software installation and users' start menus

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

I'm new to XP and a bit confused about installing new programs on a home PC
set up for four users. Installing Office 2003 put the programs on the start
menus for all four users, which is what I wanted. However, different things
seem to happen when installing other applications, presumably because they
are older and not specifically designed for multi-user setup. Sometimes a
new program only shows up in one user's start menu. Then, to get it to
appear in all four, I have manually moved the shortcut from the specific
user's start menu folder to the "All Users" one. Is this OK? Does it have
any bad side-effects? Is there a better way of achieving what I want?

To get all programs to appear in the start menus of all users, presumably
all shortcuts could be moved to "All Users". But what about the recently
used programs? Is there a specific folder for these? Are there any other
start menu shortcuts or folders that should not be moved?

Any explanations and advice will be welcome!
Paul

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

Thanks, Rick, this is a vey helpful link.
Paul

"Rick "Nutcase" Rogers" <rick@mvps.org> wrote in message
news:#GspDUcXEHA.1496@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> Hi Paul,
>
> Yes, this has been an issue since home users were introduced to a true
user
> environment. I even wrote a page about it here:
> http://users.westelcom.com/rogersr/xpsware.htm
>
> What you are doing is fine, though you may find that some programs will
need
> to be installed for each user. Moving the shortcuts, even if they have
been
> used, should have no affect on their ability to open the program (the .lnk
> file is dependent on it's target, not on where it is located).
>
> --
> Best of Luck,
>
> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
> www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
>
> "Paul" <none> wrote in message
news:ugv5dPbXEHA.1764@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> > I'm new to XP and a bit confused about installing new programs on a home
> PC
> > set up for four users. Installing Office 2003 put the programs on the
> start
> > menus for all four users, which is what I wanted. However, different
> things
> > seem to happen when installing other applications, presumably because
they
> > are older and not specifically designed for multi-user setup. Sometimes
a
> > new program only shows up in one user's start menu. Then, to get it to
> > appear in all four, I have manually moved the shortcut from the specific
> > user's start menu folder to the "All Users" one. Is this OK? Does it
have
> > any bad side-effects? Is there a better way of achieving what I want?
> >
> > To get all programs to appear in the start menus of all users,
presumably
> > all shortcuts could be moved to "All Users". But what about the recently
> > used programs? Is there a specific folder for these? Are there any other
> > start menu shortcuts or folders that should not be moved?
> >
> > Any explanations and advice will be welcome!
> > Paul
> >
> >
>
>