power users not available after upgrade to xp pro from xp home

[csw3rd]

I have upgraded a computer from xp home to xp pro but I only have
administrator and limited user accounts available. I need to have power users
group available. How can I get that?

 

[Nepatsfan]

I have upgraded a computer from xp home to xp pro but I only have
administrator and limited user accounts available. I need to have power users
group available. How can I get that?

Right click My Computer and select Manage from the menu.
In Computer Management, click on Local Users and Groups in the left hand column.
Open the Groups folder.
In the right hand pane, right click on Power Users and select "Add to group"
from the menu.
In Power Users Properties, click on the Add button.
In Select Users, click on the Advanced button.
Click on the Find Now button.
Click on the user you wish to add to the Power Users group and click on OK
twice.
Note: If you want to add multiple users, hold down the Crtl key.

You can also open the Users folder, double click on an account, click on the
Member of tab, and add the account to a group.

You can also access the Local Users and Groups console by going to Start -> Run
and entering lusrmgr.msc in the Open box.

Good luck

Nepatsfan

 

[csw3rd]

But when I do that when I go back to the users through control panel it tells
me that it doesn't recognize the account type. How do I get the users section
show power users instead of just the limited and administrator?

 

[Nepatsfan]

The User Accounts applet in Control Panel is a basic tool that works the same in
XP Professional and XP Home Edition. You're restricted to creating accounts that
are members of the Users group (a Limited account) or the Administrators group
(a Computer Administrator). That's by design.

If an account on a system running XP Professional is a member of the Power Users
group it will be listed in User Accounts as "Unknown account type".

If you want any of the accounts on your computer to be members of the Power
Users group you have to use either the Local Users and Groups console or the net
localgroup command.

I might be able to provide a better response if you could explain what the
reason was for upgrading to XP Pro and why you need some accounts to be Power
Users.

Nepatsfan

 

[csw3rd]

I have an application that is requiring that the user be either and
administrator or power user. I have files on the computer that I dont want
the other users to have access to.

 

[Nepatsfan]

What I said earlier still holds true. The User Accounts applet in Control Panel
won't allow you to create or manage an account that's a member of the Power
Users group. You'll have to rely on the Local Users and Groups console. See the
instructions I provided in my earlier response for how that's done.

After becoming a member of the Power Users group, the account will show up in
the User Accounts applet as an Unknown account type. Take a look at the
Testpower account shown here.

http://home.comcast.net/~nepatsfan2005/User_Accounts.JPG

If you want to verify that an account is a member of the Power Users group, you
can do so by checking the "Member Of" page of the accounts properties sheet. An
alternative is to open a command prompt window (Start -> Run -> cmd.exe) and
enter the following command,

net localgroup "power users"

If you're looking for more information on this subject, you might want to open
Help and Support from your Start menu and enter Local Users and Groups concepts
in the Search box. Take a look at the information under the Suggested Topics
header. You can also do a Google search on the topic of Local Users and Groups
console.

As for restricting access to files, you're going to have to become familiar with
the concept of NTFS permissions. If you want more info on this topic, take a
look at this article for starters.

Windows XP Professional File Sharing
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_filesharing/index.htm

Good luck

Nepatsfan

 

[csw3rd]

I still have the same problem when I create a new user using the user
accounts applet in contorl panel. Unless I can set up the users properly
using the users screen and choose power user the programs will not work
properly. Is there a workaround that makes it available like a fresh install
of xp professional would have.

 

[Nepatsfan]

Even with a fresh installation of Windows XP Professional, you will not be able
to create a user account that's a member of the Power Users group with the User
Accounts applet in Control Panel. There is no workaround.

In an earlier response, I outlined the procedure for adding a user account to
the Power Users group through the Local Users and Groups console. Did you try to
follow those instructions? What happened?

Did you log on with that account and try to run the program? What happened?

Nepatsfan

 

[csw3rd]

Yes I tried what you said. The program will not run. It is a flacky program.
I talked with the software company they told me that I have to have the user
as either a power user or and administrator. You say even with a fresh
install power users would not be available. My other company has a domain and
we use the power users function on our accounts to the individual computers.
Me being stupid and all...is the reason that power users is not available now
is because the other classifications for the different types of users is only
available with a domain? And if we are going to use a peer to peer type
network using xp professional then we only have two choices from the user
accounts in control panel?

Am I close?

 

[Nepatsfan]

Since there's always the possibility that things didn't go 100% perfect when you
upgraded from XP Home Edition to XP Pro, you may find that a clean installation
of XP Pro may help solve the problem. But that doesn't mean that you'll be able
to create Power User accounts through Control Panel.

The only other advice I can think of to pass along is to get in touch with the
software developer and see if they can walk you through adding accounts to the
power users group.

And if I understand your final question correctly the power users group is
available as a local group on XP Professional and is not just reserved for use
on a domain.

Just out of curiosity, what's the name of the program you're trying to run as a
power user? Also, what's the name of the company that developed this program?

Good luck

Nepatsfan

 

[csw3rd]

The program is called Therapy Helper. www.helper.com/

 

[John John (MVP)]

Have you really tried it the proper way? To be certain enter
lusrmgr.msc in the Start Menu Run box and try adding the user to the
Power User group there.

Alternatively you can do it from the Command Prompt:

net localgroup "power users" /add "john doe"

John

 

[Nepatsfan]

FWIW, I downloaded the demo version of Therapist Helper and installed in on a
computer that's been running Windows XP Pro SP3 for some time. I had no problem
running the program while logged in with an admin account.

When I logged in with a power user account, the following error message
displayed.

"The data files could not be found. Press OK to exit Helper and launch the Data
Setup Utility. Last known error [DBISAM Engine error #11010 TABLE or backup file
'billing_parties' does not exist]"

After hitting the OK button, the Data Setup Utility appeared where I had the
option of choosing an Access Mode, Standalone or Client-Server. No matter what
choice I made the program wouldn't run.

I checked permissions on the C:\Program Files\Helper folder and found that the
Power Users group had Modify permissions. I changed that to Full Control but the
program still wouldn't run correctly.

I did a Google search on the error message that turned up nothing helpful. I
uninstalled and reinstalled the program a number of times with no change in the
behavior it displayed when launched by a power user account.

As a last resort, I decided to see how the program would behave on a fresh
installation of XP Pro SP3. Once I had the system up and running, I created a
new account and made it a member of the Power Users group. I then installed the
program and had no problem running it while logged on with the power user
account. I checked permissions on the C:\Program Files\Helper folder and found
that they were as expected, Modify for the Power Users group.

I repeated the test a second time on another fresh installation with the same
results, no problems running the program as a power user.

The only thing I can pass along is that if you absolutely, positively have to
get this software running, you might want to try backing up the data files on
the computer and performing a clean installation of XP Professional. It also
wouldn't hurt to check with the developer's support personnel and see if they
can be of any assistance.

Good luck

Nepatsfan