Controling the start menu in XP for various users

[dalfollo]

I am the main user of my PC, but there are times I let family log on or my wife with their own account......

For all the programs I have loaded, almost every one shows up as available to "any user"...but i don't want that....I want to have all installed programs showing up for just me and selected programs showing up for the other users...I don't need them accidentially starting a benchmark ro other sensitive program.

Can I simply remove/add the short cuts under "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu" so that only the programs I truely want any user to click on to be there?

I don't want to mess anything up by simply moving or deleting them.

For example...I want to set up a limited account for my sone on one of my machines...if i log into his account and try to remove or change things, I cannot because I am limited....should I be logging in as the Admin, then make changes to the

C:\Documents and Settings\Alexander\Desktop
C:\Documents and Settings\Alexander\Start menu

folder in Windows Explorer? While at the same time making sure that there are no programs he should be touching in the "All Users" folders?

Thanks for any clarity on this....

Running XP Home with SP2 and all patches.....

 

[scottws]

Yeah, you'll need logged in as Administrator (or in the Administrators group) to make changes to other user's Start Menu and Desktop shortcuts.

You can't really mess anything up by removing Start Menu shortcuts. They are there simply for user interaction, not system interaction (well except for the Startup folder).

On my PC, I have an account for each member of the family. I have many many programs I don't want them messing with for various reasons. But, like you said, most of the Start Menu and Desktop shortcuts are there for All Users. What I did was leave shortcuts in All Users (or move them to All Users if they weren't there before) for things the entire family can enjoy like games, Winamp, GAIM. The rest I moved into my Documents and Settings profile. I also trust my brother, so I let him have some too by copying them to his profile. You have to do it in a non-domain setting either for all users, or per user. There is no in between.

The other users can still access the programs via Windows Explorer or Run or CMD if they really want to. I didn't go that far to deny permission or anything, but they are all in the User group, not Administrators, so the damage they could do is limited if they even bothered (and they won't).

The long and short of it is this. The shortcuts in the various profile Desktop and Start Menu folders are just supposed to be easy ways to get to various programs and features on the system. You really can't hurt anything by moving them around or removing them, but it can get confusing.

Some day it would be nice if installers let you select users to install programs for or give you the option to do it for all users or current user (some do, but too few). I wish vendors would exercise a little responsibility and restraint though. The Start Menu becomes ridiculously cluttered so easily.

 

[Markbnj]

Agree with scottws. There is no excuse for not handling shortcuts properly, for not deleting folders and registry keys during uninstalls, etc. Just laziness/expediency.

I think the best way to manage start menu shortcuts, assuming you are logged as admin, is just to navigate to c:\documents and settings\[user]\start menu\programs, and do this in a seperate explorer window for each user you want to manage. Typically this is All Users and the individual named accounts. You can pretty much ignore Default User. It's simple at that point to drag icons and folders back and forth until you have stuff where you want it.

 

[dalfollo]

Thanks guys for clearing that up...

Just a note that I am logged in as a user with Admin permissions; I am not logged in as THE Administrator...do I need to log in as "Administrator"?

If so, How do I do that? when I get to the log in screen I only have my account "dalfollo" (with admin privledges).

Before moving things around I will create a new account for my wife and son and guest and then move some desktop and start menu items around until they have only the things they need in their star menu.

 

[scottws]

If you are a local admin, you shouldn't have to log in as Administrator. You should be able to access the All Users folder and move things around fine.

Sorry, I should have noticed that you said you're working in XP Home. You can only log on as Administrator in XP Home in Safe Mode. It's more of a pain than it is worth most of the time. Don't worry about logging on as Administrator, just use your regular account.

I agree, you'll definately want to create their accounts before moving things around. In fact, you'll want to log in on all the accounts as well at least one time so all the profiles get created.