Re: Documents and Settings
- From: Janetb <Janetb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 23:32:01 -0700
Many thanks for your very helpful explanation!
I never intended to do delete any of the system entries (Administrator, All
Users, Default User). The question was where the Janet folder came from,
because in 2KPro my user folder was simply Administrator (or perhaps
Administrator/Owner). I see now that the confusion was in my not knowing that
there is both a 'god' Administrator as well as an [OEM]Administrator/Owner,
and that you work out of the latter only.
1. If one is not supposed to work out of the god-Administrator folder, shall
we assume that in 2KPro they (a lab) had set me up to work out of the
[OEM]Administrator/Owner folder without renaming it for me?
2. I am now assuming that the private technician who installed my XP also
set me up to work out of the [OEM]Administrator/Owner folder but changed the
folder name to Janet---unless there was no such folder, in which case he
would have created the Janet folder. As stated in my original post, I have no
[OEM]Administrator/Owner folder on my system. Is ther a way to see if my
Janet folder is(was) this folder?
My concern is that I was going to backup just the Janet folder, but saw
there were entries which I did not (knowingly) make in both the All Users
folder and the Default folder and I didn't know if they had to be backed up
as well......
Many thanks for the help!
Janet
"Malke" wrote:
Janetb wrote:.
I am the only one who ever uses my computer. When I switched from 2KPro to XP
Pro, installed by a computer technician, he left me with the following
folders under Documents and Settings: All Users, Default User, Janet,
LocalService, LogMeInRemoteUser, and NetworkService.
Under 2KPro, I didn't have a separate user folder named Janet. I was either
just Administrator or some such default name. Is this separate Janet folder
really necessary? Can't I just be Default User or All Users? I ask because it
seems most efficient to have all my settings in one place, and I see that
there are entries in the All Users folder and the Default User folder in
addition to the many entries in the Janet folder. I am now setting up my
first backup system (daily) and would like to have things as simple as
possible......
You are misunderstanding the file hierarchy. You had a similar one in
Win2k, just apparently not your own user account. The way the tech set
you up is good. You don't ever want to user the built-in Administrator
account for daily use and you don't ever want to have only one user
account with administrative privileges. Here is an explanation of the
file hierarchy you are seeing:
XP is a multi-user operating system, no matter if only one person is
using it. In all multi-user operating systems - NT, Win2k, XP, Unix,
Linux, Mac OS X - there is the one built-in account that is "god" on the
system. In Windows terminology, that is "Administrator". In the *nix
world, it is "root". This is a necessary account and is not normally
used in everyday work. You cannot delete the built-in Administrator
account nor would you ever want to.
Here is the explanation of what you really have:
My Computer - represents your entire computer, showing drives and shared
folders. Shared Folders are folders where you can put files you wish to
share with other users on the system. You don't need to use these
folders if you don't want to, but leave them alone!
[some name] C:\ - your first hard drive, usually the system drive.
Document and Settings - The "container" for all user settings. Each user
will have [username] Documents, Music, Videos, My Pictures.
Administrator - Built-in account - Leave alone! Do not use! Do not worry
about it!
All Users - Section where items common to all users go. In a multi-user
operating system, users have separate accounts. This is the place where
if you want to share files with all the other users on the system you
would put those files. You don't ever have to use those folders but they
need to be there. This is where programs you install that are meant to
be installed for all users put settings. All the "Shared Documents" type
of folders you see at the root of C:\ are shortcuts to the shared
folders in here. Leave them alone!
Default Users - This is the template from which new user accounts are
made. You will never put anything in any of those folders but they are
needed to create new users. In Linux we use "skel" ("skeleton" - get
it?). In Windows, the less-colorful term "Default User" is used. Leave
it alone!
[OEM] Administrator or Owner - This is the generic user created by the
OEM when installing the operating system. After all, the OEM doesn't
know who is going to buy the computer. If you aren't using this OEM user
account, you can delete it from the User Accounts applet in Control
Panel. It is not the same account as "Administrator". If you don't have
an OEM-preinstalled Windows, you won't have this account.
Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
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