Saved files/app. icons appearing on other User Desktops

I'm running Vista Home Premium (HP Pavilion a613n AMD LIVE Athlon 64 X2
DualCore 5000+ processor with 3072MB memory and a 400GB hard drive) with 4
User accounts, 2 being myself and my fiancée (both as Administrators), and
our 2 children (standard, restricted accounts).

The problem is when a file is saved, whether Word, PDF, installed
application icons, etc., they wind up showing on other users Desktops, not
just the Desktop the files or programs were created/installed on. This is a
problem, because if I save a file to my Desktop, it shows up on everyone
else's Desktop, and vice versa.

Also, my fiancée downloads and buys many, many games, and when I saw my
step-daughter's Desktop yesterday, I was floored. The entire screen is filled
with Icons I know are games my fiancée installed on her Administrator account
Desktop. You can hardly see my step-daughter and my beautiful Grandson Ethan
Isaiah for all the icons (the picture of the 2 of them is her Background). I
also see saved Word and PDF files I saved on my Desktop but have since moved
to another folder (I just prefer to save to my Desktop first, and then move
the file to the appropriate folder).

Anyone know what could be going on? I have nothing to hide, but I do keep a
journal, and the thoughts and feelings I write in it I prefer they don't see.
As for the PDF files, some are mostly Owner's Manuals of our different
appliances, electronics, PC’s, printers, etc., so I have no problem with
them. However, I also have saved several of my Nephews and other friend’s
2007 tax information (forms/returns/etc.), and I don't want someone snooping
in their private information. As the family computer geek, it falls to me to
do Turbo Tax Free for several people, including myself.

If this post is to wordy, sorry, I just wanted to stress the reasons why I
want to try and find a way to fix what has already caused this to occur, and
prevent it in the future. Thank you all for your valuable time, expertise and
guidance. Leonard

Leonard

To understand what is happening, you first need to understand the concept
involved here.

There are 2 locations for the desktop in Vista.

C:\Users\Public\Desktop is the location for All Users. Any shortcut icon in
this folder will appear on every users desktop.

C:\Users\user name\Desktop is the location for each individual user. Any
shortcut icon in this folder will only appear on that individual users
desktop. ('user name' is the name of the account)

To get the result you want, If a programs installation places an icon in the
all users desktop folder, you can simply move that icon from that folder to
your individual desktop folder.

Save your documents to your own users Desktop.

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience


"leonardface9" <> wrote in message
news:A168AD96-FC90-4113-854C-...
> I'm running Vista Home Premium (HP Pavilion a613n AMD LIVE Athlon 64 X2
> DualCore 5000+ processor with 3072MB memory and a 400GB hard drive) with 4
> User accounts, 2 being myself and my fiancée (both as Administrators), and
> our 2 children (standard, restricted accounts).
>
> The problem is when a file is saved, whether Word, PDF, installed
> application icons, etc., they wind up showing on other users Desktops, not
> just the Desktop the files or programs were created/installed on. This is
> a
> problem, because if I save a file to my Desktop, it shows up on everyone
> else's Desktop, and vice versa.
>
> Also, my fiancée downloads and buys many, many games, and when I saw my
> step-daughter's Desktop yesterday, I was floored. The entire screen is
> filled
> with Icons I know are games my fiancée installed on her Administrator
> account
> Desktop. You can hardly see my step-daughter and my beautiful Grandson
> Ethan
> Isaiah for all the icons (the picture of the 2 of them is her Background).
> I
> also see saved Word and PDF files I saved on my Desktop but have since
> moved
> to another folder (I just prefer to save to my Desktop first, and then
> move
> the file to the appropriate folder).
>
> Anyone know what could be going on? I have nothing to hide, but I do keep
> a
> journal, and the thoughts and feelings I write in it I prefer they don't
> see.
> As for the PDF files, some are mostly Owner's Manuals of our different
> appliances, electronics, PC’s, printers, etc., so I have no problem with
> them. However, I also have saved several of my Nephews and other friend’s
> 2007 tax information (forms/returns/etc.), and I don't want someone
> snooping
> in their private information. As the family computer geek, it falls to me
> to
> do Turbo Tax Free for several people, including myself.
>
> If this post is to wordy, sorry, I just wanted to stress the reasons why I
> want to try and find a way to fix what has already caused this to occur,
> and
> prevent it in the future. Thank you all for your valuable time, expertise
> and
> guidance. Leonard
>