User account renaming question

[gamefan72]

Hi. I just got a new computer w/ Vista. I guess the first time I
turned it on, it asked me for my first name etc. Later on, I changed
the master (administrator) account to both mine AND my wife's name,
since its our computer and we'll be the only ones using it. However,
when I go to C/users, it still says my first name only for that folder
(while it says both our names in the start menu). And there is no way
to rename the folder under C with just my name. Its sort of hard to
explain, but the computer is using my name alone and my name/my wife's
name interchangeably now. And there's only one user account created
on the system. Its not a huge deal, but I could see it creating
confusion down the road. Please help! Thanks.

 

[Malke]

Hi. I just got a new computer w/ Vista. I guess the first time I
turned it on, it asked me for my first name etc. Later on, I changed
the master (administrator) account to both mine AND my wife's name,
since its our computer and we'll be the only ones using it. However,
when I go to C/users, it still says my first name only for that folder
(while it says both our names in the start menu). And there is no way
to rename the folder under C with just my name. Its sort of hard to
explain, but the computer is using my name alone and my name/my wife's
name interchangeably now. And there's only one user account created
on the system. Its not a huge deal, but I could see it creating
confusion down the road. Please help! Thanks.

You cannot just rename a user account. Create new ones with the naming
scheme you want. Since it is a good idea to have more than one user
account with administrative privileges for emergencies, you might just
want to keep the extra one you made. With Vista, you can normally do
your day-to-day work with a Standard user account and that's what you
should create.


Malke

 

[Charlie42]

However,
when I go to C/users, it still says my first name only for that folder
(while it says both our names in the start menu). And there is no way
to rename the folder under C with just my name. Its sort of hard to
explain, but the computer is using my name alone and my name/my wife's
name interchangeably now.

When you change the name of your user account, Vista doesn't change the name
of the actual folder. I guess the only way to do that, would be to create a
new account with the name you want, move your files to the new account, and
then delete the old one.

And there's only one user account created
on the system.

For security's sake, you should have at least two accounts - one
administrator, and one user account for every day use. You don't want to run
with admin privileges all the time, it makes your system more exposed to
malware.

Charlie42

 

[gamefan72]

When you change the name of your user account, Vista doesn't change the name
of the actual folder. I guess the only way to do that, would be to create a
new account with the name you want, move your files to the new account, and
then delete the old one.


For security's sake, you should have at least two accounts - one
administrator, and one user account for every day use. You don't want to run
with admin privileges all the time, it makes your system more exposed to
malware.

Charlie42

Thank you, both Charlie & Malke. I am taking your advice. I'm
changing the administrator acct back to just my name, which is what
the folder for that acct has read all along. And, I am creating a new
standard acct with just my wife's name. This way, I have one
administrator and one standard AND each of us can have our own
deskptop setting, etc. Works for me.

Thanks again.

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?JethroUK=A9?=]

A little tip i learned to protect your system

Set up a normal user account for yourself
Set up a normal user account for your wife
Set up an administrator account called 'install' (whatever)

For day-2-day usage when you logon as normal user your system is virtually
bullet-proof against any kind of attacks since you don't have permission to
install anything

Whenever you need to install something legitimately you simply logon to your
'install' account - install it - log back into your normal account

 

[gamefan72]

A little tip i learned to protect your system

Set up a normal user account for yourself
Set up a normal user account for your wife
Set up an administrator account called 'install' (whatever)

For day-2-day usage when you logon as normal user your system is virtually
bullet-proof against any kind of attacks since you don't have permission to
install anything

Whenever you need to install something legitimately you simply logon to your
'install' account - install it - log back into your normal account







- Show quoted text -

Excellent suggestion. Right after I read it, I went ahead and did just
that. Now, I have a normal user acct, the wife has a normal user acct,
and there is one administrator account, which I have given a generic
name. The only time I am going to use that one is to install stuff,
etc. Definitely not for getting online. Thank you!!

 

[Charlie42]

A little tip i learned to protect your system

Whenever you need to install something legitimately you simply logon to
your 'install' account - install it - log back into your normal account

That's sound advice. Also remember that in most cases you can install
programs from your standard user account, just type in your admin password
when you're prompted for it.

Charlie42

 

[gamefan72]

That's sound advice. Also remember that in most cases you can install
programs from your standard user account, just type in your admin password
when you're prompted for it.

Charlie42

Which leads me to another question. If I were surfing the net on a
standard user account and somebody was trying to hack in and install a
program on my system, would the administrator password box suddenly
pop up on my screen?

 

[Charlie42]

On Sep 17, 7:04?am, "Charlie42" <[email protected]> wrote:

Which leads me to another question. If I were surfing the net on a
standard user account and somebody was trying to hack in and install a
program on my system, would the administrator password box suddenly
pop up on my screen?

Vista's User Account Control (UAC) is intended to do that, yes. Even if you
run as an administrator, you will be prompted to approve installations.

Charlie42

 

[gamefan72]

Vista's User Account Control (UAC) is intended to do that, yes. Even if you
run as an administrator, you will be prompted to approve installations.

Charlie42

Interesting. And good to know. Thanks. This group has been very
helpful in getting me off on the right foot w/ Vista. I hear a lot of
people knocking Vista, but so far I think it is great. Then again, I
am coming straight from Windows 98.