Creating a new user - help please:

[onlymel]

Okay guys. Picture the scene:

For 3 months I have been the only user of the computer. Operating system is Windows M/E. I don't have a lot of files on but what is on is quite important to me.
My son who has now decided the only way forward is to get himself computer literate. I said, "I have the answer my son"!!!
I decided to give him his own desktop. - start > control panel > new user.
Created a new user with his own name and ticked the following panels.

Desktop folder and documents menu
Start menu
Favs folder
Downloaded web pages
My docs folder.

Also put the radial dot in - Create new items to save disk space.
The reason for doing all of this was so just to give him the basics and more so that he couldn't see what was on my desktop.

Here is the crunch: - I shut the puter down in the normal way. Went back to it after a meal and when it booted all I could get was his desktop. I couldn't get mine. - - HELP!!!!

 

[smah]

Go to Control Panel, Network. Make note of what the current logon setting is in case I'm wrong, but I believe you'll want to change the Primary logon to 'Windows Family logon'. Reboot and you should be prompted for a user.

 

[onlymel]

Hello smah: - I checked that out and I am using the windows family log in procedure and not NETWORK. I find myself from booting up to only having ONE log in name. This being the name of my son that I created. It has me baffled on how I can find my original desktop with my progs and files on. - All help would be appeciated.

Mel in the UK

 

[smah]

So your son's account is there but yours no longer is? What happens if you go to Start, Logoff?

 

[onlymel]

Hi again Smah:

When I go to log off I get are you sure you want to YES/NO. I click on yes and it shuts down. Stupid aint it. Where the hell is my desktop?

Mel in the UK

 

[smah]

I'm not too well versed in ME, so hopefully someone else can offer a solution. But it sounds to me like your machine only has 1 user. You can test this be creating another user - if you now get a choice of the two, that's what is going on. Why it happened, I have no idea. If this proves to be the case, you will have to recreate your account. The programs and data should all still be there, but may need some searching and/or tweaking to get everything back to the way it was.

 

[onlymel]

WALLA - When windows booted and the login screen name came up with my son's name and asked for a password, I just clicked on CANCEL and hey presto, my desktop came back. So all is OK now - thanks for everything though.

Mel in the UK

 

[wolluf]

onlymel - the 'default' (ie, when ME is not multi-user) user is yours. What you should have done is create 2 users - one for you one for your son. For yours, you would copy rather than create new, and 'default' user setup (ie, what you've been using) would be copied to your new user area in \windows\profiles. Then create your son's - with create new, as you did, so he doesn't get your settings and folders etc).

But if its working ok as is, you're ok.

 

[pechenegs]

Mel, what you are trying to do in ME is a wate of time as it does not work! ME does not have any security like W2k or XP-pro has. If your son simply clicks cancel on log on he will go to your desk-top by default and can see all your folders and files. The only way to secure your data is to go to the bios and select choose password, not quite sure how to set it up but I did read a post on here earlier about it!

As you saw by you clicking cancel you gained access to your computer so your son can do exactly the same, you don't have to log in on ME!

 

[onlymel]

wolluf and pechenegs: - I hear what your both saying and just tried it. It makes a mockery out of it huh? - To get over this, I have now created 8 compressed folders, pass worded them and put my relevent files etc into each folder. However, a question: - If I use the password in Bios, would my son need the paasword as well? - silly question when I come to think of it!!!!

Mel in the UK

 

[pechenegs]

well, if you do it in Bios, I think you would have to do as Wolluf earlier suggested? Both you and other users would need to create accounts with passwords, perhaps through bios, it would be a sort of adminastrator account and would create both your own and other user accounts and then assign him a password!?

Maybe only way to find it is to go into Bios and create an account for yourself password protected and see what happens. perhaps you will have to erase the existing accounts as they are doing nothing anyway. Or perhaps do another seperate post with the title Bios protected passwords in Windows ME?

look at windows help see if there is anything in there, but I have been in Windows ME and there is a passowrd option in the Bios, just check it and take it from there?

 

[pechenegs]

oops you did it, maybe your son can acess the computer but not your newly created folders password protected in the Bios. Just check it and see , log in as your son would do or see if you can get in without logging in by clicking cancel? does the bios password actually work lol - !?


cheers pech