user accounts

[pcroley]

My PC's hard drive failed. When XP was re-installed, the
users were no longer in place. An "administrator"
account was set up. When I set up new accounts (all as
administrator accounts) the settings, programs (AIM, ICQ,
MSN messenger, all disappeared, along with the lists). I
re-installed AIM, ICQ, and MSN messenger, but now they
only appear on my account.

I can no longer see the "administrator" default account
under the user accounts in the control panel. Can you
tell me if these programs are actually gone, and can I
get the default administrator account to appear under
user accounts?

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

The default admin account is hidden once you create normal user accounts. It
can be accessed by hitting ctrl+alt+delete twice at the welcome screen and
typing it in, or by going to safe mode. But it is essentially not needed at
this point (but cannot be removed).

The programs will need to be reinstalled while logged on as each user, just
choose the same program folder. You may have some like by moving the program
links from your local profile to the allusers program folder:

From:
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Start Menu\Programs
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Desktop

To:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop

Some will run like this, those that don't need to be reinstalled under each
profile. Also, you could've avoided this whole mess by doing a repair
installation instead of a regular reinstallation. Read on doing this here:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone