XP Configuration (SP2)

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Hello.

Nice to have found you!

I just bought a Dell Dimension 5150. Installed (as requested) is WinXP SP2.

Also installed (but not asked for) was enough extra software to have filled my old PC

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Welcome to Woody’s Lounge!

It is possible to designate another folder to act as ‘My Documents’ – see My Documents Folder in WinXP. However, most applications will either use My Documents as default folder, or let you specify it as default folder. Moreover, My Documents is available as a top-level folder in the Open and Save As dialogs, so even if you’re working in another folder, you don’t have to traverse the entire path to get to My Documents in its default location.

PS Could you edit your signature and replace b… with a less offensive word such as ‘mess’? Thanks in advance.

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Add my Welcome to that of Hans! Please note that at the top of the page at the link Hans pointed you to is a link to Microsoft’s Powertoys where you can, and should, download a copy of TweakUI powertoy. It can be useful for a number of settings in addition to your My Documents question.

I would like to add that I’d recommend that you “force” yourself to “live with” the fact that MS has several built-in users called Administrator, All Users and Default User. I can’t tell you how many times the Administrator account has bailed someone out when THEIR user profile has crashed or gotten contaminated! Even though YOU are the only user of the machine, there exists the possibility that the situation could change. So, MS has included the All Users and Default Users to handle settings like Start Menus and Desktops, among other things, for a variety of users. I’ve been using XP since it came out and those “extra” user accounts have never gotten in my way.

PS I’m also a brand new Dell owner, struggling through all the stuff you are. I’m taking my time and deleting things a few at a time, such as all the internet provider stuff they include, among others. I guess they try to make the PC experience as easy and pleasant as they can for a complete novice, so I give ’em credit for trying (along with MY grumbling)!

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Hi.

Thanks for the replies.

I must admit to a certain amount of “unfamiliarity breeds dislike” ( I still miss DOS!). But I do find it a bit daft that in many “tree” style depictions a folder contained in the C: drive is shown as superior to it – although that was easily rectified, and My Computer now shows the principle contents of the drive, rather than convenience items. I suppose that, once again, I have to make the most of what someone wants me to want, rather than giving me want I want (without going to all the trouble of a diy solution, or some other operating system).

“I guess they try to make the PC experience as easy and pleasant as they can…”
Hm… You are obviously not as cynical as I, Big Al: I saw it as cramming in as much ‘trial’ stuff as they could get commission on, coupled with hanging as many whistles and bells as they can think of as part of a growing competition with PC World. The answer to that lies in avoiding the Dell “Offers”, which I suspect are a sort of production line output: a “clean” machine, ordered from scratch would probably cost more, being a custom job. (There’s irony!)

Reading between the lines of several conversations with Dell’s sales people, I suspect that the software for a particular run is pumped in as a package – OS and accessories; interestingly, I was told by one that although I couldn’t have McAfee and Works 7, etc, removed at the factory, I could have MS Office instead of Works for an extra cost.

Hans – I’m sorry that the word I used caused offence. Where I come from it is as colloquial in such a context, as the word “mess” – I’ve even heard a priest use that same phrase in a sermon! However, I believe that “offensive” is defined by the receiver, and so I have removed it.

I’ve been using Tweakui for some years, but the latest one that downloaded for XP seems a little emasculated compared to what it used to be like, and I find that hacking the registry around is often more productive. (My wife has bet me that I shall be re-installing Windows within the month!)

Again, thanks for the interest.

Regards

kbr

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I’m sure you’re right about the commissions and such. It’s interesting to note that on the phone when I ordered my machine, I asked the guy if I could get mine WITHOUT the McAfee trial and he AGREED to that. My confirming email with the machine specs had this: Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription. This was in columnar form, so I thought it was OK. However, when the machine arrived, guess what, I had to REMOVE the McAfee trial software, which WAS pre-installed. That’ll teach me to read the words properly – Go figger!

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Having removed the McAfee, check the folders, do a search; I found that it left quite a bit behind, including the McA Antispam and an updater. Same applies to Real Player (which was also on mine! Yuk!) That sems to get it’s feelers everywhere.

RegSupreme Pro is good for such cleanups.

kbr

kbr

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I’ll just throw my 2 cents in, FWIW.

