Accounts - Administrator or separate?

[Guest]

I am the only user of my home pc. Hence I am the Administrator.

When I switch on the pc I am automatically logged on as Administrator, with
no other accounts (except "Guest") showing.

However, I am getting confused whether this is correct (specifically in
relation to certain settings and where my active files are kept).

1. Settings
- I have been having problems with the automatic updates (e.g. Windows;
Norton; etc.). When I look in "Control Panel" "Administrative Tools"
"Services" then it shows "logon as Local System". Is this causing the problem
with not getting live updates of programs?

2. Files
- within the C: drive "Documents and Settings" I have folders for both
"Administrator"/ "Default user"/ "All Users" and "Nook" (which is me)
- all my active files (documents/ photos/ etc) are in "Nook"
- is this correct and why is it so if I am logged on as Administrator?

I am concerned that I am logging on incorrectly and thus inabling certain
functions. I was expecting to have everything under C:docs/administrator....

Appreciate any clarification....

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Nook,

I am the only user of my home pc. Hence I am the Administrator.

Not necessarily so. There is a default administrator account, and there are
administrator level accounts. In the XP Home version, the default account is
hidden once there are other administrator level accounts. This may help
explain what you are seeing.

When I switch on the pc I am automatically logged on as Administrator,
with
no other accounts (except "Guest") showing.

Not unusual if no account passwords are set up.

However, I am getting confused whether this is correct (specifically in
relation to certain settings and where my active files are kept).

A user's files are generally kept within their user profile. More on this
below.

1. Settings
- I have been having problems with the automatic updates (e.g. Windows;
Norton; etc.). When I look in "Control Panel" "Administrative Tools"
"Services" then it shows "logon as Local System". Is this causing the
problem
with not getting live updates of programs?

That allows the service to run with the appropriate level of privileges and
is quite normal. There may be a conflict (with Norton software this is all
too common) with which program is in charge of what. Try
disabling/uninstalling the Norton software to see if the Windows Update
resumes itself.

2. Files
- within the C: drive "Documents and Settings" I have folders for both
"Administrator"/ "Default user"/ "All Users" and "Nook" (which is me)
- all my active files (documents/ photos/ etc) are in "Nook"
- is this correct and why is it so if I am logged on as Administrator?

Click start/run, type %userprofile% and click ok. The folder that it opens
to is your user profile folder, and I'm betting that it's "Nook". Under here
you will also find folders (directories) for your desktop, start menu, and
"My Documents" as well as other system settings. These are the default
locations for user-defined settings and for storing files.

The "Administrator" is the default one mentioned earlier, it is generally
not used for day to day operations but rather as a fail safe for
troubleshooting the system. "Default User" is a profile created by the
manufacturer for the initial setup when you first plug the machine in, once
you create your own profile, it is used as a template. "All Users" is
exactly what its name implies, it is files, start menu items, and settings
common to all accounts. The documents folder here is all seen as the shared
documents folder.

I am concerned that I am logging on incorrectly and thus inabling certain
functions. I was expecting to have everything under
C:docs/administrator....

Hopefully I have just explained why you do not.

Appreciate any clarification....

Feel free to ask any follow up questions.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

news:[email protected]...

 

[Guest]

Follow-up questions…

Thanks for the long and “simple English†reply Rick – it clarified lots of
things. I just want to be sure I understand correctly.

Default Administrator – this is now hidden as I have created a new user
account (called “Nookâ€) with Computer Administrator rights.
- is the Default Administrator now redundant? How and when would I ever use
it?
- When I logon automatically as “Nook†can I perform all the functions of an
administrator?

User Account “Nookâ€
- when I look in “My computer†I have my usual drives and “Nook’s Documentsâ€
- this then links to C:\Documents and Settings\Lynda Forster\My Documents
(see comment below)
- Why are “Nook’s documents†always linked to the user profile/ owner of the
pc (Lynda)?

Hence under C./docs and settings I have:
- Administrator – is this is the real Default Administrator (now hidden on
login) above?
- All Users – ok understood
- Default User – ok understood
- Lynda Forster (this is my real name and the name to which the computer is
registered – sorry, I have used Nook for anonymity!) – is this what links to
“User Profile†which you explained? (I checked and my User Profile is indeed
Lynda Forster – was this set up automatically when I registered the pc?)

What I am struggling with a bit now is:
- do I continue to logon as Nook and work normally as the sole user and as
an Administrator?
- What should I be logged on as to change any important settings (e.g.
Windows and Liveupdate task scheduling)?

I disabled Norton, but Windows liveupdate is still not running (I posted
separate questions about that!):

Quote
Do I need to be logged in as the Administrator to run scheduled tasks? I am
the only user of my home pc. Hence I am the Administrator and when I switch
on the pc I am automatically logged on as Administrator.

With installed programs such as Windows or Norton Anti-Virus, do I have to
manually add them to a scheduled task list or are they automatically added as
Live Updates?

I have been having problems in that neither Windows or Norton Anti-Virus
seem to be automatically updating.

In my scheduled tasks I have added Windows and LiveUpdate (Norton). Ideally
I would just like them to run every time I am logged onto the Internet – I
typically only log on to the Internet for about 15 minutes at a time (to
send/ receive emails).

The Task Scheduler asks for “start time†(I put 06:45 as I’m often online at
that time) every day. They have “never†run.

What I am trying to find out is how to get such programs to automatically go
and look for updates every time I go online. Any ideas please?
Unquote

The problem I am having seems linked….
Should Windows/ Norton/ etc be on a task scheduler or under “Control Panel/
Performance/ Administrative Tools/ Services†(I can’t see them there either,
but I also have this question mark about “Logon as Local System†within the
“Services†and I wondered if that’s linked to Administrator logon questions?).

Sorry this email just got so long… I hope you can see the question/problem
in there!