MS ACCESS97

Can someone please help a confused soul? I want to know the proper order for the following steps (and any I might have left out ) after creating an mdb:

Create an mde
Create Groups and Users and assign permissions
Secure (mdb or mde ?)
Split the Database

Also which files should go on the clients machine to give them the app. but not the source code? I have the following files:

myapp.mdb
myapp.mde
securemyapp.mdb
myapp.bmp (splash screen)
myapp_be.mdb

One final question: Why do I have to setup the Groups and Users and their permissions on each machine? Isn't there a way to do this once and have it carry through to each installation?

TIA for any help