminstrator account (which was renamed), and user accounts I set up myself,
my D&S folder includes these:

Default User
LocalService
NetworkService

Robert was told he can delete Default User. That account was not set up by a
user. It was set up by the system. How do you delete the one? It's easy to
delete accounts you set up yourself, but this does not appear in the list of
Users in Control Panel, so how do you delete it? Or should you really leave
it alone and not delete it? Robert wondered if deleting it would cause more
problems. I wonder the same thing. I assume that LocalService and
NetworkService are system accounts and cannot be deleted. Correct?

SeaMaid

P.S. My display name was changed from ForestSpirit to SeaMaid to make it
more similar to my email address. Eventually, I'll find a name I like and
stick with it.

 

[Sharon F]

My questions are similar. In addition to All Users, the default system
adminstrator account (which was renamed), and user accounts I set up myself,
my D&S folder includes these:

Default User
LocalService
NetworkService

Robert was told he can delete Default User. That account was not set up by a
user. It was set up by the system. How do you delete the one? It's easy to
delete accounts you set up yourself, but this does not appear in the list of
Users in Control Panel, so how do you delete it? Or should you really leave
it alone and not delete it? Robert wondered if deleting it would cause more
problems. I wonder the same thing. I assume that LocalService and
NetworkService are system accounts and cannot be deleted. Correct?

SeaMaid

P.S. My display name was changed from ForestSpirit to SeaMaid to make it
more similar to my email address. Eventually, I'll find a name I like and
stick with it.

I prefer to leave the account Default user in place. It is used as a
template when new accounts are created. The other two that you mention are
system accounts and should be left in place as well. They provide
credentials for parts of your installed software, some system components
and some aspects of networking which allow these things to run and perform
as expected.

 

[Mark Dormer]

A slight clarification.

Default User it not an account
It will never appear in the list of user accounts as it isn't one.

It is merely a directory tree used as a template for creating the directory
tree of new user profiles. You can modify it so that all accounts created in
future contain the modifications.

Regards
Mark Dormer

 

[Sharon F]

A slight clarification.

Default User it not an account
It will never appear in the list of user accounts as it isn't one.

It is merely a directory tree used as a template for creating the directory
tree of new user profiles. You can modify it so that all accounts created in
future contain the modifications.

Regards
Mark Dormer

Thanks for the clarification and additional info, Mark. Since SeaMaid was
talking about folders under Documents and Settings in her post, I didn't
specify the directory tree.