Daily Use as Administrator

  • Thread starter Thread starter Vince
  • Start date Start date
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Vince

I have reached a conclusion that some consider daily use of the
Administrator account to be risky. I do not know/understand why.

That said, I would like to change my habits and begin to make use of
logging on under a non-Administrator account.

Can someone point me to or provide me an outline of what needs to be
done to move various folders/files that were, until the present,
generated under Administrator to another users account?

I am standalone using WinXPpro SP2. I do have the Administrator
account password protected. Two other Users are available at the
logon screen, one being Guest.

I recall making a note for a "Supervisor" password, but I have not
seen anything since that makes any reference to "Supervisor" as an
user.

Thanks.
 
You have to log in as a 3rd party that has admin rights then copy everything
from your old profile
to your new one except 3 files, ntuser.ini, ntuser.dat.log, and ntuser.dat.
You can also do it
from system properties>advanced>user profiles but that takes a long time to
complete. See this MS article http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811151


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It's my impression that the risk of using the Administrator account for daily
use is based on 2 facts:

1) This is the default account - and every machine has it on it. So, if
hackers are looking to get in your system it's a place to start for them.
(FWIW - the Guest account is just as prone - I'd suggest disabling it)

2) The default password that users put on their system is frequently too
simple (or non-existant), and is therefore, very easy for the hackers to
guess/crack.

The first thing to do is to set up a new account - with Adminstrative
privileges - for yourself. Then you're in for the time of your life with
moving stuff :(

I'd suggest only making shortcuts from your new account to the Administrator
account until you've got a handle on what you need to move. Don't try to
move any programs because you may break them in the process. If you've got
file access problems (to the files in the Administrator account) - just post
back and someone will be able to show you how.

Good Luck!
 
The Supervisor password could be the password to get into your system's BIOS
- don't throw it away yet!
 
Vince said:
I have reached a conclusion that some consider daily use of the
Administrator account to be risky. I do not know/understand why.

That said, I would like to change my habits and begin to make use of
logging on under a non-Administrator account.

Can someone point me to or provide me an outline of what needs to be
done to move various folders/files that were, until the present,
generated under Administrator to another users account?

I am standalone using WinXPpro SP2. I do have the Administrator
account password protected. Two other Users are available at the
logon screen, one being Guest.

I recall making a note for a "Supervisor" password, but I have not
seen anything since that makes any reference to "Supervisor" as an
user.

Thanks.
Click to expand...


The built-in Administrator account really isn't intended to be used
for day-to-day normal use. The standard security practice is to 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).

A wiser course of action would be to create another user account
for your daily use, as you say you've done, and copy desired the files
and settings from the Administrator account to this newly created user
profile.

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

How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811151



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Bruce Chambers

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both at once. - RAH
 
Easy way to transfer the data would be to use the file and settings transfer
wizard (start - programs - accessories - system tools).

Export settings by choosing "this is an old computer"

Import settings by logging in a running the wizard, choose "this is a new
computer"

-lewi
 
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