How to create personal accounts in Windows XP and Vista

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To prevent the members of your family to drive a wedge in your PC, only one solution: set an account for each user.

Arrangement of furniture, decoration, shelving ... In a house or apartment, each has a bedroom in which he is "free" to organize their personal space. Theoretically, it would come to anyone's mind to go put the clothes in the large closets of Dad. Well, for a family computer, it's almost the same thing.

In contrast the storage spaces are virtual and therefore more difficult to grasp. If you do not want your older stores its file in your MP3 reserved for confidential letters, or worse, he accidentally erases some of your files secret defense should organize your PC with a specific each.

Fortunately, Windows (XP and Vista) enables all to live in peace on the same computer with the system of accounts. In fact, each user can have a custom PC with a screen, files, messaging software to it. It is as if each family had its own Windows. To share serenely your PC, follow the guide.

Create an account for each user

Windows can create three types of accounts: Administrator, Limited (XP) or Standard (Vista) and guest. The ideal is, as we suggest, to create an account for each user: the two parents and each child's home. In addition, you can create a Guest account which will serve, for example, in one of your friends to get time on the Internet. What he must remember is that only the Administrator is able to fully manage the computer.

In other words, to create, modify or delete an account (whatever it is), to install or uninstall a program or to change the system in depth, it must do that from such an account. This does not prevent the use for you or your spouse, accounts Standards (Vista) or Limited (XP) with only limited privileges. This will limit the damage if a virus were to be installed on your machine and it will not have all the rights of the administrator.

The Administrator account
The user of this account has all rights, it can install and uninstall programs on your PC, change system settings, create, edit or delete the accounts of other users. To create this account, go to the Start menu, then Control Panel. In the new window, click User Accounts.

With Windows XP
In the Pick a task ..., click Create a new account. Type, eg first name in the Enter the new account name. Click Next.
In the new window, select Administrator. Validate by clicking on Create Account.

With Vista
In the User Accounts window, click Manage another account. In the new window, choose Create a new account. In the field provided, type the user name, select Administrator, and then confirm by clicking Create an account.

The Limited (XP) or Standard (Vista)
The user of this type of account has no administrative privileges. For example, it can not install and uninstall programs on your PC. The procedure is similar to creating an Administrator account, the difference that you have the option Limited (with XP), or Standard User (with Vista), when you register the name.

The Guest account
This type of account is ideal for a guest who needs, for example, surf the Internet or to download the pictures of his USB key. With XP, in Control Panel, under User Accounts, click the Edit an account on the Guest account to activate it. With Vista, the window includes all existing accounts, click the Guest Account, then click the Activate button.

Delete unnecessary accounts or rename existing accounts

Just as when creating an account, only an administrator can delete the existing accounts. Open the User Accounts to delete an account (with XP or Vista). Click on the name of the account to delete and then in the window that appears, choose Delete the account. Windows offers either to keep certain files to this account (those are saved on the desktop and the My Documents folder) or to remove the hard drive if you think they are no longer useful.

Click the button that corresponds to your choice, then confirm the deletion of the unnecessary clicking on Delete Account. To change the name of an account, click the account name and choose Modify the account name. In the applied field, type the new name and then click Rename.

Customize your account

You can customize your account by changing the image next to your name in the window and the Start menu. To do so, always in the window of User Accounts, click the account, then l 'Edit the image of your account (Vista) or Edit my images (XP). Click on any of the pictures or choose an image from your personal files by clicking on Search other images. Select the desired image in a folder, then click Open. Windows also lets you change the type of a account. You can convert a standard (or limited) in an Administrator account and vice versa. Click the icon to change and choose Change Account Type.

n the new window, select the desired option (Administrator Account or Standard / Limited). Validate by clicking on Change Account Type.

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Share files between different accounts

To enable users to exchange files, Windows offers the Shared Documents folder (XP) or Public (Vista). You can access it from any account, including the Guest account. Put it all the documents you want to make accessible to all accounts and keep your My Documents folder for your private files.

In Windows, each user account has its Start menu, its Bureau and its My Documents folder. The Standards (Vista) or Limited (XP) can not access the folders and files to another account. You can access that by using an Administrator account. To go to the folder of another user in My Computer (XP) or Computer (Vista), double-click on the icon of your local hard disk (usually called C, then open the Users folder. Select the account and then browse folders in search of the desired document.

Protect your accounts with passwords and make your confidential files

So that each retains its confidential data, it is wise to assign passwords to all users of the PC. With the first administrators whose accounts allow you to change "in depth" and "irreversibly" the contents of the computer. If not already done so, proceed as follows: in the Start menu, Control Panel, and in the window that appears, click User Accounts.

With Windows XP
For your Administrator account
In the User Accounts window, click your account. In the new dialog box, click Create a password. Enter it twice. Enter an index if you are afraid not to store or misplace the paper on which you will note carefully.

Restricted to your account
In the User Accounts window, click your account limit. Repeat as for the creation of an Administrator password. At the end of the process, Windows will not make private personnel files of a limited account. However, it is possible to circumvent this shortcoming.

Open Explorer Document. Right-click the My Documents folder and choose Properties. Enable the Sharing tab and then in the local area sharing and security, check the box Make this folder private. Confirm with OK. That's it!

With Vista
One of the benefits of Windows Vista is to protect the default folders of different users of the computer. And nobody can go browse through the files on another account, unless it has itself all the privileges of an administrator. To create a password on your Administrator account, do the following. In the User Accounts window, click Create a password. Type your password in the field, then repeat the operation. Finally, click on Create a password.

Quickly from one account to another

When you start Windows, the logon screen appears and offers different accounts that were set to start using Windows. In computer jargon, this is called "login" or "log". So just click on the image of his account (and possibly enter the password required). When a session is already open, you can close or to open another under another name.

With Windows XP
Click the Start and then click Close session. In the new dialog box, click Log Off to close all software running on your PC and return to the logon screen. If you wish to login as another user, choose Change User. The new session opens, without close the first of which software will continue to operate.

With Vista
In the same way, click Start and then click the small triangle next to the padlock. A menu appears and prompts you, among other possibilities, Switch User, Log off or lock it (if you have protected your account using a password).

With XP with Vista, you can quickly switch between users using the Windows key + L

To prevent the loss of your password ...

You can create a backup disk (or use a USB key) that will store your password so you can reset the opening of Windows. The most convenient is to safeguard your administrator password, since it is one that allows access to all accounts on the PC. To do this, insert your USB drive into the computer.

With Windows XP
Go to Control Panel. Click on the User Accounts section. Click again on User Accounts. In the left column in the Tasks, click Prevent a forgotten password. Click Next. In the dropdown, select your USB drive, click Next. Then type the current password for your account. Follow the end of the instructions to complete the process. In all cases, keep your USB drive in a safe place.

With Vista
The procedure is identical. In the Control Panel, click User Accounts and protect users. In the new window, click User Accounts. On the left, in the Tasks, click Create a disk password reset.

In the same way, follow the wizard until the end.
If you forgot your password, turn on your PC. Once you see the Welcome screen of Windows, insert your USB key into the appropriate port and click on the image of your Administrator account. Click the button indicated by an arrow, without typing a password. With Vista, a message tells you that the username or password are incorrect. Click the OK then the screen just below the case of the password to enter, click Reset Password. Under XP, a tooltip appears you to reset your password.

In both cases, you just have to follow all recommendations of the wizard to define a new password, and finally open your session.