• Windows - Wrong User Name

    From Jeff Gaines@21:1/5 to All on Wed Sep 11 18:56:42 2024
    I decided to put Windows 8.1 on my Asus Z170K, it used to run it so I knew
    it would be OK.

    First problem with Ventoy in that it would only boot in UEFI mode, I think that's a problem with the ASUS in giving UEFI priority, so I had to use
    my MBR only thumbdrive.

    Big problem though was a silly mistake, I spelt my user name wrong because
    my keyboard bounces and I didn't notice until after I had installed
    everything and it had updated itself several times and RDP failed with
    wrong user name.

    I spent a while trying to fix it, in the end added a user with the proper
    name and deleted the wrong user whereupon Windows deleted "My Documents"
    and all the sub folders oblivious to the fact that my new/proper user used
    the same directories. Also had to re-enter 3 x app product keys because it seems they are licensed per user and not per PC which was news to me.

    Anyway in the end I thought sod it and started again with a re-format and re-install.

    Is this really how Windows works? I've never had a PC with more than one
    user before so it was all completely new to me.

    --
    Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
    This mess is what happens when you elect a Labour government, in the end
    they will always run out of other people's money to spend.
    (Margaret Thatcher on her election in 1979)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Jaimie Vandenbergh@21:1/5 to All on Thu Sep 12 22:58:56 2024
    On 11 Sep 2024 at 19:56:42 BST, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com>
    wrote:

    Is this really how Windows works? I've never had a PC with more than one
    user before so it was all completely new to me.

    Yes. As do other OSes. The user name is a unique key, so you can't
    change it without a lot of extra fannying around manually renaming
    folders and/or re-ownershipping files.

    Deleting Documents etc I'm pretty sure is an optional event, ie it asks
    first? I've not deleted a user in Windows for a long time though.

    Cheers - Jaimie
    --
    BANACH TARSKI is an anagram of BANACH TARSKI BANACH TARSKI

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Jeff Gaines@21:1/5 to Vandenbergh on Fri Sep 13 07:23:18 2024
    On 12/09/2024 in message <lkha1gFa87tU1@mid.individual.net> Jaimie
    Vandenbergh wrote:

    On 11 Sep 2024 at 19:56:42 BST, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com>
    wrote:

    Is this really how Windows works? I've never had a PC with more than one >>user before so it was all completely new to me.

    Yes. As do other OSes. The user name is a unique key, so you can't
    change it without a lot of extra fannying around manually renaming
    folders and/or re-ownershipping files.

    Deleting Documents etc I'm pretty sure is an optional event, ie it asks >first? I've not deleted a user in Windows for a long time though.

    It did ask and I said save them (there ere only a few files on Downloads)
    which it did.

    What concerned me was it was also "My Documents" for my new user name and
    it just ignored that and deleted all the directories!

    Anyway all is well now. I can find things and it downloads updates and
    tells me they are waiting to be installed.

    --
    Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
    I was standing in the park wondering why Frisbees got bigger as they get closer.
    Then it hit me.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Jaimie Vandenbergh@21:1/5 to All on Fri Sep 13 11:50:36 2024
    On 13 Sep 2024 at 08:23:18 BST, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com>
    wrote:

    On 12/09/2024 in message <lkha1gFa87tU1@mid.individual.net> Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:

    On 11 Sep 2024 at 19:56:42 BST, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com>
    wrote:

    Is this really how Windows works? I've never had a PC with more than one >>> user before so it was all completely new to me.

    Yes. As do other OSes. The user name is a unique key, so you can't
    change it without a lot of extra fannying around manually renaming
    folders and/or re-ownershipping files.

    Deleting Documents etc I'm pretty sure is an optional event, ie it asks
    first? I've not deleted a user in Windows for a long time though.

    It did ask and I said save them (there ere only a few files on Downloads) which it did.

    What concerned me was it was also "My Documents" for my new user name and
    it just ignored that and deleted all the directories!

    I don't know what that's about; not sure how you can even make a new
    user on a different name use an existing user's folders....

    Cheers - Jaimie
    --
    Communicating badly and then acting smug when
    you're misunderstood is not cleverness.
    -- http://xkcd.com/169

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Jeff Gaines@21:1/5 to Vandenbergh on Fri Sep 13 12:59:50 2024
    On 13/09/2024 in message <lkin8cFgm8dU1@mid.individual.net> Jaimie
    Vandenbergh wrote:

    On 13 Sep 2024 at 08:23:18 BST, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com>
    wrote:

    On 12/09/2024 in message <lkha1gFa87tU1@mid.individual.net> Jaimie >>Vandenbergh wrote:

    On 11 Sep 2024 at 19:56:42 BST, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com> >>>wrote:

    Is this really how Windows works? I've never had a PC with more than one >>>>user before so it was all completely new to me.

