Sharing folders between users
My current set-up is a two user computer: "my" user will refer to a password-protected user who has unlimited access to all programs and all privileges, and a "gamer" user who can only access games, internet, and printing functions. The problem I am running into is in the game save files. I originally installed everything on My user account. The Gamer user can access the games and play them, but the save files are stored differently. In order for one user to access any save files used by the other user, I need to physically copy and paste the entire SaveGame folder from one account to the other. My question is this: is there a way I can link the two folders together so that when a change one on account (say the Gamer account) is made, it is automatically made to the other account's folder (namely, My account)? I would prefer to find an automatic linking process instead of having to take the few minutes each time I want to play the game on a different user account.
October 7th, 2009 5:29am

Hi, There is no such function in settings, but we can try to use the Task Scheduler to automatically copy files from one folder to another. This may not be the smartest method but it can help do the thing. 1. Let's create such a file: c:\copyfiles\copy.cmd (folder name and file name can be changed as you like). Note: It is a command file which can be execute by Task Scheduler. 2. Right click on it, choose Edit. Input following sentence: xcopy "C:\Users\<Game account>\<folder we need to copy from>" /e /y "C:\Users\<My account>\<folder we need to copy to>" For example: xcopy "C:\Users\user1\Documents\My Received Files" /e /y "C:\Users\user2\Documents\My Received Files" This command will help copy all files and folders from "user1\Documents\My Received Files" folder to "user2\Documents\My Received Files" folder. Note: XCOPY can help copy files and folders. "/e" means copy directories and subdirectories including empty ones. "/y" is to cancel the confirm message if the copy will overwrite any file (or it may not be executed successfully). Then let's create a Task Schedule. Please start it in Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Administrative Tools and perform following steps. 1. Click Action --- Create Task. 2. In General tab, choose "Run only when user is logged on" and choose the "My Account". Change "Configure for" to "Windows 7" and check "Run with highest privileges". 3. In Triggers tab, choose "At log on" and "Specific user" --- "My Account". 4. In Actions tab, choose "Start a Program" --- Browse, choose the CMD file we just created. Click Open. 5. In Conditions tab, uncheck all boxes. 6. In Settings tab, check "If the task fails, restart every 1 minute" and "restart up to 3 times". Change "If the task is already running" to "Run a new instance in parallel". Now every time we log on My Account, it will copy files from Game Account to My Account. Important: From this settings, if we make changes in My Account, it will not be copied to Game Account. Thus if we will play the game in both accounts, in order to sync the save folder, we may need to set another task "when log on Game Account, copy files from My Account".Hope this help.
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October 7th, 2009 8:24am

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