master password

[John]

Hello. I don't know a lot about computers, so please forgive me.

A family member just got a laptop with the Windows Vista Home Premium
operating system. I want to put a password on it so that only family members
can use it. That is, if she accidently leaves it somewhere, I don't want
somebody to be able to turn it on and access all out files. Is there a way
to do this on Vista? I don't want passwords for each individual user as she
is a minor. That is, if need be, I want to be able to check to make sure
she's not going to any bad websites. Thank you for your assistance.

 

[oscar]

Go to: Control Panel\User Accounts and Family Safety\User Accounts

Give Administrator account a password.

Do not lose that password. If you lose the Administrator password you will
likely have to reinstall Vista. There is no easy workaround that. Make a
password recovery disc, too.

When you restart computer, the welcome screen will ask for Administrator
password.

You can also set the Wake Up from Sleep Mode to require the Administrator
password.

Users can also have their own password, but Administrator can bypass the
User password.

Go to Help and Support on your menu and get more info regarding Security,
Administrator v.s. User accounts and Passwords.

This should steer you in the right direction.

 

[John]

Ok, this should do it. Thanks.

Go to: Control Panel\User Accounts and Family Safety\User Accounts

Give Administrator account a password.

Do not lose that password. If you lose the Administrator password you will
likely have to reinstall Vista. There is no easy workaround that. Make a
password recovery disc, too.

When you restart computer, the welcome screen will ask for Administrator
password.

You can also set the Wake Up from Sleep Mode to require the Administrator
password.

Users can also have their own password, but Administrator can bypass the
User password.

Go to Help and Support on your menu and get more info regarding Security,
Administrator v.s. User accounts and Passwords.

This should steer you in the right direction.