Re: Administrator as Only User ?

newsreader@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
My pc currently has one user (user1) in addition to the Administrator.
Since I'm the only one who uses it, can I delete user1 and have it
default to Admin without any problems? I looked in the Application
Data folder for user1 and there are folders there. If I can do the
first step, will I have to reload those programs or is there a way to
automatically move them from user1 to all users?

Thanks for any help and insight.



The built-in Administrator account really isn't intended to be used for day-to-day normal use. The standard security practice is to rename the account, set a strong password on it, and use it only to create another account for regular use, reserving the Administrator account as a "back door" in case something corrupts your regular account(s).

HOW TO Create and Configure User Accounts in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;279783

Routinely using a computer with administrative privileges is not without some risk. You will be much more susceptible to some types of malware, particularly adware and spyware. While using a computer with limited privileges isn't the cure-all, silver bullet that some claim it to be, any experienced IT professional will verify that doing so definitely reduces that amount of damage and depth of penetration by the malware. If you get infected/infested while running as an administrator, the odds are much greater that any malware will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to remove with formating the hard drive and starting anew. The intruding malware will have the same privileges to all of the files on your hard drive that you do.

A technically competent user who is aware of the risks and knows how to take proper precautions can usually safely operate with administrative privileges; I do so myself. But I don't recommend it for the average computer user.


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Bruce Chambers

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