Switching From Administrator to Standard User

[Daddyman]

I have Windows 7 Professional x64. There are three user accounts:

1. Daddy - Administrator...this is my account;
2. Child - Standard User; and
3. Visitor - Standard User.

(These are not the accounts' real names.)

I really should be a Standard User for day-to-day computing. There are two ways I could go about doing this, and my question is: Which way is better?

1. Daddy will continue to be an Administrator. I will create a new Standard User account for myself. Daddy will transfer all my documents, pictures, music, etc. to my new user account; or
2. I will create a new Administrator account and then demote Daddy to a Standard User.

Are there particular pros and cons to these methods, or does it not really matter?

One thing I wonder about is that I have used the Daddy account to install certain software 'for this user only' (i.e., Daddy) . I did this for software that needs Administrator permissions and rights, such as my antivirus software. Will a new Administrator account automatically have this software installed, or will it have to re-install this software?

Thanks for your help.

 

[DustSailor]

Perhaps the 'safest' way is to make a new account for daddy and keep the administrator. But needing to transfer files might not be so easy.

Either way should work fine, its just that sometimes you can get items installed that you have the option to say 'install only on this profile (the administrator's)' or 'install on all profiles'

I wouldn't know if you have installed items on the daddy account that won't transfer over in a change. likely, if you made daddy a standard and made a new administrator, all the daddy files would still be there for easy access. But then the administrator wouldn't have them, which would be perfect if you only used administrator for computer check-ups and such

 

[Daddyman]

I've decided to create a new Administrator account and then demote Daddy to a Standard User. Two reasons for this choice:

1. I don't have to deal with access rights from moving my personal files (documents, spreadsheets, etc.); and
2. If it doesn't work out, I can revert Daddy to an Administrator, get rid of the new Administrator account, and think of something else to try.

 

[Britton30]

I think I would make "Visitor" use the Guest account, it has fewer priveleges than a standard user.

 

[Daddyman]

For a casual visitor, your advice is spot on. My Visitor account (remember, I'm not using the accounts' real names) is for a particular family member we know well.