User accounts

[Judy Bednar]

Similar things have been asked here, but hasn't answered my question.

Someone else has installed XPPro (had to replace my hard drive). I am the
sole user of this PC. I have asked that no password be entered, to simplify
logging on, but since been told that it would be more secure (while on line)
if I still had a passworded admin account and became a "power user"

This is where my problems start. I seem to have two admin accounts, but
when I log on, I don't get asked which one I want. When I install a new
program, it doesn't ask whether I want "all users" to use it, or just the
current user (who is one of the admins, anyway) However, a few programs
just don't want ot open. When I want to open it the "run as" window opens
and I have to untick the "protect my computer and data from unauthorized
program activity" every time I want to use it. The "current user" is
"Judy"(that *is* an admin account)

If I try to change the user, it asks for a password (which I don't have) and
then I get an error message telling me that "The parameter is incorrect."

If I go to Control Panel, User Accounts, there is only one user there (Judy)
plus an inactive "Guest". Yet, in Explorer, I have SIX!

There is:
Administrator
All Users
Default User
Judy
LocalService
NetworkService

I followed the instructions Michael Solomon gave to a few other users, but
it hasn't helped (unless one needs to reboot first, I haven't done that yet)
________________

Note, file ownership and permissions supersede administrator rights. How

you resolve it depends upon which version of XP you are running.
XP-Pro

If you have XP Pro, temporarily change the limited account to

administrative.

(in my case, I don't seem to have any limited accounts)

First, go to Windows Explorer, go to Tools, select Folder

Options, go to the View tab and be sure "Use Simple File Sharing" is not
selected. If it is, deselect it and click apply and ok.

(just checked, it *was* ticked, just unticked it, made no difference. I
will see what happens after reboot)

If you wish everything in a specific folder to be accessible to a user,

right click the folder, select properties, go to the Security tab, click
Advanced, go to the Owner tab,

(don't have an owner tab - only Administrator & Judy (current user)

select the user you wish to have access, at the bottom of the box, you

should see a check box for "Replace owner on subcontainers and objects,"
place a check in the box and click apply and ok.

(I don't see this option)

The user should now be able to perform necessary functions on files in the

folder even as a limited account. If not, make it an admin account again,
right click the folder, select Properties, go to the Security tab and be
sure the user is listed in the user list. If not, click add and type the
user name in the appropriate box, be sure the user has all the necessary
permissions checked in the permission list below the user list, click apply
and ok.

That should do it and allow whatever access you desire for that folder even

in a limited account.
_____


(Under Properties/Security, I have Administrators, Judy and System. All
three have "allow" under persmission entries. FWIW, "Administators" and
"System" have two faces as an icon, Judy only has one)

Also, can you please tell me what exactly is "Use Simple File Sharing"?
Should I leave it
unticked or change it back once/if I fixed the problem?

I have considered setting up yet another "Administrator" *with* a password
and getting rid of all the others, but not sure how to do that, without
getting into an even bigger mess.

Or, I have considered reformatting yet again, but first I need to understand
all this "Administrator", "Power User" etc. stuff. No point re-doing it if
I don't know what I'm doing. Oh, to get back my good old 98SE that I
understood backwards. :-(

--
Cheers,

Judy

The only thing shorter than a weekend is a vacation.

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

If one of the Admin accounts is named "Administrator," that's the hidden
system admin account and usually doesn't appear on the welcome screen.

Application installation is a different issue from file ownership.

Most applications weren't designed for this type of multi-user environment
and as such won't ask or offer the option with regard to which users can
have access.
Such applications need to be installed in each specific user's account to
whom you wish to grant access.

First, be sure the account to which you wish to grant access is set to
administrator and not limited. Install the applications to the same folder
in which it was originally installed. This will look the same as one
install on your hard drive but create the pointers necessary for this user
to have access to the application.

Once the installation is complete, you can return the account to its limited
status if that is what you want and the user should still have access.