Need REAL admin access, need to get into Documents and Settings ec

[Guest]

OK,

So how do I get a REAL admin account created in Vista. I have enabled the
"built in" administrator account, and I can log in to it. But even logged in
as an admin, I can not access the "Documents and Settings" folders. THIS IS
NOT COOL!!!!!! :-( It is inexcusable for Microsoft to keep me, THE OWNER, of
the system from having FULL control at all times.

I have a large number of workstations, over 200, that I have to support. I
am working with Vista Enterprise. I do a lot of customization to the
workstations after I do the initial Windows setup and install. I use .bat
files to do a lot of the copying of all of my pre-configured folders, icons,
etc with these .bat files, and one of the places I need to be able to copy to
is the desktop of the various users, which is stored in Documents and
Settings.

I also have found that while trouble shooting, I will often need access to
the users Documents and Settings folder.

As things seem to currently stand, it seems that Microsoft has really
screwed up the system and in doing so has made it impossible to Completely
support Vista, ect., ect., ect.

Wake up Microsoft, you messed it up BIG TIME this time!!!!!!

Thanks for your help,

Ralph Malph

 

[Jeffrey W. Roach]

Ralph,

Do you realize that the Documents and Settings is just a junction point,
those files do not actually exsist. They point to the new location under the
Users directory. Only the Local System has any permissions to them. You'll
need to update your .bat files for Vista. I would recomend that you do your
customizations using the WAIK and BDD 2007 personally. All of these changes
are documented.

HTH,

Jeff

 

[Jimmy Brush]

Hello,

Windows Vista has moved/renamed the location of many well-known folders.

It sounds like you are mistaking the application compatability junctions
that have the same name as "old" locations for real folders.

Application compatability junctions, such as "Documents and Settings" and
"Documents\Music", are NOT folders - they are junctions that only exist to
allow applications to function in certain scenarios.

They are displayed with a ghosted icon and a shortcut symbol, and you can
only see them if you have enabled the showing of hidden files and displaying
of protected operating system files.

You will receive access denied when trying to access them.

You must learn where that location has been moved, and use the new location.

For example:

- Documents and Settings is now Users
- The "My" prefix has been removed from all folders
- The Music, Pictures, Videos, etc. folders *ARE NO LONGER* inside the
documents folder - they are directly inside the user profile folder.


--
- JB
Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User

Windows Vista Support Faq
http://www.jimmah.com/vista/

 

[Guest]

OK,

So how do I get a REAL admin account created in Vista. I have enabled the
"built in" administrator account, and I can log in to it. But even logged in
as an admin, I can not access the "Documents and Settings" folders. THIS IS
NOT COOL!!!!!! :-( It is inexcusable for Microsoft to keep me, THE OWNER, of
the system from having FULL control at all times.

I have a large number of workstations, over 200, that I have to support. I
am working with Vista Enterprise. I do a lot of customization to the
workstations after I do the initial Windows setup and install. I use .bat
files to do a lot of the copying of all of my pre-configured folders, icons,
etc with these .bat files, and one of the places I need to be able to copy to
is the desktop of the various users, which is stored in Documents and
Settings.

I also have found that while trouble shooting, I will often need access to
the users Documents and Settings folder.

As things seem to currently stand, it seems that Microsoft has really
screwed up the system and in doing so has made it impossible to Completely
support Vista, ect., ect., ect.

Wake up Microsoft, you messed it up BIG TIME this time!!!!!!

Thanks for your help,

Ralph Malph

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Ralph

You need to spend some time learning the differences between Vista and XP if
you are going to be supporting the new OS.

The Documents and Settings folder is no longer used in Vista, but it is
still there to support legacy applications whose installers will be looking
for it. The folder is called a Junction or Symbolic link and points to the
new location that is used in Vista.

You can see all of these for Vista by using the following procedure.

Go to Start/All Programs/Accessories, right click the Command Prompt and
select Run as Administrator.

In the Command window, type cd\users\<user name> and press ENTER.
(Where <user name> is the account you are logged onto the system with.)

Next, type dir /ah and press ENTER. ( note the space between r and
/ )

You will get a screen full of results. Look for all of the lines with a
<JUNCTION> in them. They will look similar to the following.

11/02/2006 05:00 AM <JUNCTION> Default User [C:\Users\Default]

and

11/02/2006 05:00 AM <SYMLINKD> All Users [C:\ProgramData]

This will show the old location for a system folder and the path to the new
folder in brackets.

You can type the same command at the C:\> prompt and it will show the
following.

11/02/2006 05:00 AM <JUNCTION> Documents and Settings [C:\Users]

There are many of these and it would be a good idea to copy/print these new
locations for future reference.