Advice sought on Running XP Home SP2 as Admin or Limited User

I am a late convert to XP after using Win 98 for the last 7 years and am
trying to come to terms with the User Account side of things particularly
from the security aspect .My new PC was set up by my supplier with myself as
the one Admin User .
However, as I have read more I have seen advice to the effect that even as a
stand alone ,single user I should use a Limited User Account for everyday
use , particularly Internet which I do use a lot.
To try this out I have now set up a new Limited User Account but I find it
very impractical for a retired person like myself who spends quite a bit of
time using the computer for a variety of things .
As I should have expected I guess ,there are a number of programs that do
not seem to work or even do not appear on the Desktop when I switch to the
Limited User . The Microsoft Works Suite and Word keep ask me Register the
Software which I already have when installed , the Quicken finance program
tells me I have a corrupted Licence so I have to switch back to use that . I
now realize too that My CA Antivirus cannot Update from the Limited User
Account .
If I were to operate from this account most of the time I also need to set
up OE again for mail and newsgroups .

To stop rambling further my Question is mainly -what is the difference
between me just using the Admin account which allows me to do everything at
the same time and the way I successfully operated as a single user on Win 98
for 7 years appears . Is XP more insecure , I would have thought the reverse
.. I may have been fortunate but during my use of Win 98 I never had any
Virus Infections nor have I encountered Spyware for which I regularly check
using a number of the well know Tools . Not to say that it cannot happen I
realize that but I try to be pretty careful .

I am tempted to go back to using just the Admin account but perhaps there is
something I have missed in all this that could help make the Limited User
Account more usable .
I would appreciate any advice from experienced XP users .

GSD


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: registry hacked under XP limited account
    ... of preventing malware from creating problems by preventing the execution to ... You touch on some recommendations for software restrictions, ... Running as limited account does VERY LITTLE to stop ... >> Malware running as limited user can do anything that you can do. ...
    (microsoft.public.security)
  • Re: I thought user security was a holy grail
    ... ' in this example the command prompt is being run as the administrator ... The next step is to save and make a shortcut in the limited user account ... > sub, "Programs" sub sub, and "Startup" sub sub sub. ... >>using an admin account. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin)
  • Re: I thought user security was a holy grail
    ... Hi Kevin, I was wondering if I could get you to contact me offline. ... > ' in this example the command prompt is being run as the administrator ... > The next step is to save and make a shortcut in the limited user ... >>>using an admin account. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin)
  • Re: Admin verses Limited Account In Outlook Express
    ... When I click a message to open it it says "Outlook Express is incorrectly ... >>> book in my Limited account nor can I open any email messages. ... >>> configued propery and to reload. ... > I would say that the default Main Identity for the limited User profile> is ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress)
  • Re: Admin verses Limited Account In Outlook Express
    ... identities that appear in the identities section belong to the limited user. ... message that was downloaded in Outlook Express. ... address book in my Limited account nor can I open any email messages. ... The email messages are downloaded but you cannot open them. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress)