Recycle Bin - User access denied

[BudV]

Vista Home Premium SP1

I'm trying to clean up the desktop of a standard user, and I get a "user
access denied" when I move it to the Recycle Bin. What setting do I have
screwed up?

In XP I could manipulate Desktop shortcuts around with Wijndows Explorer
looking at all the desktops under Documents and Settings. Now when I look
at the desktops as Administrator, I don't see all the shortcuts. This is a
great puzzlement!

 

[H Brown]

Using an admin account and trying to delete/personal files in
someone's standard user account want be allowed and it makes since to
me. If I was a standard user and had deleted to the recycle bin and
later remember I should not have deleted because now I need the file.
But admin comes along and starts deleting my stuff. (personal files
is keyword). Of course if you logon to standard user account you can
delete peraonal files.
That being said, it may be possible to do that using disk clean up
*All Users* from an admin account . But I would leave it up to each
user to decide for them selves.

H Brown

 

[BudV]

Thanks for your thoughts, but I failed to give you the complete picture.
The standard accounts in this case are two of my grandchildren, ages 9 and
7. Among other things, insalling the printer generated shortcuts to HP
shopping,and HP Solution center on their desktops. There are several other
shorcuts that I really don't want the kids to be taking. The crazy thing is
that these shortcuts don't appear under Wndows Explorer

 

[H Brown]

My advise until I know more about how you have setup your system as to
who has user accounts and type of account , logon to each user
account and delete what you feel you need to.
Your system will have to be setup so you can control who gets what in
each user account. You will need to post which Vista operating system
you are using including the service pack (Sp1 or what). I feel you
can accomplish what you wish using Parental Controls, but that all
depends on how you have things setup now. So give some details and
I'm sure someone can help get things to your liking.

H Brown

 

[BudV]

Sorry. I'm running Vista Home Premium SP1.

Once more, your analysis seems to be directed to a much higher level of
sophistication than what I'm concerned about.

WinXP has a folder under Documents and Settings called All Users, and
software installation packages like to put their desktop shortcuts there. I
don't see an All Users folder in Vista, but the shortcuts still manage to
get inserted freely among all users, including my grandkids. All I want to
do is to clean these miscellaneous distractions off of the kids' desktops,
for reasons that should be obvious.

Regarding logging on to each user: I have done that as well, with no
success. It still shows User Access Denied when I move a shortcut to the
Recyce Bin. Thee's something deep inside the bowels of Vista that needs
tweaking that I don't know about.

 

[Noel Paton]

(e-mail address removed) said, in <uXNJCQxtJHA.2776
@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl>

Thanks for your thoughts, but I failed to give you the complete picture.
The standard accounts in this case are two of my grandchildren, ages 9 and
7. Among other things, insalling the printer generated shortcuts to HP
shopping,and HP Solution center on their desktops. There are several other
shorcuts that I really don't want the kids to be taking. The crazy thing is
that these shortcuts don't appear under Wndows Explorer

Sounds to me as if the shortcuts you're talking about are 'All User'
sortuts on the desktop or in the programs listing.
If you look in the folder C:\Users\Public\...... - are they there??
If so, then MOVE them (don't delete them, or you won't see them
yourself!) to your own account.

HTH

 

[BudV]

(e-mail address removed) said, in <uXNJCQxtJHA.2776
@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl>


Sounds to me as if the shortcuts you're talking about are 'All User'
sortuts on the desktop or in the programs listing.
If you look in the folder C:\Users\Public\...... - are they there??
If so, then MOVE them (don't delete them, or you won't see them
yourself!) to your own account.

HTH

--
Noel Paton
www.crashfixpc.co.uk

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi

I don't know how to ask this without sounding offensive, so please don't be
offended.
Are you maing this suggestion because you KNOW (and I'm missing something)
or is it just your best guess?

The Public stuff has to do with sharing across a network and is not
analagous to All Users. For that reason, "Desktops" does not even appear in
the Public folders -- it just doesn't fit.

 

[Michael Walraven]

just skulking here...
c:\users\public\public desktop exists here with the shared desktop
shortcuts. (Public Desktop, not Desktop )
(Vista home premium sp1)
Michael

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Here's what I would do.

1. The easy way

Log on to the user where you want to have the shortcuts.

Right click on the orb and click on Open all users.

Right click on the orb again and click on Open.

Open the Programs folder on both windows.

Try dragging a shortcut for a program that you *don't* want in All users
FROM the All users programs folder TO the Programs folder in the other
window.

2. The hard way

The above should work, unless UAC or permissions get in the way.

The variant in that case is to log on as the REAL administrator and open
the same two folders and do the same thing.

The major problem with that last idea is that I have no idea where to find
the Start Menu for the desired user.

Oh - here we go: "C:\Users\<Preferred Login
Name>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"

3. Good luck.

 

[Noel Paton]

(e-mail address removed) said, in <uV0a548tJHA.5684
@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl>

I don't know how to ask this without sounding offensive, so please don't be
offended.
Are you maing this suggestion because you KNOW (and I'm missing something)
or is it just your best guess?

