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User Accounts in Vista HP

Started by mbaldw, April 22, 2009, 16:15 hrs

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mbaldw

Hi folks,

I'm setting up a PC for a colleague and want to set her up with a limited account for her everyday activities on the PC. Am I correct in thinking that the best course of action is to create an Admin account, install all the software and then convert the account to a limited user (I believe this solves many of the problems of having reduced access for running programs)? I presume if I then create another Admin account, I won't have to reinstall all the software over again under that profile?

The PC is running Vista Home Premium (SP1).

Cheers,
Marc.

Mark H

That is how I usually set up accounts. Just make sure you have an administrator account that you are not changing. Use that administrator account to create a 2nd administrator. You can then log as the 2nd administrator and install all of your programs and then convert it to a limited user. You will need to log off and then back on for the account change to take affect.

Mark H
Enjoy the nature that is around you rather than destroying it.

scuzzy

Yes, this is an excellent way to setup any computer to include your own.
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mbaldw

Thanks for the info Mark.   At the moment, I have the main admin account that was setup when I initially configured Windows (it's the only account on the PC at the moment).   Am I better off creating a second admin account and re-installing all the software before converting it to a standard account, rather than creating a 2nd admin account and converting the 1st admin (which already has all the software - Nero, Office etc.) installed to a standard account?   Since the admin account will only be used for installing and configuring the PC, it doesn't need to have all the software installed, so converting the existing (1st admin) account might save me some time?

Also, I presume that, provided you log off each user in tern (rather than switching users) there shouldn't be any issues with performance on a system with multiple user accounts (only increased disk space usage to hold each user's settings)?

Cheers,
Marc.

Mark H

I would not convert your only admin account. You should always have an admin account along with your limited account. Create the new account as a 2nd administrative account and reinstall software as needed. You won't have to install all the software since most of it will probably work just fine.

In the future, always create 2 admin accounts before installing software and then change the 2nd admin account to a limited account.

You are correct in that if you have one user logged in, it doesn't affect your performance if you have other user accounts available. It is only disk space.

Mark H
Enjoy the nature that is around you rather than destroying it.