Making an Application Available to All Users in Windows XP

Applications installed by the Administrator in Windows XP are available to all users by default.  Applications installed by a user of the Administrator group who are not the Administrator are not.

In order to make an application available to all users, log in as the member of  the Administrator group (Exampleuser) who installed the application.  Right-click the Start button and click on Open.  The C:\Documents and Settings\Exampleuser\Start Menu folder is displayed.  Double-click the Programs folder to open it.  Locate the folder which contains the application which is to be shared and right-click it.  Select "Cut" from the context menu.  Close the Start Menu window.

Now right-click the Start button again and choose Explore All Users.  The C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu folder is displayed.  Double-click the Programs folder to open it.  Then go to Edit|Paste.  The application folder will appear in the listing and will then be available to all users of the computer.