The Public stuff has to do with sharing across a network and is not
analagous to All Users. For that reason, "Desktops" does not even appear in
the Public folders -- it just doesn't fit.

Public Desktop is a Hidden folder - you'll need to enable viewing of it
in Options
On my system it contains the links to my mobile modem software, my AV,
and such like.
some of the other links are harder to find... look in the Roaming folder
in the user account for some, and in the Start Menu folder in \Windows
for others.

HTH

 

[BudV]

I wish I had your machine, then. My c:\users\public does not display
"public desktop". It contains Public Documents, ... Downloads, ...Music,
.... Pictures, ...Videos, Recorded TV, and Roaming.

Oddly enough, I just opened Desktop at the top of the folders, and it did
show the shortcuts in question.
I deleted one, Yessed the Are you sure, and it went to the Recycle bin
without denying access. Now, that's encouraging, but it's not what I want.
I just want to get it off of the kid's desktop, not the admnistrator's.
Close, but no cigar.

 

[BudV]

Where I WANT to have the shortcuts? I don't want them -- I want to delete
them.

In any event, I started doing what you said, and although I found shortcuts,
the ones I'm concerned about weren't there. I did find them when I opened
Desktop at the top of the folders, and I deleted one without getting any
access denial and it was removed from the adminisrator's desktop as well as
from the kid's desktop, which is not what I want.

 

[Dave]

Well then, don't delete them, *move* them from the Public Desktop folder
into your desktop folder.

 

[Noel Paton]

(e-mail address removed) said, in <#Ml2t59tJHA.2376
@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl>

I wish I had your machine, then. My c:\users\public does not display
"public desktop". It contains Public Documents, ... Downloads, ...Music,
... Pictures, ...Videos, Recorded TV, and Roaming.

Oddly enough, I just opened Desktop at the top of the folders, and it did
show the shortcuts in question.
I deleted one, Yessed the Are you sure, and it went to the Recycle bin
without denying access. Now, that's encouraging, but it's not what I want.
I just want to get it off of the kid's desktop, not the admnistrator's.
Close, but no cigar.

I repeat - Public Desktop is a HIDDEN folder - have you enabled viewing
of hidden files and folders?

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Where I WANT to have the shortcuts? I don't want them -- I want to delete
them.

Then you WANT them deleted.

Use your imagination.

 

[BudV]

I'm sure you mean well, but it didn't really help me.

From the beginning, I've been talking about trying to delete the shortcuts
from some desktops, and when I do "use my imagination" -- which seems to run
out after I've tried the various methods of deleting -- I'm denied access to
the Recycle Bin, of all things. I'd really appreciate it if you could
explain that and tell me how to handle it.

While you're at it, the User Access Denied pop-up offers me the ability to
"confirm" the action by typing in a password but there it doesn't appear to
offer a place in which to type it. Any help here?

Thanks.

 

[BudV]

My bad, Noel. The forum display did not show your replies in chronological
order, so I didn't read your first suggestion to display hidden files until
I read your "repeat". (Yes, even when they're sorted by the Sent date.)

Sure enough, with hidden files displayed, the errant shortcuts show up under
Public Desktop which puzzles me a bit. My understanding is that the Public
thing is for the sake of sharing files across a network. My gut feel is
that a desktop doesn't belong in that environment. Comment?

In any event, the shortcuts iin question still do not show up in the
respective users' desktops. What's that all about?

As long as you're handy (and appear to know what you're talking about) I'll
ask you the same thing I asked another contributor here. The User Access
Denied pop-up asks me to confirm action by typing in a password, but a place
in which such password is to be typed is nowhere to be found. Why is this
happening to me? I'm really a nice Daddy trying to convert my daughter's
stuff to a new computer, and my 55 years as a mainframe programmer doesn't
help worth a damn.

 

[Michael Walraven]

Perhaps an example from my machine may help. Vista Home Premium SP1
Running as standard user
Right click on desktop shortcut in question (H&R Block Tax Cut 2007 in this
example, which is no longer needed)
Select Properties
Select the General tab
In the location field I find:
c:\users\public\desktop

opening explorer (by clicking computer in start menu)
typing c:\Users\Public\Desktop

I get a windows with a bunch of shortcuts that show on my standard user
desktop.

Perhaps the shortcut your are trying to delete is in some strange location
which might be shown in the 'location' field.

As far as not having a password box, assuming your account with
administrator permissions is password protected I can't help there. I have
read of problems with dialogue boxes when users have changed 'standard'
character sets/sizes such that the result is that the dialogue text is too
large to fit in the dialogue box.


Michael

 

[Noel Paton]

My bad, Noel. The forum display did not show your replies in chronological
order, so I didn't read your first suggestion to display hidden files until
I read your "repeat". (Yes, even when they're sorted by the Sent date.)

