Why did Microsoft bury my files in a folder three levels deep? Vista has been designed from the ground up for computer sharing . It's ideal for any situation where different family members , students, or workers share the same PC. Each person who uses the computer will turn on the machine to find his own separate desktop picture, set of files, Web bookmarks, font collection, and preference settings. (You'll find much more about this feature in Chapter 15.) If you're the only one who uses this PC, finesimply ignore the sharing features. But in its little software head, Vista still considers you an account holder, and stands ready to accommodate any others who should come along. In any case, now you should see the importance of the Users folder in the main hard drive window. Inside are foldersthe Personal foldersnamed for the different people who use this PC. In general, nobody is allowed to touch what's inside anybody else's folder. If you're the sole proprietor of the machine, of course, there's only one Personal folder in the Users foldernamed for you. (You can ignore the Public folder, which is described on Section 16.4.2.) This is only the first of many examples in which Vista imposes a fairly rigid folder structure. Still, the approach has its advantages. By keeping such tight control over which files go where, Vista keeps itself pureand very, very stable. (Other operating systems known for their stability, such as Windows 2000 and Mac OS X, work the same way.) Furthermore, keeping all of your stuff in a single folder makes it very easy for you to back up your work. It also makes life easier when you try to connect to your machine from elsewhere in the office (over the network), as described in Chapter 16. |