Installing Programs to One User Only

On older Windows OS's, I've had no trouble using separate user accounts. When I install a program (actual software, not a Windows Store app) on one, it doesn't show up on another user account. Until now.

My wife and I just bought a desktop to share and everything I install shows up on her user account. I've made us both standard users, but stuff keeps showing up. She's a local user and I'm a Live (or whatever they're calling it now) user account. I've tried changing the directory of the installation to just my user folder, but it still shows up on her desktop (just as a generic icon, not the actual icon associated with the program on my user account).

What the heck? Is this a new Windows feature I'm supposed to love or am I missing something?

To make things even weirder, she installed Word on hers and it doesn't show up on mine. But everything else is shared between us and I don't understand why.

Hello and welcome to the TenForums :)

When you install a program the locations of shortcuts and menu items are often dictated by the original programmer and you may not get the option of altering these during the installation. They can be influenced by what type of account you have as well.

The program will be there for all users, you just might need to look in the Program Files folders and copy the shortcut or make a new shortcut.

This is the location where the shared program shortcuts should end up: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

Individual users shortcuts end up in the AppData folder: C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

You can move the shortcuts around if you want to change the way they appear in your two accounts, but you would need to be in an administrator account to be able to do this.

Hope this helps.

Thank you, I'll give that a shot when I get home. I don't mind tinkering with things when I install them, but she's not the type to want to do anything. I'm trying to make things as unobtrusive as possible for her. I'll let you know if it does the trick!

philc43 said:

The program will be there for all users, you just might need to look in the Program Files folders and copy the shortcut or make a new shortcut. This is the location where the shared program shortcuts should end up: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs Individual users shortcuts end up in the AppData folder: C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs You can move the shortcuts around if you want to change the way they appear in your two accounts, but you would need to be in an administrator account to be able to do this. Hope this helps.

Maybe there are different kinds of shortcuts, but the ones I've encountered lately for "shared" programs have gone into C:\Users\Public\Desktop. To give these shortcuts to just one user I move them to C:\Users\userid\Desktop And by the way, even though the path to the public desktop folder ends in "Desktop", it displays as "Public Desktop". I have no idea why.

pokeefe0001 said:

Maybe there are different kinds of shortcuts, but the ones I've encountered lately for "shared" programs have gone into C:\Users\Public\Desktop. To give these shortcuts to just one user I move them to C:\Users\userid\Desktop And by the way, even though the path to the public desktop folder ends in "Desktop", it displays as "Public Desktop". I have no idea why.

The desktop shortcuts are different and are optionally added during the installation process. The locations you have provided are correct for these. The shortcuts I was referring to are the entries that appear in the start menu under All Apps.

The solution that worked for me was this: when installing I would look for an advanced option and de-select "create desktop shortcut." Then I would go into the folder and create a shortcut on my desktop. Kind of a clunky work-around but it does the trick. Thanks, guys!