As the new owner of a Gateway XP Media Center, I went through the same things. I don’t care about Media Center, but got a dual-core processor, a huge drive, cd/dvd drives for burning and playing, and bays for all the available media types for a good price. Anyone know if the Media Center stuff can be uninstalled without affecting cd/dvd burning/playing?

But it, too, came loaded with stuff I didn’t want or like: McAfee (tried it, didn’t like it, went back to AVG, improved log on speed tremendously), AOL (???? Ack!), Works, a link to ING banking(!!), and who knows what else. Removed them all. Used JV16 Powertools to clean the registry, and the little system just smokes now. I did install Office 2003 and no noticeable decline in performance. (Since Office Vista and it’s “ribbons” terrifies me, figured I should update to a version that will last several years.)

The XP file structure is kind of a Rube Goldbergian setup. But over the years, I’ve found that too much tweaking (even safe tweaking) usually ends up resulting in a decline in performance. You can move things, change defaults, etc. but it seems the OS is kind of hardwired for the “original” setup and performs better with less tweaking.

Brent

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Hi, Brent.

I guess that being lumbered with the whole contents of the package is the true cost of the reasonable deal!

“Anyone know if the Media Center stuff can be uninstalled…”
That would depend on what “the Media Centre” is. I noticed that there seems to be a “Media Centre” version of XP floating about, at least in theworld of OEM. If it be that one, then you may be stuck with it. What I had was a Dell thing (cobbled up with the help of Sonic, I think) and other stuff that was inclined to the “media experience”, and although it looked to be a wonderfully mind-blowing setup for those with 75″ screens and batteries of speakers, it just wasn’t for me.

For myself, I’m getting more used to the weird file structure – I can see its purpose, I just don’t share that purpose. And as I said before, my main problem (if I’m really honest) is “Old Fogeyness”, ie, why can’t things stay the same?

On that question, there is one W98 facility that was so good that the loss of it in XP must surely have been an act of pure mischief: the “View as webpage” option for folders that gave the nice little bit of blue-sky effect in the left top corner but, more importantly, gave a little preview of a file’s contents, or a thumbnail if it were a pic, when you single clicked it. (I know I have the option of mugshots instead of icons, but I like icons!)

Another question that is bugging me is, who is the “Default User”? It’s not me, because alongside that is “k” (Me!). However, if I go into “Default User” I find a folder called “Owner’s Documents”. Maybe I’m mistaken in thinking that I am the owner of this machine, because if I go into that folder, none of my documents are there! Unt sunt humana!

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Go to How to display ”View as Web Page” in Win XP? at annoyances.org

The “Default User” is what ALL new accounts are based on. One can go in and add or delete things to the ‘Desktop’, ‘Start Up’ and etc, and these entries will be in the new account.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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In my copy of XP, in the Default User’s profile the name is My Documents for that folder, same as in my user folder (though I have moved that folder).

However, some people who have a systems from certain OEM’s (not all) might find that the name Owner appear in some profile(s). This can be the case when the OS is set up and finished but no user account is made. At the end of the WinXP setup process one is asked for user name(s) and Windows will set up those accounts, the normal case. But OEM’s have to tweak this a bit if they are going to deliver a system with XP installed. The Owner, in “Owner’s Documents” as you mention, is simply a generic name in the Default User profile.

• The profiles folder contains two profiles that are not associated with a user account; All Users and Default User. The Default User profile folder is hidden.
• The All Users profile contains items that appear for all users together with the content of the user’s own profile. It may be desktop items or Start menu items. You will find that many programs install Start menu short cuts here etc. On systems with several users, many use the Shared Documents under All Users to share items (as it can be hard to talk about MY documents in a profile that is shared
• The Default User profile is used the first time a new user logs on; Windows copy the content of this profile and sets up a new user profile. If one want users to have certain files or links one can copy them to this profile, then when the user logs on the new user profile will be set up that way. On my system nothing has changed in this profile since last install 18 months ago.
  [/list]So, even if you are the only user; leaving All Users profile (folders) intact will ensure that all programs you install work correctly etc. The Default User is even more critical to leave alone; if something happens to your user profile, the one connected to your account, and you need to set up a new user account the Default User profile is used. With out it you have no way to set up a new account.

