only one user

[Guest]

Hi ... I have windows XP Home edition. There is only me. I am getting VERY confused by all the different places XP puts things. I have me, me as administrator, all users, etc

How can I tell Windows XP that there is only me and have only one place for things to go?

 

[Tumbleweed]

Hi ... I have windows XP Home edition. There is only me. I am getting

VERY confused by all the different places XP puts things. I have me, me as
administrator, all users, etc.

How can I tell Windows XP that there is only me and have only one place for things to go??

it would help if you just made yourself an administrator and used that
account all the time.
then there wont be other users, there wont be seperate admin account for
you.

 

[Jerry]

The book "Windows XP Annoyances" ISBN 0-596-00416-8 could help - see page
378.

Hi ... I have windows XP Home edition. There is only me. I am getting

VERY confused by all the different places XP puts things. I have me, me as
administrator, all users, etc.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Hi ... I have windows XP Home edition. There is only me. I am
getting VERY confused by all the different places XP puts things. I
have me, me as administrator, all users, etc.

How can I tell Windows XP that there is only me and have only one
place for things to go??

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.

Should you erase any of the above? No. No reason to. The only ones that a
single user will really ever use is the one under their username (ie:
whatever username you log in with) and the "All Users" account. If
something goes wrong(or you add a new user), the default user will be used
(recreated if not there) to create the new account needed. The
Administrator account will hopefully never be used and would just be
recreated if you logged in as administrator (assuming you even have the
user - which you do.) Sometimes your account may be listed as "owner" or
"administrator" under the documents and settings folder.. This all depends
on how things were setup. The name you use and the name of the folder do
NOT have to correspond if the name was changed manually after the account
was created initially.

 

[Richard Urban]

Windows XP is the next generation after Windows 2000, which is a corporate
operating system. It is expected that there will be multiple users so it was
set up that way, by default. Stop worrying about the extra accounts. They
are there for a purpose. Don't try to eliminate them or you will surely have
problems.

You just have to become familiar with what you now have, keep your eyes open
as to where things are being installed and downloaded to. Hang in there. You
will soon get used to this far superior operating system (as compared to
Windows 98, which had zero security)!

Suggest you buy one of the "Dummy" books which will teach you a bit about
the operating system.

--
Regards:

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

 

[Tumbleweed]

Windows XP is the next generation after Windows 2000, which is a corporate
operating system. It is expected that there will be multiple users so it was
set up that way, by default. Stop worrying about the extra accounts. They
are there for a purpose. Don't try to eliminate them or you will surely have
problems.

You just have to become familiar with what you now have, keep your eyes open
as to where things are being installed and downloaded to. Hang in there. You
will soon get used to this far superior operating system (as compared to
Windows 98, which had zero security)!

I think its a reasonable suggestion that XP is more open to viruses through
programming loopholes and bugs than 98 ever was. Certainly the latest crop
of updates is mostly all about XP, and not 98.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Windows XP is the next generation after Windows 2000, which is a
corporate operating system. It is expected that there will be
multiple users so it was set up that way, by default. Stop worrying
about the extra accounts. They are there for a purpose. Don't try to
eliminate them or you will surely have problems.

You just have to become familiar with what you now have, keep your
eyes open as to where things are being installed and downloaded to.
Hang in there. You will soon get used to this far superior operating
system (as compared to Windows 98, which had zero security)!

I think its a reasonable suggestion that XP is more open to viruses
through programming loopholes and bugs than 98 ever was. Certainly
the latest crop of updates is mostly all about XP, and not 98.

Although I agree on some level with you, let me go one step further (a few
actually) and say that DOS 6.22 would be considered a TANK now in that mind
set.

I see it as an exponential problem.
As an OS evolves (Windows in this example) its coding becomes more
complicated, larger and more people become responsible for smaller and
smaller sections of it. As Windows evolves, it seems to be trying to become
the "end-all" for everything, which is - in my opinion, a bad choice. Build
in basic functions, then have someone else put in other protection types. I
know, people will complain because they have to get more than one product to
do what they want - hell, they have to do that now. Yeah - XP has a
firewall, but most of us recommend people try out other free alternatives.
XP has notepad and wordpad, but people still install office suites. The
list continues on...

I fully agree that in comparison to Windows XP, 98 had zero security. In
some sick way, in comparison to DOS, Windows 98 has zero security. heh

Those who are attacking will attack a large target. Also, there are more
people with the abilities needed (or tools in the script-kiddies cases) to
take advantage of discovered weaknesses than in the days of all Windows 98
households.

Logic says that as the bad guys get more sophisticated, the good guys must
also get more sophisticated. The learning curve for some (unfortunately) is
high because this is really their first experience with computers or at
least with something that gives you the freedom that Windows XP does. With
that freedom comes exposure, and the only way to cover that exposed area is
education (self or otherwise.)