Solved How to delete icons on a non-administrative account?

[Hoggorm]

Hi,

I've set up regular user account (not administrator) for my girlfriend on my computer.

When I install a program or a game the icon for that software appear on my girlfriends desktop as well as mine.

I've tried to log on to her user account and delete those icons to clean up her desktop since she will definitively not use those programs or games, but I'm not allowed to delete them since I need an administrator account to do so...

Now I am the administrator on my own account but how can I delete those icons on her desktop? Do I have to make it a temporary administrator account every time I want to delete an icon?

Thank you for the help.

 

[Brink]

Hello Hoggorm, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Sometimes when you install programs, it will give you an option to install for all users or only your user account. Selecting "only your user account" will have it not create shortcuts in all the other user accounts.

Since your user account is an administrator account, you should be able to open her C:\Users\(user-name) folder, click on Continue when prompted to give permission to open it, then open her Desktop folder to delete the shortcuts.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Hoggorm]

Thank you for the quick reply!

I always use the "only your user account" when I can, but it seems like a very few programs has this ability so most program still get installed for her account as well.

Since your user account is an administrator account, you should be able to open her C:\Users\(user-name) folder, click on Continue when prompted to give permission to open it, then open her Desktop folder to delete the shortcuts.

I guess I do this from my own account? I'll try this when I get back from work next week

 

[Brink]

Correct, you can do it from within your administrator account to delete them in her account.

 

[Hoggorm]

Great!

Thanks!

 

[Brink]

You're welcome. Please let us know how it went.

 

[Hoggorm]

Hi again,

Now I'm back from work and went into the Desktop folder on my girlfriends user account.

Unfortunately I only find two icons there... And both of them are icons she wants to have.

The icons I want to delete are not present here...

In my own Desktop folder though, I find all those icons as I would expect.

Any ideas?

 

[Brink]

There are two Desktop locations. You might check both for the shortcuts.

1) C:\Users\(user-name)\Desktop (shows only on specific user)

2) Hidden C:\Users\Public\Public Desktop (shows on all users)

 

[Hoggorm]

Great!

I had to move the icons from the hidden public folder to my own Desktop folder. If not I deleted the icon on both my and her desktops.

Thank you for the help!

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome.

 

[Kari]

If you install software that creates shortcut for other users, too, the shortcut is by default stored in the common desktop folder shared by every user, C:\Users\Public\Public Desktop as Brink told here above.

Just move those shortcuts you do not want present on your girlfriends desktop from that public desktop folder to your own desktop folder.

Notice that in case the shortcut is stored on public desktop also the Start Menu item is stored in public folders and visible to all users. To remove these items from other users Start Menu, copy program folder from the common Start Menu Programs folder to your own. Default locations:

• Your Start Menu Programs folder: C:\Users\Your_Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
• Common Start Menu Programs folder: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

Notice that AppData and ProgramData are hidden by default.

Kari