Re: What's the difference between User Accounts and User Accounts2 (userpasswords2)

From: Roger Abell (mvpNOSpam_at_asu.edu)
Date: 11/23/03

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    As I recall, late in the beta they changed from having
    three levels of non-guest account to have only the two
    (admin and limited/restricted).
    At that point, the control userpasswords2 interface became
    "wrong" for Home, but not for Pro where Power Users was
    left as a defined group (just not surfaced in the control panel
    applet).

    Somehow they overlooked the switch for automatic login,
    leaving it only in the pwd 2 interface. However, when a
    person changes an account using that interface to no longer
    be a limited account and also makes it not an admin account
    then the account effectively disappears from all interfaces.
    There is no UI way to select it so that it can be made a member
    of Users (at which point it becomes again visible in the UI
    interfaces). When someone falls into this trap the route out is
    net localgroup Users accountname /add

    This is one of those places where there is no right/wrong.
    There is just history of how it is, and pragmatics of what to do. 

    -- 
Roger Abell
Microsoft MVP (Windows Server System: Security)
MCSE (W2k3,W2k,Nt4)  MCDBA
"Wesley VogelX" <123WVogel955@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:9KRvb.210832$ao4.749658@attbi_s51...
> Hi Roger;
>     That is all well and good.  Which MS "rule" takes precedence?
>
>  From KB817365
> [The userpasswords2 applet should not be used on WINDOWS XP Home Edition
as a
> tool to edit or modify users.  It is reserved for WINDOWS XP Professional
> Edition. The reason for this is that userpasswords2 allows the user to
access to
> the 'Power Users' group which doesn't exist on WINDOWS XP Home Edition.]
>
> Local Users and Groups (Local)
> [This computer is running Windows XP Home Edition.  This snapin may not be
used
> with that version of Windows.  To manage user accounts for this computer,
use
> the User Accounts tool
> in the Control Panel]
>     That is [control userpasswords]
>
> From KB315231
> [You can also use the following steps to enable automatic logon without
editing
> the registry in Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional (not
joined
> to a domain):
> Click Start, and then click Run.
> In the Open box, type control userpasswords2, and then click OK.
> In the dialog box that appears, clear the Users must enter a user name and
> password to use this computer check box, and then click OK.]
>
>     Or you can:
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
> Value:  AutoAdminLogon
> Type:  REG_SZ
> Data:  1
>
>     I don't know which MS "rule" would take precedence, so if someone does
not
> wish to edit the Registry, I would propose:
> TweakUI
> Logon
> Autologon
> Log on automatically at system startup
> User name: XXXXXXXX
> Description
> Check the "Log on automatically at system startup" box to bypass the
initial
> logon dialog box by using the values provided above.
> The password is stored in encrypted form.
> To suppress autologon, hold the shift key while the system is starting.
> ---
> Wes
>
> In news:uiMKWCNsDHA.556@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl,
> Roger Abell <mvpNOSpam@asu.edu> hunted and pecked at the keyboard:
> > There seems to be one checkbox, for enabling/disabling automatic
> > login, which is mentioned in the Help system as being in User Accounts,
> > but which is available only in the pwds 2 interface.
> >
> >> Kent;
> >>     I don't quite understand what you mean by ["control userpasswords2"
is
> >> the 2K version.]
> >> I missed the part about being on a network.  On a stand alone machine,
with
> >> XP Home.
> >> control userpasswords2 Brings up User Accounts, the one you would get
from My
> >> Computer/Manage/Local Users and Groups.
> >> --
> >> From KB817365
> >> [The userpasswords2 applet should not be used on WINDOWS XP Home
Edition as a
> >> tool to edit or modify users.  It is reserved for WINDOWS XP
Professional
> >> Edition. The reason for this is that userpasswords2 allows the user to
> >> access to the 'Power Users' group which doesn't exist on WINDOWS XP
Home
> >>     Edition.] Interesting, I see people recommending using
userpasswords2
> >> all the time without regard to which version a user has.
> >> --
> >> control userpasswords Brings up User Accounts, the one you get from
Control
> >> Panel/User Accounts.  This also brings up mshta.exe = Microsoft (R)
HTML
> >> Application host.
> >> --
> >> Wes
> >>
> >> In news:%23KloEx%23rDHA.4060@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl,
> >> Kent W. England [MVP] <kwe@mvps.org> hunted and pecked at the keyboard:
> >> > User Accounts is the XP version and "control userpasswords2" is the
2K
> >> > version. They sure look different to me on a stand-alone computer.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > "Mike Matheny" <mikematheny@swbelldotnet> wrote in
> >> > message news:eQTNKw7rDHA.540@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> >> >> They both look identical to me (XP Pro part of a Win2K3 domain)
>
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