Administering Windows User Accounts

Windows Vista protects the information on your computer through a system of user accounts and passwords, which at one time were available only for computers that were part of a domain. Windows Vista extends this account and password system to workgroup computers so that more than one person can use the same computer. For example, if you manage your family's financial records on a home computer that is also used by your children to do their homework, you can set up separate accounts for your children so that they can't view confidential information or change your files.

The great thing about user accounts and passwords is that they help keep your information private. You can prevent other users from reading or altering your documents, pictures, music, and other files by storing them in the subfolders automatically set up under your user folder. You can share files by placing them in a Public folder or any folder outside of your user folder. (You can also specifically share the subfolders under your user folder, but you don't have to.) With Windows Vista, each user can personalize his or her own working environment and have easy access to frequently used files and applications without worrying about other people making changes to personal settings.

The user account and password system also means that Windows Vista can help you protect your computer from unauthorized changes. Windows Vista supports two levels of computer-specific privileges: Administrator and Standard. The first user account created on your computer is designated as an administrator account. This type of account has higher-level permissions than a standard account, which means that an administrator account owner can perform tasks on your computer that a standard account owner cannot.

Administrator account permissions are necessary to do things such as:

• Create, change, and delete accounts.

• Make system-wide changes.

• Install and remove programs.

• Access all files.

Tasks that require administrator permissions are indicated by a Windows security icon.

Standard account permissions allow a user to do things that affect only his or her own account, including:

• Change or remove the password.

• Change the user account picture.

• Change the theme and desktop settings.

• View files he or she created and files in the Public folders.

If you have an administrator account, it is a good idea to also create a standard account for your day-to-day computing. Logging on with a standard account will not prevent you from installing software or taking other administrator-level actions, because when Windows Vista requires administrator permissions to complete a task, it displays the User Account Control dialog box, requiring that you enter an administrator password to continue, or if you are logged on as an administrator, confirm that you want to continue the restricted task. (Any administrator can enter his or her password.) After receiving the password, Windows continues with the task.

The advantage of logging on with a standard account is that if malicious software (malware) or spyware sneaks onto your computer or if another person gains access to your computer (either in person or over the Internet) while you are logged on as a standard user, they are blocked from performing administrative tasks because they can't supply the administrator password. If you are logged on as an administrator, you have already supplied the password, leaving you vulnerable to these types of intrusions.

A computer running Windows Vista supports multiple user accounts. Every account has an associated user account name and a user account picture. Any user can change his or her own account name and picture and can create or change his or her own password; users with administrator permissions can change any user's account name and picture.

In this exercise, you will create a new user account with administrative privileges on your computer, change its privileges, and create a password. You will then delete the account. There are no practice files for this exercise.

1.	In Control Panel, under User Accounts and Family Safety, click the Add or remove user accounts task. Then in the User Account Control dialog box, if you're logged on as an administrator, click Continue. Otherwise, enter an administrator password, and click OK. Troubleshooting If you are running Windows Vista Business Edition, you have a User Accounts category rather than User Accounts And Family Safety. The steps to complete the tasks in this chapter vary slightly from those given. The Manage Accounts window opens. [View full size image]
2.	Click the Create a new account task. The Create New Account page opens. [View full size image]
3.	In the New account name box, type Angel. Select the Administrator option, and then click Create Account. Windows Vista creates a new account called Angel, and assigns a user account picture to the account, which now appears in the Manage Accounts window.
4.	In the Manage Accounts window, click Angel. The Make Changes To Angel's Account page displays the options for changing the selected account. [View full size image]
5.	Click the Change the account type task.
6.	On the Choose a new account type for Angel page, select the Standard user option, and then click Change Account Type. On the Make Changes To Angel's Account page, Standard user appears under Angel's user account name.
7.	Click the Create a password task. The Create A Password For Angel's Account page opens.
8.	In the New password box, type Meow! and then press the key to move to the next field. To ensure the secrecy of the password, the characters are displayed as dots as you type.
9.	In the Confirm new password box, retype Meow!
10.	In the Type a password hint box, type What does Angel say? [View full size image]
11.	Click Create password to save the password as part of Angel's user account profile. On the Make Changes To Angel's Account page, Password protected appears under Angel's user account type.
12.	Click the Delete the account task. Troubleshooting You cannot delete a user account while it is logged on to the computer; you must switch to that user account and log it off before you can delete it. When you delete a user account, you can choose to keep the content of selected personal folders, to ensure that you don't delete files that person might want to keep. [View full size image]
13.	Angel has not created any files that you care about, so click Delete Files. Then on the Confirm Deletion page, click Delete Account. Angel's account no longer appears among the active accounts.