Sure enough, with hidden files displayed, the errant shortcuts show up under
Public Desktop which puzzles me a bit. My understanding is that the Public
thing is for the sake of sharing files across a network. My gut feel is
that a desktop doesn't belong in that environment. Comment?

In any event, the shortcuts iin question still do not show up in the
respective users' desktops. What's that all about?

As long as you're handy (and appear to know what you're talking about) I'll
ask you the same thing I asked another contributor here. The User Access
Denied pop-up asks me to confirm action by typing in a password, but a place
in which such password is to be typed is nowhere to be found. Why is this
happening to me? I'm really a nice Daddy trying to convert my daughter's
stuff to a new computer, and my 55 years as a mainframe programmer doesn't
help worth a damn.

The Public folders are shared - with other users of the PC, and with
network users (but ONLY if Network Sharing is enabledin the
Network&Sharing dialog)
The Public Desktop is exactly what and where it should be, IMHO - it's
a set of (usually) links that are shared by all users of the PC.
Because it's a hidden folder, it's not visible over a network (but may
still be accessible? - dunno - not tried it!) It's used by program
installers specifically for this purpose, because the installer
doesn't have permissions to put the links into other users' desktops,
and can't put them into user desktops that haven't yet been created.
Until recently there were VERY few programs that it was possible to
install for only one user - this is now changing.
Win 9x, and Win XP/2k have also always had this ability - although the
location of the folder may have been slightly different (\Documents &
Settings\All Users\Desktop in the case of XP,\Windows\All
Users\Desktop in the case of ME )

If you want to share things with specific users, that too is possible,
biut you have to specifically allow it, and then specify the
permissions.

Mainframes and PC's are a little different, aren't they?
(I cut my teeth on an IBM 360...and then discovered the Commodore PET
- but I could tell tales of the PC at school in 1972......)

OK - on to your query....
Access Denied errors in my experience are usually caused by the user
having not opened Explorer with Admin Privileges (Run As Admin) - the
password requested is not required for an admin account, since you're
already logged in (one way or another) with the privileges required,
but these are limited by UAC until specifically actuated by physical
intervention (the OK click) - sometimes, I have seen this end up in a
recursive loop - then the option is to take ownership of the file
concerned, and delete it, or to delete it using the appropriate
account. When this problem occurs, it seems to be usually because the
owner of the file in question no longer exists on the machine, and it
has problems working out whether you have the required
privileges...... but I could be talking out of my nether regions, so
don't quote me!

HTH - and good luck

 

[BudV]

Okay, success at last! I think I've got it and by way of wrapping up this
thread I'd like to
present the following comments:

Once I finally listened to Noel and showed hidden folders things opened up
significantly. It bothers me a little that desktops were not hidden under
XP; why are they hidden under Vista?

Functionally, it seems that Public desktop is identical to All Users
desktop.

Semantically, I think it's cute that they borrowed the Public folder to
represent the All Users folder. Frankly, I think it's cheating a little but
that's all they had that came close to the required function.

Conceptually, I have a small problem with what they did because my
introduction to Public said that it was to be used for sharing folders
across a network, much like Shared Folders in XP, and I can't visualize
sharing a desktop across a network.

Anyway, all's well that ends well, and I thank you all for your patience and
expertise.

The Public folders are shared - with other users of the PC, and with
network users (but ONLY if Network Sharing is enabledin the
Network&Sharing dialog)
The Public Desktop is exactly what and where it should be, IMHO - it's
a set of (usually) links that are shared by all users of the PC.
Because it's a hidden folder, it's not visible over a network (but may
still be accessible? - dunno - not tried it!) It's used by program
installers specifically for this purpose, because the installer
doesn't have permissions to put the links into other users' desktops,
and can't put them into user desktops that haven't yet been created.
Until recently there were VERY few programs that it was possible to
install for only one user - this is now changing.
Win 9x, and Win XP/2k have also always had this ability - although the
location of the folder may have been slightly different (\Documents &
Settings\All Users\Desktop in the case of XP,\Windows\All
Users\Desktop in the case of ME )

If you want to share things with specific users, that too is possible,
biut you have to specifically allow it, and then specify the
permissions.

Mainframes and PC's are a little different, aren't they?
(I cut my teeth on an IBM 360...and then discovered the Commodore PET
- but I could tell tales of the PC at school in 1972......)

OK - on to your query....
Access Denied errors in my experience are usually caused by the user
having not opened Explorer with Admin Privileges (Run As Admin) - the
password requested is not required for an admin account, since you're
already logged in (one way or another) with the privileges required,
but these are limited by UAC until specifically actuated by physical
intervention (the OK click) - sometimes, I have seen this end up in a
recursive loop - then the option is to take ownership of the file
concerned, and delete it, or to delete it using the appropriate
account. When this problem occurs, it seems to be usually because the
owner of the file in question no longer exists on the machine, and it
has problems working out whether you have the required
privileges...... but I could be talking out of my nether regions, so
don't quote me!

HTH - and good luck

......