Why shouldn't "Administrator" account be used for normal login?

[Don J]

A few days ago I saw a post that listed several websites that explained why
it was not a good idea to use the standard "Administrator" account for
normal login. On looking for the post again I cannot find it. Can anybody
list some pointers to the websites?

Don J

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[Patrick Keenan]

A few days ago I saw a post that listed several websites that explained why
it was not a good idea to use the standard "Administrator" account for
normal login. On looking for the post again I cannot find it. Can anybody
list some pointers to the websites?

Don J

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One of the reasons is that it's not that difficult, in "ordinary" use, to
damage a profile, to the point where it can't boot. If that profile
happens to be the Administrator account, you're pretty much forced to wipe
the drive and reinstall Windows to fix it.

You want to protect the Admin account so that in case of user account
failure, you do have a way to create a new user account.

It's common practice to limit user level rights, and you must not do this in
the Administrator account - as there is then no way to get them back up
again, unless you created other accounts first.. which would be the ones you
should use.

Also, in XP Home, you can *only* run the Administrator account in Safe Mode.

HTH
-pk

 

[John]

Also, in XP Home, you can *only* run the Administrator account in Safe Mode.

Really? Anything is possible with Windows.

Look at the last post in this article:
http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php/topic,44556.0.html

 

[Kayman]

A few days ago I saw a post that listed several websites that explained why
it was not a good idea to use the standard "Administrator" account for
normal login. On looking for the post again I cannot find it. Can anybody
list some pointers to the websites?

Do not work as administrator, use a Limited User Account (LUA) for
day-to-day surfing/computing.

How the right user account can help your computer security.
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/advanced/useraccount.mspx

One easy step to make Windows 100% secure
http://www.techstuff.ca/sandy/2006/11/one_easy_step_to_make_windows.php

Aaron Margosis' "Non-Admin" WebLog
http://blogs.msdn.com/aaron_margosis/pages/TOC.aspx

Running as Limited User - the Easy Way.
http://blogs.technet.com/markrussin.../02/running-as-limited-user-the-easy-way.aspx

Good luck