how many users do I have to have?

[SusanJ]

I recently had massive virus problems and reloaded XP. Now I'm slowly
reinstalling my applications, trying to get all my hardware to work, and
trying to understand a bit more about how XP actually works.

I'm the only one who uses my computer, and I don't see the need of any more
than one user. When I look at Documents and Settings now, post-reload, I see:

Administrator
All Users
Default User (grayed-out, as a system file I suppose)
Susan

When I look at Documents and Settings from a pre-reload backup, I see:

Administrator
All Users
Default User (grayed-out, as a system file I suppose)
Owner

On my newly loaded current setup, can I get rid of my "Susan" user and just
use "Administrator"? I read somewhere that if I delete a user, I'll have a
chance to save any files from that user -- is that right? Is there any
downside to deleting "Susan"? Pre-reload, I thought I just had the one
Administrator user -- not sure what "Owner" was...

Thanks for any advice / insight --

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I recently had massive virus problems and reloaded XP. Now I'm slowly
reinstalling my applications, trying to get all my hardware to work, and
trying to understand a bit more about how XP actually works.

I'm the only one who uses my computer, and I don't see the need of any more
than one user. When I look at Documents and Settings now, post-reload, I see:

Administrator
All Users
Default User (grayed-out, as a system file I suppose)
Susan

When I look at Documents and Settings from a pre-reload backup, I see:

Administrator

Profile for the built-in Administrator account, which cannot be deleted.

All Users

System file used to apply common settings to multiple user accounts,
should they ever be created.

Default User (grayed-out, as a system file I suppose)
Correct.

Owner

Default user profile created by some OEMs, usually used by the first
user account created during Windows installation and set up.

On my newly loaded current setup, can I get rid of my "Susan" user and just
use "Administrator"?

Not very wise.

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. But I certainly don't
recommend it for the average computer user.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, the built-in Administrator
account 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).

I read somewhere that if I delete a user, I'll have a
chance to save any files from that user -- is that right?

It's supposed to work that way, but it's be wiser to manually back up
any data first, just in case.






--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

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~ Denis Diderot

 

[SusanJ]

Thanks, Bruce Chambers & DadiOH.

I guess I'll keep Susan & be Susan except when being Susan isn't enough