questions on how the windows XP(home) multiple user system works?

[acidvoodoo]

1) when installing software in an administrator level account, does it ask what other accounts the software should be seen in?
2) if i have 2 adminitrator level accounts, can i install the same game on each with a seperate installation for each?
3)with XP home, is the only limited and unlimited user? or is there one in between?

thanks

 

[NogginBoink]

<< 1) when installing software in an administrator level account, does it ask what other accounts the software should be seen in?
2) if i have 2 adminitrator level accounts, can i install the same game on each with a seperate installation for each?
3)with XP home, is the only limited and unlimited user? or is there one in between?
>>


The behavior of XP should be no different than NT/W2K in these regards.

1) No. Software written to run properly on NT/W2K/XP should put system files in C:\program files, to which non-admin users don't have write permissions, and user information should be stored in My Documents and HKCU\Software. If the software is written like this (and Windows logo requires it), you should be able to use the software from any user account. That's a big "If" though.

2) Depends on the game. See #1. I'd prefer more games use HKCU\Software and per-user settings, but most games seem to be written as though only 1 person ever uses the computers and all settings are machinewide rather than per user. Hopefully this will change as XP gains popularity.

3) Dunno. 🙂

 

[acidvoodoo]

so if i want a seperate install for the game for multiple users i should install the game like,
C:\program files\user A\halflife\
C:\program files\User B\halflife\

etc


or will windows accuse me of overwriting files. i guess it's not the end of the world having to share one install of the game, but changing names in it is quite annoying

 

[Bglad]

I've never tried it but Half Life or CS will probably work fine if you do this because they are mostly dos based and don't require much more than file locations entered in the registry. You will just have to manually create shortcuts in the start menu or desktop pointing to each version.

This will not be the case with other software though.