Lastly, you can create a new local user account via the Control Panel by using the following steps:
1. Go to Start | Control Panel | User Accounts Applet and double- click the User Accounts Applet.
2. You will be asked to pick a task.You can change a current account, create a new one, or change the way a user logs off. Select Create a new user accountfrom the menu.
3. In the Type a name for the new account box, type in XPTEST.
Afterwards, click Next to continue.
4. Choose whether to create a Computer Administrator or a Limited account.The Computer Administrator account will give the new user account administrative rights.The Limited account will give the new user account rights to change their password, view files it creates, view files in the shared documents folder, and change the settings for its pro- file. Select the Computer Administrator radio button and click Create Account.You will now see the account listed under the Pick an account to change section of the User Accounts window.
Using the User Accounts Applet
Now that you have seen how to create local user accounts, let’s look at how to manage them with the User Accounts applet (see Figure 4.5) from the Control Panel.This applet provides many useful features:
■ Changing the login interface for users
■ Resetting users passwords
■ Changing the role of a user
■ Renaming an account
■ Enabling Fast User Switching
From the User Accounts window, you can create a new account or you can modify an existing account.You can also change the way users log on and off.
(See Exercise 4.4 to learn how to create a new account.) Figure 4.6 shows the logon and logoff options.
In Figure 4.6, you see two options—Use the Welcome screen and Use Fast User Switching.The Welcome screen is an alternative way of logging onto your computer. Instead of getting the normal Ctrl+Alt+Delete logon box, users are given a screen that lists the available user accounts for their machine.The user simply clicks on the user that he wishes to log on as (entering a password if needed), and he is logged on. Disabling the Welcome screen returns the Ctrl+Alt+Delete logon box.
Figure 4.5The User Accounts Applet
Enabling the Welcome screen is a requirement for Fast User Switching. Fast User Switching is a new feature in Windows XP. It is available only when your PC is in workgroup mode.You use Fast User Switching by clicking Start | Log Off. On the Log Off Windows dialog box, click Switch User.You will now be at the Welcome screen.You can log on as the same user or a different user by choosing her name from the list.
Figure 4.6Selecting Logon and Logoff Options
Logging On with Original Administrator Account
The Welcome screen and Fast User Switching are enabled by default in Workgroup mode. If you have created other accounts, you may notice that the original Administrator account is not shown on the Welcome screen as one of the available accounts. If you wish to log on as Administrator, you can press Ctrl+Alt+Delete twice, which will cause
Configuring & Implementing…
Continued
When you use Fast User Switching, users are not logged off. All of their pro- grams continue to run. XP puts their desktop in the background and allows another user to open a new desktop (similar to how Terminal Server works).You can switch back and forth between the user’s desktops without having to close all applications and save your data. Pressing the Windows logo key + L takes you directly to the Welcome screen.You may use this, for example, when you are at home writing a paper and someone else wants to check her mail.You can switch over to her desktop and let her check mail without disturbing your desktop.
Figure 4.7 shows the options available for configuring a user account.This is an easy way to manage your accounts. If you desire more options, you will need to use Local Users And Computers from within Computer Management or run lusrmgr.msc from the Run line.The options available with the User Accounts applet are listed here:
■ Change the user’s login name
■ Reset the user’s password
■ Change the icon that appears next to the user’s name on the Welcome screen and on the Start menu
the familiar login dialog box to appear. Another method for logging on as Administrator is to restart Windows XP in Safe Mode.
If you want the Administrator account to show up in the list of available accounts on the Welcome screen, you can remove all accounts from the Administrators group and add them to the users (if you are using the User Accounts Wizard, you would change their account type to Limited). When the Administrator is the only account in the Administrators group, it will show up on the list. Also, you can edit the Registry to make the Administrator account show up on the Welcome screen. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList and add DWORD Value with a name of Administrator and a value of 1.
As a security measure, you should avoid logging on to Windows XP with accounts that have administrative privileges. If you need to admin- ister your computer, you can always use the “Run As” feature, which will allow you to launch applications in the context of the Administrator account, even though you are logged in as someone else.
■ Change the account from a limited account to an Administrator account and vice versa
■ Delete the account from the local accounts database
Domain User Accounts
Before we cover what a domain user account is, you need to understand domains. In Microsoft technologies, a domain is created when you make a Windows NT or 2000 server a domain controller. Domains provide a single point of administration and a single point of logon. All domain controllers within the domain share the same database. Users can log into this database from any computer within the domain.This is different than the stand-alone machine approach we have been dealing with thus far. Now instead of users having to remember a different username and password for each machine that they log into, they can use the same account on every machine.This makes administration easier as well. Now administrators have to manage only one account.
Figure 4.7Configuring User Account Options
The process of joining a Windows XP machine to a domain creates a logical association between the machine and the domain controllers. Joining the domain creates a computer account in the domain database.This allows administrators to centrally manage your machine with the other machines joined to the domain. A common example of this is to create Group Policy Objects that apply machine set- tings to all machines in the domain.This allows administrators to apply the settings once and have them apply to all machines versus having to assign policy locally on each machine. Exercise 4.5 walks you through joining your PC to the domain.