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DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A
August 6, 2006
Q.
I got my computer used, and when I right
click My Computer, choose Properties then
the General tab, it shows the old company
and user's name. How can I change this?
A.
In
Windows XP, this information is stored in
the registry in the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion key. You could change it
directly there, but modifying the registry
can be a little chancy. So, I wrote a little
utility that will you to easily change
these. You can download it in my Download
section, or by clicking
HERE.
Q.
When I try to make a folder private, I
cannot because this feature is grayed out.
How can I get this feature to work so I can
make a folder private?
A.
I believe the feature referred to here is
the one accessed when you right click a
folder and select "Sharing and Security", as
shown here.
In the
top section of this dialog, you can choose
"To make this folder and its subfolders
private......"
Two things are necessary before you can make
the folder private. First, it has to be
located in your user profile folder. Second,
your file system has to be NTFS.
To
see if your file system is NTFS, open My
Computer and right click on your C drive and
choose Properties. The file type is listed
there. NTFS is only available on Windows
2000 and XP. Unless your computer was
upgraded to XP from an older operating
system it will probably already be NTFS.
If
your file system is not NTFS, and you are
using Windows XP, then it can be easily
converted. Click
HERE to
learn about NTFS and how to convert from FAT
to NTFS.
OK
my file system is NTFS, so where is my
personal profile folder located?
1. Open My Computer
2. Double-click the drive where Windows is
installed. In almost all cases this will be
the C:\ drive. If the contents of the drive
are hidden, under System Tasks, click Show
the contents of this drive.
3. Double-click the Documents and Settings
folder.
4. Double-click your personal user folder.
There will be several folders listed. These
may include ones named Administrator, All
Users, Default user, LocalService,
NetworkService, and others. Your personal
profile folder will be here with the name
you use when you are signed on the computer.
Only the folders in your personal profile
folder can be made private.
5.
Right click on the folder you want to make
private, and select "Sharing and Security"
from the menu. Click the box in front of
"Make this folder private" and click OK.
If
you have not created a password to use when
you start up Windows, you will be presented
this dialog:
If you
want your private folder to be password protected, you can enter
your password here. If you already have a
password in use when you sign on Windows,
the same password will be used here
automatically.
Folders in your user profile include My
Documents and its subfolders, Desktop, Start
Menu, Cookies, and Favorites. If you do not
make these folders private, they are
available to everyone who uses your
computer. You can add more folders to your
profile folder if you like. Any folder
located here can then be made private and
secure.
When you make a folder private, all of its
subfolders are private as well. For example,
when you make My Documents private, you also
make My Music and My Pictures private.
NOTE: When you share a folder, everything in
it will also be shared unless you make the
individual folders and files in the shared
folder private.
Q. On a new computer, the msconfig program
has a "Tools" tab that allows launching many
of Windows programs. How can I add this to a
computer that doesn't have it?
A.
This
can be added if you are running Windows XP
SP2.
It is an add-on from Microsoft, (KB906569) and can be
downloaded
HERE. There
is a authentication run before the download
can be done. The file is small at 547 KB.
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