    Yes. As do other OSes. The user name is a unique key, so you can't
    change it without a lot of extra fannying around manually renaming >>>folders and/or re-ownershipping files.

    Deleting Documents etc I'm pretty sure is an optional event, ie it asks >>>first? I've not deleted a user in Windows for a long time though.

    It did ask and I said save them (there ere only a few files on Downloads) >>which it did.

    What concerned me was it was also "My Documents" for my new user name and >>it just ignored that and deleted all the directories!

    I don't know what that's about; not sure how you can even make a new
    user on a different name use an existing user's folders....

    It's on the D: drive but was set up "officially" by right clicking on the original directory and changing location. Perhaps it's data protection,
    Windows can't release the existence of users to each other :-)

    --
    Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
    There are 3 types of people in this world. Those who can count, and those
    who can't.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Jaimie Vandenbergh@21:1/5 to All on Fri Sep 13 14:09:16 2024
    On 13 Sep 2024 at 13:59:50 BST, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com>
    wrote:

    On 13/09/2024 in message <lkin8cFgm8dU1@mid.individual.net> Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:

    On 13 Sep 2024 at 08:23:18 BST, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com>
    wrote:

    On 12/09/2024 in message <lkha1gFa87tU1@mid.individual.net> Jaimie
    Vandenbergh wrote:

    On 11 Sep 2024 at 19:56:42 BST, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com> >>>> wrote:

    Is this really how Windows works? I've never had a PC with more than one >>>>> user before so it was all completely new to me.

    Yes. As do other OSes. The user name is a unique key, so you can't
    change it without a lot of extra fannying around manually renaming
    folders and/or re-ownershipping files.

    Deleting Documents etc I'm pretty sure is an optional event, ie it asks >>>> first? I've not deleted a user in Windows for a long time though.

    It did ask and I said save them (there ere only a few files on Downloads) >>> which it did.

    What concerned me was it was also "My Documents" for my new user name and >>> it just ignored that and deleted all the directories!

    I don't know what that's about; not sure how you can even make a new
    user on a different name use an existing user's folders....

    It's on the D: drive but was set up "officially" by right clicking on the original directory and changing location. Perhaps it's data protection, Windows can't release the existence of users to each other :-)

    Oh, manually overlapped then. I'm pretty sure MS didn't bother to think
    about that :D "undefined behaviour" I'm sure

    Cheers - Jaimie
    --
    "What we have done with PCs so far is not natural"
    - Craig Mundie, CTO Microsoft

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Jaimie Vandenbergh@21:1/5 to fred@fred-smith.co.uk on Fri Sep 13 14:10:47 2024
    On 13 Sep 2024 at 14:19:47 BST, "Abandoned Trolley"
    <fred@fred-smith.co.uk> wrote:



    I don't know what that's about; not sure how you can even make a new
    user on a different name use an existing user's folders....

    Cheers - Jaimie


    by changing the permissions in the security tab of the properties for
    the existing folder ?

    That would be to give access, but wouldn't make Windows use them as the
    2nd user's Documents etc. Jeff's explained nearby though - manual move
    of the location of the Documents folder for the 2nd user to where the
    1sts were.

    Cheers - Jaimie
    --
    I have always wished for my computer to be as easy to use
    as my telephone; my wish has come true because I can no
    longer figure out how to use my telephone
    -- Bjarne Stroustrup

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Abandoned Trolley@21:1/5 to All on Fri Sep 13 14:19:47 2024

    I don't know what that's about; not sure how you can even make a new
    user on a different name use an existing user's folders....

    Cheers - Jaimie


    by changing the permissions in the security tab of the properties for
    the existing folder ?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Philip Herlihy@21:1/5 to All on Sat Sep 14 11:40:03 2024
    In article <xn0oqp4wk63g9mj004@news.individual.net>, Jeff Gaines wrote...

    I decided to put Windows 8.1 on my Asus Z170K, it used to run it so I knew
    it would be OK.

    First problem with Ventoy in that it would only boot in UEFI mode, I think that's a problem with the ASUS in giving UEFI priority, so I had to use
    my MBR only thumbdrive.

