Purpose of User Account in an Exclusive Environment

[Guest]

I would like to know if it is advantagious to setup a User Account on a Home
based PC, being that I am the only user of the PC. I can see the Pros and
Cons in a Corporate Infrustruce, as well as, a family environment with
multiple Users, however, nothing that I have seen or read up on thus far
gives any feedback for a User in my situation. If the only advantage is to
stop OS corruption, I am the only User, so, I have the Administrator
password, I can install any application I choose anyway. Would I have better
protection from the outside world? Would I have better performance of the PC?
I am running WinXP MCE 2005 and my ISP is Verizon. I believe I am protected
by my ISP, so, the only thing I believe it would benefit me would be from
corruption of the OS, which, as I already stated, I have the Administrator
password, so, I have complete control of the OS as it is. Am I more exposed
to Viruses, Spyware, Adware and Malware as an Administrator in my
environment, as opposed to a User Account? And would I have better PC
performance without all the Administrator services? I believe I can adjust
those settings to accomodate me and what I use my PC to do. I haven't found
anything to address this situation, please advise or point me in a more
resourcefull direction.
Thanks,
Mike

 

[B. Nice]

I would like to know if it is advantagious to setup a User Account on a Home
based PC, being that I am the only user of the PC.

I assume you mean a limited user account. It is.

I can see the Pros and Cons in a Corporate Infrustruce, as well as,
a family environment with multiple Users, however, nothing that I have
seen or read up on thus far gives any feedback for a User in my situation.

If the only advantage is to stop OS corruption, I am the only User, so, I have the Administrator
password, I can install any application I choose anyway.

Yes - and that (installing applications and other legitimate stuff) is
what the administrator account is for.

But how about accidentally running into exploits for vulnerabilities
in your software? Or by accident running something that turns out to
be a malware?

Would I have better protection from the outside world?

Depends on what you mean by that.

Would I have better performance of the PC?

Probably not.

I am running WinXP MCE 2005 and my ISP is Verizon. I believe I am protected
by my ISP,

What protection does your ISP provide?

so, the only thing I believe it would benefit me would be from
corruption of the OS, which, as I already stated, I have the Administrator
password, so, I have complete control of the OS as it is.

Yes - and so has any code you allow to run. And that's the problem.

Am I more exposed to Viruses, Spyware, Adware and Malware as an Administrator in my
environment, as opposed to a User Account?

No. But the chance that they will do serious damage it limited.

And would I have better PC performance without all the Administrator services? I believe I can adjust
those settings to accomodate me and what I use my PC to do. I haven't found
anything to address this situation, please advise or point me in a more
resourcefull direction.

"Why you should'nt run as admin..":
http://blogs.msdn.com/aaron_margosis/archive/2004/06/17/157962.aspx

More posts on the same topic:
http://blogs.msdn.com/aaron_margosis/archive/2005/04/18/TableOfContents.aspx

I especially like his statement that if your protective software
requires you to run as admin you are better off running as a
restricted user without it.

 

[Gordon]

I would like to know if it is advantagious to setup a User Account on a
Home based PC, being that I am the only user of the PC. I can see the Pros
and Cons in a Corporate Infrustruce, as well as, a family environment with
multiple Users, however, nothing that I have seen or read up on thus far
gives any feedback for a User in my situation. If the only advantage is
to stop OS corruption, I am the only User, so, I have the Administrator
password,

If by that you mean that you use the built-in administrator account as your
day-to-day running account, then think again.

Please be aware that it is VERY BAD PRACTICE to use the built-in
Administrator account on a day-to-day basis and as your only account on the
computer. If the account gets corrupted, as it may well do, then your ONLY
way into the machine is by doing a repair install of XP. set up a User
account and give that Admin rights for daily use, leaving the built-in
Administrator account for emergency access only.

 

[Mike]

B. Nice,
Actually his blogs are exactly where I have been reading up on things. I
found them while trying to get my profile back after a Repair Install. I was
amazed as to the difficulty involved, but I was able to get my profile back.
And I became interested in that process and stumbled onto his view on the
Limited User Account, where my hangup is the Domain Name using the runas and
makemeadmin tools. Would that just be my Computer Name, I don't belong to a
Domain? I will be continuing to gain as much knowledge as I can from his
blogs and I thank you for your help.
Mike

 

[Mike]

Gordon,
I have never used the built in Administrator account, however, I did create
a password for it in the Local Users and Groups.
Mike

 

[Gordon]

Gordon,
I have never used the built in Administrator account,

Great! just checking....

however, I did
create a password for it in the Local Users and Groups.
Mike

even better!