Creating user desktop

[Gene E. Bloch]

True. I understand the difference. Since the contents of the
\public\desktop are all just shortcuts, theoretically I could just
delete them all and they wouldn't appear on wife's desktop. But someone
mentioned installers and uninstallers, and maybe messing up where Win7
thinks it's put things, and it's just not worth tinkering.

The desktop shortcuts should have no effect on installations. They are
just a convenience, not an integral part of the application.

However, any shortcut removed from the Public Desktop will no longer be
visible to any other users either, which might be an *in*convenience

So it's best to copy those shortcuts to the Users' Desktops where they
are needed or wanted before dropping them from the Public Desktop.

 

[Char Jackson]

Since the contents of the
\public\desktop are all just shortcuts, theoretically I could just
delete them all and they wouldn't appear on wife's desktop. But someone
mentioned installers and uninstallers, and maybe messing up where Win7
thinks it's put things, and it's just not worth tinkering.

I fully understand your reluctance to mess around, but it's not as
gloomy as all that.

From my time with Win95 thru WinXP, I've always highly customized the
structure of my Start menu and Desktop, and I can report a fairly
common occurrence of uninstallers leaving shortcuts behind, now and
then, for the simple reason that the shortcuts weren't where the
uninstaller expected them to be. That makes sense because I had moved
(organized) them, and at that point it became a simple housekeeping
task to delete the orphaned shortcuts.

The absolute worst that can happen is that you have a shortcut that,
when clicked, reports that it's searching for its target file. Click
Cancel and delete the orphaned shortcut, simple as that. It seems to
me that some people have injected a dose of FUD here, where it doesn't
quite belong.

 

[KCB]

I fully understand your reluctance to mess around, but it's not as
gloomy as all that.

From my time with Win95 thru WinXP, I've always highly customized the
structure of my Start menu and Desktop, and I can report a fairly
common occurrence of uninstallers leaving shortcuts behind, now and
then, for the simple reason that the shortcuts weren't where the
uninstaller expected them to be. That makes sense because I had moved
(organized) them, and at that point it became a simple housekeeping
task to delete the orphaned shortcuts.

The absolute worst that can happen is that you have a shortcut that,
when clicked, reports that it's searching for its target file. Click
Cancel and delete the orphaned shortcut, simple as that. It seems to
me that some people have injected a dose of FUD here, where it doesn't
quite belong.

I agree with Char here. Opening 3 windows, one for your desktop, one for
hers, and one for public, is easy enough. Then just drag the shortcuts
between them, keeping in mind that public shows on both the others. Moving
the Start Menu shortcuts is just as easy, if you ignore the (perceived)
complication of uninstalling the programs later. They ARE only shortcuts.

 

[Robin Bignall]

I agree with Char here. Opening 3 windows, one for your desktop, one for
hers, and one for public, is easy enough. Then just drag the shortcuts
between them, keeping in mind that public shows on both the others. Moving
the Start Menu shortcuts is just as easy, if you ignore the (perceived)
complication of uninstalling the programs later. They ARE only shortcuts.

In that case I could eliminate the public ones, because there are only
two users. But it's hardly worthwhile; she has her own laptop and uses
my desktop only for a few minutes a day while waiting for me to finish a
medical procedure that she then helps me to set up for the following
day.

 

[...winston]

Well we kind of are going in different circle.
My input was provided to ensure the understanding that user profile program shortcuts rearrangement can be accomplished but none of
the methods suggested will prevent any other user from having access to run those programs since the default installed shortcut may
(and often) does reside in the ProgramsData\..\Start Menu folder.

If you want to limit access to another users' ability to run programs...rearranging (copy,delete, etc) in a users Desktop or Public
folder doesn't limit anything.



--
....winston
msft mvp mail


"Char Jackson" wrote in message

One could easily add shortcuts to the 'Desktop' for each respective user.
Doing so does not make any other program private since the shortcuts are stored in ProgramsData's subfolder 'StartMenu' and
accessible to any user of the computer.

i.e. just because one has a shortcut for a program on the desktop does not prevent said user from opening any other program. The
only method to achieve 'private' is to relocate the programs present in \ProgramsData\...\StartMenu.

I guess we're going around in circles. The OP originally asked about
desktop shortcuts and later confirmed that he was only asking about
desktop shortcuts, so any references to start menu shortcuts are only
distractions.

 

[KCB]

Well we kind of are going in different circle.
My input was provided to ensure the understanding that user profile
program shortcuts rearrangement can be accomplished but none of the
methods suggested will prevent any other user from having access to run
those programs since the default installed shortcut may (and often) does
reside in the ProgramsData\..\Start Menu folder.

If you want to limit access to another users' ability to run
programs...rearranging (copy,delete, etc) in a users Desktop or Public
folder doesn't limit anything.

While your answer was correct, I believe the OP was just looking for
convenience, not security.

 

[Char Jackson]

If you want to limit access to another users' ability to run programs...rearranging (copy,delete, etc) in a users Desktop or Public
folder doesn't limit anything.

I don't believe that was ever the OP's goal...

 

[...winston]

Privacy is not necessarily security.

The op now has more than sufficient options to go either way.

Optionally, in lieu of 'Desktop' shortcuts for each user the same level of access could easily be accomplished on Win7 via the Task
Bar or enabling the Quick Launch Toolbar (both would be unique to a log on profile).


--
....winston
msft mvp mail


"KCB" wrote in message

Well we kind of are going in different circle.
My input was provided to ensure the understanding that user profile program shortcuts rearrangement can be accomplished but none
of the methods suggested will prevent any other user from having access to run those programs since the default installed
shortcut may (and often) does reside in the ProgramsData\..\Start Menu folder.

If you want to limit access to another users' ability to run programs...rearranging (copy,delete, etc) in a users Desktop or
Public folder doesn't limit anything.

While your answer was correct, I believe the OP was just looking for
convenience, not security.

 

[Dave \Crash\ Dummy]

I fully understand your reluctance to mess around, but it's not as
gloomy as all that.

From my time with Win95 thru WinXP, I've always highly customized the
structure of my Start menu and Desktop, and I can report a fairly
common occurrence of uninstallers leaving shortcuts behind, now and
then, for the simple reason that the shortcuts weren't where the
uninstaller expected them to be. That makes sense because I had moved
(organized) them, and at that point it became a simple housekeeping
task to delete the orphaned shortcuts.

The absolute worst that can happen is that you have a shortcut that,
when clicked, reports that it's searching for its target file. Click
Cancel and delete the orphaned shortcut, simple as that. It seems to
me that some people have injected a dose of FUD here, where it
doesn't quite belong.

Shortcuts are pretty much always expendable because they are easy to
recreate, as long as you know where the target program is. Also, no
programs use the shortcuts for anything. They are only called with the
keyboard or mouse.