Re: Redundant user group settings



"Leonard Grey" wrote:

For a full explanation of the purpose of those accounts, I suggest an
internet search. But here it is in a nutshell:

There are only two types of user account: 1) accounts that you create
and 2) the Guest account.

Since many people don't understand how to create their user account, an
OEM will often do this for you automatically, and call it something like
Owner. You never have to activate the Guest account, if you don't need it.

All the other 'accounts' that you see are not user accounts, but system
accounts that are used by Windows for specific purposes. There is no
login for these accounts. You should just ignore them.

One special system account that you should be aware of the the built-in
Administrator account. You should never use this account for your
day-to-day computing. The built-in Administrator account is your
lifeline in case you run into serious trouble.
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

NCBill39 wrote:
I've just bought a new computer with XP Pro. I've used XP for years and have
always been curious as to why there are so many user account files
(Administrator, All Users, Default User, MyName, etc.) I am content to have
only one account for anyone who uses the computer and I would like to get rid
of all the clutter from the extra accounts. I can get it down to "Guest" and
"MyName" as an administrator, but that doesn't get rid of all users, default
user, etc.

Then when I add an application, I can never tell where it is going to end up
- sometimes it goes in the administrator account, sometimes in myname,
sometimes in default user, etc.

How can I get it down to one, or two at most, accounts?


Well, I sort of understood most of that already. I do appreciate the
comment about the Administrator account lifeline. But I guess the main
message is that it is better to put up with all the extra clutter than it is
to delete any of it.

I just wish I had some way to predict where an item will go when I add it
-e.g., an application, for example. Sometimes it ends up in my account,
sometimes in another user account (all users, default user, etc)
.

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