Start menu

[Wesley Vogel]

I am a single user and not on a network. I put everything in All Users.
Right click the Start button | Explore All Users

When logged on as John, you should see items from both:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu
and
C:\Documents and Settings\John\Start Menu

When you install a program, if you initially configure the software to be
accessible only to you, shortcuts will appear in:
C:\Documents and Settings\John\Start Menu

If configured for machine wide, shortcuts will appear in:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu
Is the Common Start Menu, appears for anyone who logs on.

An Application Data folder should not be in your Start Menu!

To see yours:
Start | Run | Type: %APPDATA% | OK

Application Data folders:
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data
C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Application Data
C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Application Data
C:\Documents and Settings\NetworkService\Application Data
C:\Documents and Settings\Your Name Here\Application Data
C:\WINDOWS\system32\config\systemprofile\Application Data

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Application Data
C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\Application Data
C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\Application Data
C:\Documents and Settings\NetworkService\Local Settings\Application Data
C:\Documents and Settings\Your Name Here\Local Settings\Application Data
C:\WINDOWS\system32\config\systemprofile\Local Settings\Application Data

 

[Jerry]

All your complaints/comments are the 'new' and improved' "user friendly"
"dumbed down" Windows XP cartoon interface. Welcome to the club.

What I opted to do was to tell XP to use the Windows classic desktop, etc
that I was used to from 98, SE, and ME and some things were better. But
there's not a good explanation that I know of as to why all those 'Users'
were created and why.

Right click on a blank spot on the desktop, select Properties > Appearance
and in the Windows and buttons box: scroll down to and select "Windows
Classic Style".

Also; Control Panel > Folder Options > Tasks select use Windows classic
folders.

More; right click the Start button, select Properties > Start Menu and check
the Classic Start Menu option.

Doing the above will, at least, make things look familier while you try to
figure thinsg out.

 

[John Rampling]

After five years using Windows 98 I have just upgraded to XP and find the
Start Menu mystifying! Sometimes shortcuts seem to go missing from my
programs list and I have just found out why.

In the Documents and Settings directory I see three Users, called 'All
Users', 'Default User' and 'John'. Each has a subdirectory called 'Start
Menu'. When I click the 'Start' button I tend to get the 'John' files but I
think it sometimes shows me 'All Users' instead.

Furthermore, when I install a new program it adds a new shortcut to the
Start Menu BUT I can not predict whether it will add it to 'All Users' or
'John'. That is why my shortcuts sometimes go missing - they are on the
wrong Start Menu! And if a shortcut appears under 'All Users' it does NOT
appear under 'John', despite the title.

(What's more, there is a folder on my Start Menu directory called
'Application Data' which appears in Explorer but not on the Start Menu
itself - that's OK because the folder has the 'hidden' attribute set, so I
can figure that out.)

Am I doing something wrong? Or is it just another Microsoft annoyance? And
what can I change to bring my computer under my control?

John

 

[Sharon F]

After five years using Windows 98 I have just upgraded to XP and find the
Start Menu mystifying! Sometimes shortcuts seem to go missing from my
programs list and I have just found out why.

In the Documents and Settings directory I see three Users, called 'All
Users', 'Default User' and 'John'. Each has a subdirectory called 'Start
Menu'. When I click the 'Start' button I tend to get the 'John' files but I
think it sometimes shows me 'All Users' instead.

Furthermore, when I install a new program it adds a new shortcut to the
Start Menu BUT I can not predict whether it will add it to 'All Users' or
'John'. That is why my shortcuts sometimes go missing - they are on the
wrong Start Menu! And if a shortcut appears under 'All Users' it does NOT
appear under 'John', despite the title.

(What's more, there is a folder on my Start Menu directory called
'Application Data' which appears in Explorer but not on the Start Menu
itself - that's OK because the folder has the 'hidden' attribute set, so I
can figure that out.)

Am I doing something wrong? Or is it just another Microsoft annoyance? And
what can I change to bring my computer under my control?

John

There's nothing to change. XP is from the NT family of Windows and its
structure is based on user security groups, user accounts, permissions,
policies, etc. It's behaving exactly as it was intended to behave.

Default user is the template account and is used as the base for any new
accounts added to the system. All Users folders contains items that are
intended for use by any user account on that machine. Your account folders
contains your personal items - these do not appear for other users when
they are logged on to their own accounts.

As Wesley mentioned, you'll run across some software that asks if you are
installing for just yourself or for all users. The answer determines where
the programs shortcuts will go. There are still quite a few programs that
do not ask and the shortcuts could end up in either place.