    Big problem though was a silly mistake, I spelt my user name wrong because
    my keyboard bounces and I didn't notice until after I had installed everything and it had updated itself several times and RDP failed with
    wrong user name.

    I spent a while trying to fix it, in the end added a user with the proper name and deleted the wrong user whereupon Windows deleted "My Documents"
    and all the sub folders oblivious to the fact that my new/proper user used the same directories. Also had to re-enter 3 x app product keys because it seems they are licensed per user and not per PC which was news to me.

    Anyway in the end I thought sod it and started again with a re-format and re-install.

    Is this really how Windows works? I've never had a PC with more than one
    user before so it was all completely new to me.

    In my view every PC should have a second user, at least, as it's possible for a user profile to become corrupt, and if you only have one there is then no way to log on to fix it. I generally create an account called 'Admin', usually just a local user (though you have to provide answers to security questions like your Dentists's favourite cheese, etc, annoyingly). And in normal use the only sign there is another user is an option to click the name at the bottom left, while your sign-in screen otherwise looks the same.

    Windows will create a folder hierarchy under C:/Users for each user (and there's a "default" one, which is a template, and a "Public" one which is shared by all users.

    Oddly, Windows doesn't always name the folder the same way when you log on with an MS Account (which would always be the same, of course). I use OneNote (indispensible) a lot, and I tend to create links to folders and files within my notes. So when Windows calls me "Philip" on one system and "Phil_000" on another, the links break. What I do is create a hard link with the name I consider the 'canonical' one pointing to the corresponding folder on the current system - a "junction", made with mklink -J. That means on one system there is a junction named "Philip" which points to "Phil_000" and my links work again. Note that you can delete either (but not both) hard links and the hierarchy remains. This might conceivably have been a solution to your problem (after solving a raft of permissions issues) but in general if you bend the Windows way of doing things it'll spring back and hit you in the eye.

    --

    Phil, London

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Jaimie Vandenbergh@21:1/5 to PhillipHerlihy@SlashDevNull.invalid on Sat Sep 14 11:55:01 2024
    On 14 Sep 2024 at 11:40:03 BST, "Philip Herlihy" <PhillipHerlihy@SlashDevNull.invalid> wrote:

    So when Windows calls me "Philip" on one system and "Phil_000" on
    another, the links break. What I do is create a hard link with the name I consider the 'canonical' one pointing to the corresponding folder on the current system - a "junction", made with mklink -J. That means on one system there is a junction named "Philip" which points to "Phil_000" and my links work
    again.

    I had to do that on this Mac when I thoughtlessly created my user 'jaimievandenbergh' (which was my work username) rather than my normal
    home 'jaimie' and then imported the previous 'jaimie' account to it.
    Some of the app config files had the hardcoded /Users/jaimie/whatever
    and so I just made the link rather than doing it properly. Works fine.
    Of course now a bunch of newer configs have jaimievandenbergh in, so
    I'll have to keep doing this in perpetuity now - or buckle down and
    spend two hours fixing it :)

    Cheers - Jaimie
    --
    The truth may be out there, but the lies are inside your head.
    -- Terry Pratchett

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Jeff Gaines@21:1/5 to All on Sat Sep 14 13:00:20 2024
    On 14/09/2024 in message <MPG.414f7862e31ac9a6989ae9@news.eternal-september.org> Philip Herlihy
    wrote:

    Oddly, Windows doesn't always name the folder the same way when you log on >with
    an MS Account (which would always be the same, of course). I use OneNote >(indispensible) a lot, and I tend to create links to folders and files
    within
    my notes. So when Windows calls me "Philip" on one system and "Phil_000"
    on
    another, the links break. What I do is create a hard link with the name I >consider the 'canonical' one pointing to the corresponding folder on the >current system - a "junction", made with mklink -J. That means on one
    system
    there is a junction named "Philip" which points to "Phil_000" and my links >work
    again. Note that you can delete either (but not both) hard links and the >hierarchy remains. This might conceivably have been a solution to your >problem
    (after solving a raft of permissions issues) but in general if you bend the >Windows way of doing things it'll spring back and hit you in the eye.

    Indeed, Windows way or no way!

    I did use the "official" way of moving "My Documents" but Windows let me
    delete what was effectively another users data directory.

    Anyway I am in business now back on 8.1, just have to decide whether to
    move my latest PC over, I think it may be Win 10 only.

    --
    Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
    I was standing in the park wondering why Frisbees got bigger as they get closer.
    Then it hit me.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)