Please advise if the computer administartor password used to log on to
windows may be different from the password that is used to log on to a
network server and internet connection. Right now, I am using the same
passwords for all the above-mentioned and I would only need to keep in a
password once at Window log-in without need to key in further passoword for
accessing the server. But I would now want different passwords. I am worried
that any wrong change may cause inability to log on to the computer again.
Please help urgently!

Computer Administrator query wrote:
> Please advise if the computer administartor password used to log on to
> windows may be different from the password that is used to log on to a
> network server and internet connection.


Certainly. In fact, from a security point of view, they should be.
The built-in Administrator account really was never intended to be used
for day-to-day normal use. The standard security practice is to rename
the account, set a strong password on it, and use it only to create
another account for regular use, reserving the Administrator account as
a "back door" in case something corrupts your regular account(s).

Routinely using a computer with administrative privileges is not
without some risk. You will be much more susceptible to some types of
malware, particularly adware and spyware. While using a computer with
limited privileges isn't the cure-all, silver bullet that some claim it
to be, any experienced IT professional will verify that doing so
definitely reduces that amount of damage and depth of penetration by the
malware. If you get infected/infested while running as an
administrator, the odds are much greater that any malware will be
extremely difficult, if not impossible, to remove with formating the
hard drive and starting anew. The intruding malware will have the same
privileges to all of the files on your hard drive that you do.

A technically competent user who is aware of the risks and knows
how to take proper precautions can usually safely operate with
administrative privileges; I do so myself. I simply don't recommend it
for the average computer user.


> Right now, I am using the same
> passwords for all the above-mentioned and I would only need to keep in a
> password once at Window log-in without need to key in further passoword for
> accessing the server. But I would now want different passwords. I am worried
> that any wrong change may cause inability to log on to the computer again.
> Please help urgently!


HOW TO Create and Configure User Accounts in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;279783



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Bruce Chambers

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