Why do VISTA keep track of (so many) connections

Hi,
I was amazed to discover that VISTA was keeping track of all the connections
I have made. This appears on the well hidden window reached from the
"Network and Sharing Center" if you click "Customize" at the level of your
connection (which you do not see if you are off line...), and then the
mysterious "Merge or Delete network locations", which require entering your
credentials ...

Here you see a list of all sucessful connections...

The trouble is that if you are wandering from one hot spot to another, the
list becomes very long...

What is the purpose of this ? Most of those connections will be use only
once (especially if travelling) ?

On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:34:12 -0700, Paul (Bornival)
<PaulBornival@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>Hi,
>I was amazed to discover that VISTA was keeping track of all the connections
>I have made. This appears on the well hidden window reached from the
>"Network and Sharing Center" if you click "Customize" at the level of your
>connection (which you do not see if you are off line...), and then the
>mysterious "Merge or Delete network locations", which require entering your
>credentials ...
>
>Here you see a list of all sucessful connections...
>
>The trouble is that if you are wandering from one hot spot to another, the
>list becomes very long...
>
>What is the purpose of this ? Most of those connections will be use only
>once (especially if travelling) ?

Vista keeps track of all the connections that you've made to make it
easier to connect to them in the future, without having to
re-configure them. For example, you might have connections that you
use regularly at home, at your office, and at a Wi-Fi hotspot.

If you won't be using a connection again, delete it. When you connect
to a one-time-only connection, tell Vista not to save it.

--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Thank you for your answer.
Well, I never save any connection but they still all appear where I
indicated in my original post.
Paul.

"Steve Winograd" wrote:

> On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:34:12 -0700, Paul (Bornival)
> <PaulBornival@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>
> >Hi,
> >I was amazed to discover that VISTA was keeping track of all the connections
> >I have made. This appears on the well hidden window reached from the
> >"Network and Sharing Center" if you click "Customize" at the level of your
> >connection (which you do not see if you are off line...), and then the
> >mysterious "Merge or Delete network locations", which require entering your
> >credentials ...
> >
> >Here you see a list of all sucessful connections...
> >
> >The trouble is that if you are wandering from one hot spot to another, the
> >list becomes very long...
> >
> >What is the purpose of this ? Most of those connections will be use only
> >once (especially if travelling) ?
>
> Vista keeps track of all the connections that you've made to make it
> easier to connect to them in the future, without having to
> re-configure them. For example, you might have connections that you
> use regularly at home, at your office, and at a Wi-Fi hotspot.
>
> If you won't be using a connection again, delete it. When you connect
> to a one-time-only connection, tell Vista not to save it.
>
> --
> Best Wishes,
> Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)
>
> Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
> for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
> addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.
>
> Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
>