here that these shortcuts point. Favorites, Cookies, and History These folders are used by Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser to store surfing data. They are not used by alternative browsers such as Firefox or Opera, which typically store their data under "Application Data." Nethood, Printhood These folders contain the network shares and printers discovered by the user with the My Network Places applet, in the form of shortcuts. Start Menu This folder contains the shortcuts present on the same-named Desktop feature. Desktop This folder contains files and shortcuts present on the user's desktop. Application Data Provided mainly for the use of programmers, as a place to store data that is related to specific software, but which does not fall into the category of documents that a user might open directly. This folder was made necessary by Windows' best practices programming guidelines, which now prohibit the storage of temporary data of any kind in the Program Files folder. Local Settings Functionally similar to "Application Data", and contains a second subfolder of that name. It also contains the temporary files generated by Windows programs themselves, and as a result of Internet Explorer's online activities. For standalone computers the two folders are functionally similar, but on networks employing Roaming profiles, the "Local Settings" folder is not included in the profile synchronization process. Thus, data in the "Local Settings" folder will not be copied between computers when the user roams. Note Some of these subfolders are hidden from the users view in Windows Explorer. To see them you must uncheck "Hide System Folders" in the folder options. Special profiles "Default User" - Plays a role in the profile-creation process, see above. "All Users" - This profile is present mainly to answer an issue related to software installation. It provides a way for setup programs to create desktop or start-menu shortcuts which will be visible to all users of the computer, not just the user running the setup program. The Application Data section may also contain program-data common to all users. "All Users" acts purely as an information-store, it is never loaded as an active profile. "Administrator" - All versions of NT-based Windows have an administrator account and corresponding profile, although on XP this account may only be visible on the logon screen if the computer is started in safe mode. In Windows Vista, it is disabled by default. History and origin Historically, the Windows