Hidden user account information

[Firefly]

Help!
I have three user accounts (one is the Admin one). A second is for my
husband. But I seem to have acquired a Guest user account (may have done this
accidentally?). Anyhow, my antivirus keeps telling me that this Guest account
has a weak password. I want to change the password so followed the steps to
get into this user account but find that the only option open to me is to
turn it on (it shows as off at present).

What is making the information for me to reset (or even give it) the
password unavailable on this user account? And how can I access it?

 

[Baboon]

It sounds like the Guest account is disabled, as it is by default, which
means you have nothing to worry about.

I generally use Computer Management to manage user accounts. I don't know
which version of Vista you are using, and I'm not sure if Computer Management
is available in the Home versions.

Anyway, click on the Start button, then right click on Computer and see if
you get "Manage" as an option in the drop-down list. If you do, click on
that and it will open the Computer Management snapin. In the left pane
expand Local Users and Groups, then click on the Users node. (If you don't
see Local Users and Groups, then your version of Vista doesn't include this.)
In the right pane you will see Guest listed as one of the accounts, but it
should have a red X through it if it's disabled. You should leave it
disabled, since you really don't need it for anything.

If you right click on Guest you will get other options. You could choose
"Set password" in order to give it a strong password, which would stop the
error message from your AV program. You can also choose Properties to see
other information about the account, but there is nothing else you need to
change. I only mention this FYI, as you may be interested in these options
for other accounts. For example, you could disable your husband's account.
;-)

I hope this helps.

 

[Firefly]

Thanks t-4-2. You've put my mind to rest with regard to the Guest account not
being a threat as it's turned off. Yes, I do have Norton. I have just 37
day's left before I need to renew it. Surprisingly, this 'weak password'
message has only become a recent phenomenon. So, I'll go for something else -
probably back to McFee, which is what the computer had when I purchased it.
Firefly