  As Al mentioned; the Tweak UI is a nifty tool. Example: If you don’t like the links/icons for “Files Stored on This Computer” in the My Computer view (it can be confusing if you are the only user, or it only takes space etc.); use Tweak UI > My Computer > Uncheck “Files Stored on This Computer”.

  As to this W98 thing; I don’t know exactly what you

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Hi.

Thanks for the information, Argus and DaveA.

The explanation of “setting up users”, etc, is interesting, and I can see that I shouldn’t have been such a compliant dhap when I first switched on and was asked to name a user and/or users. Not to worry – thanks for the info; it will serve for future reference.

I have already explored Annoyances.org, including the linked thread. The first post pretty well echoes my own complaint, but none of the suggested approaches satisfies the requirement; the MS article, kb819028 referred to by one respondent, and seeming to answer the question, doesn’t exist.

I think the truth of the matter rest with the response that says, “…this is not want we want but it is all that “Microsoft” left us with. It is however better than nothing. I, like everyone else, enjoyed using the “View” as a Web Page” function in the older versions of Windows Explorer. This is why I also have windows 98SE loaded on my computer.”

Hey-ho.

kbr

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PS: I seem to have achieved something with the “tasks” thingy on the LH side of a folder view, under details.

T’s strange, t’is very strange…

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I, too, have a new Dell. This is the first computer that I have not set up myself — I had someone from Dell set it up and transfer all my stuff from my old computer. He set it up as belonging to “OWNER.” The old one was set up as belonging to my me, Sheryl King! Aside from being annoying, it is also causing me problems in that programs (which did transfer over) are looking for files under c:/Documents and Settings/Sheryl King/My Documents… rather than c:/Documents and Settings/OWNER/My Documents…. Is there any way to change the new computer from OWNER back to my name?

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Hi, Sheryl.

I suggest you hang on a little while for someone more experienced with this OS to confirm the following (last time I tried changing something like this, I got locked out of the PC!) but:
If you go to Start/Control Panel/User Accounts…
Select

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Changing the name in User Accounts doesn’t change the folder name by which the profile is known on the hard drive. I have two profiles on this new Dell – one that was created when I first turned it on and went through all the setup and another I created later for everyday use. I have renamed them both in the User Accounts panel and that’s what shows up on the Welcom Screen but the folder names in Documents and Settings are still the same as they were.

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The only way to do this is to create a new user account, with the correct name, and then to copy the profile from Owner to the new account. Best way to copy the profile is to log in as a third, completely different, user – such as Administrator, and then use Control Panel > System > Advanced > User Profile Settings.

When you have it all working exactly as you want you can delete the Owner account and its user profile.

StuartR

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That makes sense to me, but apparently not to my computer — I can’t see any way to copy the profile. That is not one of the choices given under Control Panel>System>Advanced>User Profile Settings. Any other suggestions?

BTW, when I set up a new account, it is naked — none of my files and none of my Outlook info!

Sheryl

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Maybe there is a difference between Windows XP Home and Professional, this is the dialog box that I was referring to.

StuartR

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The Copy To button is available in Windows XP Home too. (I’m logged in with an account with admin privileges, I don’t know if Copy To is available to a limited account)

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Mine looks exactly like that except there are only 2 users, “Administrator” and “OWNER.” Administrator is very small, and OWNER is big. When I click on Administrator, copy is an option, but when I click on OWNER, it is grayed out. No point in copying Administrator, since it isn’t the one I want!

BTW, OWNER is set up as an administration account, so that can’t be the issue.

Sheryl

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Oh, wait. Duh. I had to be signed on as someone different. So I set up another user (“Junk”), and signed on as Junk. Then “copy” was no longer grayed out. But when I click on it, it asks me where I want to copy it to — like a file on my computer.

How do I get from there to copying it into another user?

Sheryl

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Assuming you have a standard configuration, you copy the profile to C:Documents and SettingsSherylKing (or in general terms, to %SystemDrive%Documents and Settings%Username%).

Remember to create the SherylKing user first, and log in to the SherylKing account at least once.

StuartR

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As Stuart said, after you’ve created the third account login using the Administrator account not the Owner account that is a member of the administrator group. When you are logged in as Administrator you should be able to copy Owner to the new account.

Joe

--Joe

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