How do I boot to administrator?

[J Lunis]

When I boot up I am not asked for a username or password.
From Document & Settings I can access folders in
Administrator
Default User
Jay
Owner
I can not access folders in All Users.
Am I able to make changes as if I were the Administrator (I am BTW)?
Am I in Administrator mode?
If not, how do I boot to Administrator?

 

[Blackadder]

When I boot up I am not asked for a username or password.
From Document & Settings I can access folders in
Administrator
Default User
Jay
Owner
I can not access folders in All Users.
Am I able to make changes as if I were the Administrator (I am BTW)?
Am I in Administrator mode?
If not, how do I boot to Administrator?

If you can access Control Panel | User Accounts, it will tell you whether
you are an Administrator or not.

As an administrator, you should have a password. Perhaps you are using Tweak
UI or similar software to log on to your account automatically, by default?
In a word, don't! Administrators should always logon manually, and always
with a password. Only limited-user accounts should ever be allowed to logon
automatically.

Note that even if you are the only user, all the programs you run will
inherit your user account privileges -- a huge security risk if you always
logon as an administrator. You should always logon with the minimum
privileges required to carry out your work. Administrator accounts should
only be used when essential maintenance requires it. You can always Run
As...Administrator whenever you need to install programs or perform other
maintenance. It's not as convenient as running as an administrator all the
time, but it vastly reduces the risks.

 

[Clark]

In some places you can right click and select "Run as Administrator"

Otherwise, at the logon screen, hit CTRL-ALT and Del Del, not to be confused
with CTRL-ALT-DEL

As was mentioned, be careful here. You should be able to do most things as
an Administrative User (not to be confused with the actual Administrator

If you can access the other folders to which you refer, you should be able
to access the All Users.

Clark

 

[J Lunis]

If you can access Control Panel | User Accounts, it will tell you whether
you are an Administrator or not.

As an administrator, you should have a password. Perhaps you are using Tweak
UI or similar software to log on to your account automatically, by default?
In a word, don't! Administrators should always logon manually, and always
with a password. Only limited-user accounts should ever be allowed to logon
automatically.

Note that even if you are the only user, all the programs you run will
inherit your user account privileges -- a huge security risk if you always
logon as an administrator. You should always logon with the minimum
privileges required to carry out your work. Administrator accounts should
only be used when essential maintenance requires it. You can always Run
As...Administrator whenever you need to install programs or perform other
maintenance. It's not as convenient as running as an administrator all the
time, but it vastly reduces the risks.

You raise a number of questions.
Control Panel | User Accounts - I have 2 options
Jay - Computer Administrator
Guest - Guest account is on
does this mean I am logged on as guest?
TweakUI - I have heard of this. How do I know if I have it?
what are user account privileges? Do I assign these to users?
Are settings (e.g., network) different for different users?
Are specific programs available to Administrator but not others?

 

[J Lunis]

In some places you can right click and select "Run as Administrator"

Otherwise, at the logon screen, hit CTRL-ALT and Del Del, not to be confused
with CTRL-ALT-DEL

As was mentioned, be careful here. You should be able to do most things as
an Administrative User (not to be confused with the actual Administrator

If you can access the other folders to which you refer, you should be able
to access the All Users.

Clark

I should have said 'I can not access Documents folder under All Users.'
I can access all folders for other users.

 

[Clark]

When you go and click the start button, what does the log off line say? Log
off Guest or Jay, or what?

Clark

 

[Blackadder]

You raise a number of questions.
Control Panel | User Accounts - I have 2 options
Jay - Computer Administrator
Guest - Guest account is on
does this mean I am logged on as guest?

No -- it only means that you CAN log on as guest. But unless you actually
have need for a guest account, turn it off.

TweakUI - I have heard of this. How do I know if I have it?

Download the Powertoys for Windows XP from Microsoft:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

what are user account privileges?

The rights that you assigned to users and/or groups of users. Although
Control Panel only permits Administrator or Limited-User privileges, there
are many more which you can access via Control Panel | Administrative Tools
| Computer Management | Local Users and Groups. As well as the pre-set
privilieges, you can create your own.

Do I assign these to users?

Yes. Or to groups of users.

Are settings (e.g., network) different for different users?

They can be. Settings are either global or user-specific. Users can
generally change their own user-specific settings, but not global
settings -- unless their rights are sufficient enough to allow such changes.

Are specific programs available to Administrator but not others?

Again, they can be. Limited-users typically cannot install programs nor run
any programs that would affect global settings (such as REGEDIT), but the
administrator can provide specific user groups that will elevate certain
user rights, allowing them to do things they normally couldn't, such as the
NeroBurnRights group which allows limited users the right to burn files to
CD using Nero.

Since you appear to be the only user, you should set your account to that of
a limited user and include any additional rights that you may need to work
normally. Do not elevate your rights beyond what you actually need -- you
want the minimum rights. Should you need to perform maintenance (such as a
program install), use the Administrator account, or impersonate it via Run
As..Administrator.

 

[J Lunis]

No -- it only means that you CAN log on as guest. But unless you actually
have need for a guest account, turn it off.

How do I do that?

 

[J Lunis]

When you go and click the start button, what does the log off line say? Log
off Guest or Jay, or what?

Standby, turn off, restart

 

[Blackadder]

How do I do that?

Control Panel | User Accounts | Guest | Turn off the guest account.