Two accounts? Safer?

[lister]

Hi I thought I was being smart by creating two accounts, one account being admin with full rights and then another which was for just checking email etc with de-elvated rights, (if that is the right word).

Anyways, when I logged into the new account with less rights most of the programs were not there...?

Is there a way to sort of clone an account over with all the tweaks and settings but make it so that things cant be changed?

Thanks!

 

[hackerman1]

hi !

yes, you are thinking in the right direction.

some basic security-advice:
create a USER-account, use a good password on both accounts.
always use the USER-account for normal work.
only use your ADMIN-account when it´s absolutely necessary fx. when doing system maintenance
use UAC, at max. (top)-setting

you can copy all settings, desktop, files, etc. from the ADMIN-account to the USER-account.

in "C:\users\" you have a folder with the name from your ADMIN-account, just copy everything in that folder to the other folder.

fx. on MY computer, my ADMIN-account=HACKER, my USER-account=HACKERMAN

in this example i copy everything in the folder "HACKER" to "HACKERMAN".

"C:\users\HACKER" to "C:\users\HACKERMAN"


one other way to get everything into the USER-account:
open control panel → user account control.
create a new ADMIN-account.
change the old ADMIN account into a USER-account.

i know this works, because i used only the ADMIN-account until i learned that it wasn´t safe to do it,
then i changed the ADMIN-account into a USER-account.

after changing you have an "empty" ADMIN-account, but that should not be any real problems, since you only need it for "system maintenance", as you would be using the USER-account for "normal" work such as surfing the web & check your email etc.

if you fx. want to have the same desktop on both accounts, then just copy what you really need from USER to ADMIN-account.

 

[The Howling Wolves]

If you are the only one using your computer then why have two accounts?
What you might consider is having separate e-mail accounts.
One for your Preferred contacts and the other for junk mail.

 

[hackerman1]

If you are the only one using your computer then why have two accounts?

for obvious security reasons of course....
you should never use the ADMIN-account for "normal" use.
basic security-rule, don´t you know that ?

 

[SledgeDG]

That's exactly how I do it...1 account with admin privileges for maintenance etc.
and 1 every day user. Same what I did in Unix/Linux...you just don't run your every day user with root privileges.
If you install your Software in the user account you have to provide the admin pw but that's ok...at least your software shows and you don't undermine the intended safety feature.
Just imagine you run the admin as every day user and catch a nasty....that Trojan/Virus/Bot automatically has full access and can inflict so much more damage.

-DG

 

[mborner]

Hi I thought I was being smart by creating two accounts, one account being admin with full rights and then another which was for just checking email etc with de-elvated rights, (if that is the right word).

Anyways, when I logged into the new account with less rights most of the programs were not there...?

Is there a way to sort of clone an account over with all the tweaks and settings but make it so that things cant be changed?

Thanks!

If you currently have one Administrator account, and one standard user account, but the administrator account has all your programs in it, the solution is simple; Switch the accounts. Change the standard account to admin, and admin. account, to standard.
I struggled for a while trying to figure out how to copy all of my user settings and programs over to a standard account, when it dawned on me; Just create a second admin. account and then convert my first, already customized admin. account to a standard user account. I didn't have to copy or move anything. Took all of about 15 seconds.

On a second note; If your installed programs are installing themselves into a user folder, I would look into that. 95% of all programs' installers will default to C:\Program Files, giving access to all accounts on the machine. Of those 5% that don't, they will ask you if you want them installed to be accessed by everyone. Very, very, few will default into a logged on user folder.

 

[hackerman1]

Hi I thought I was being smart by creating two accounts, one account being admin with full rights and then another which was for just checking email etc with de-elvated rights, (if that is the right word).

Anyways, when I logged into the new account with less rights most of the programs were not there...?

Is there a way to sort of clone an account over with all the tweaks and settings but make it so that things cant be changed?

Thanks!

If you currently have one Administrator account, and one standard user account, but the administrator account has all your programs in it, the solution is simple; Switch the accounts. Change the standard account to admin, and admin. account, to standard.

maybe you should read my first post above....

 

[mborner]

LOL! You're right, I read most of your post but missed the last part. Sorry. You're scenario was exactly like mine. One thing, though; Since Windows requires at least one Administrator account, You can't convert the account to a standard account until you create a second Administrator account.
Cheers!

 

[hackerman1]

LOL! You're right, I read most of your post but missed the last part. Sorry. You're scenario was exactly like mine. One thing, though; Since Windows requires at least one Administrator account, You can't convert the account to a standard account until you create a second Administrator account.
Cheers!

no worries.

but thanks for pointing out the small typo, i´ve now changed the text above:
"....create a new ADMIN-account.
change the old ADMIN account into a USER-account....
"

 

[blue skies]

I only have one user account but I have UAC set to the highest level. Is that sufficient?

 

[Lomai]

I only have one user account but I have UAC set to the highest level. Is that sufficient?

Hi
Depending on your surfing habits and installed AV/IS software, it could be but generally for most of us, it's not recommended (i.e. subject to your preference)
You can read more about UAC here
Hope this helps and regards