Samrc Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 (edited) I have read many times that with Win XP, to limit control that a bug/infection, users should not run as administrator for general computing. Create a user account with lesser abilities for everyday, use admin for maintenance (install/etc). MS statement about it: h**tp://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/windows_security_whynot_admin.mspx?mfr=true Should the same thing be done with Win 7? Recommendations? Edited June 22, 2010 by Samrc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Bruce Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Yes, same thing as XP. And there is constant nagging asking if you want the changes made to the system but that can be turned off. I don't recommend turning it off but turning it down is ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samrc Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 Thanks Bruce. Will do. Only one user on the unit, but want to have it as protected as possible from day 1. Follow-question: I have been reading about the "hidden" default administrator account in Win 7 and seem to get conflicting info about it. By default it is disabled. Should I enable that default "administrator" and use it for my admin needs, or create a separate account with admin privileges to handle the maintenance activities? Would there be a real difference? Probably not as long as it is password protected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Bruce Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 There would be no difference but I like going with the new user account with administrative privileges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samrc Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 (edited) Ok. That was my first thought too. It's just that I have read such conflicting info re win 7 admin account...should/should not enable. Separate Admin account does not have the same abilities as the win 7 admin default account, blah blah... Why make it such a headache? Finally found a piece of the puzzle that makes sense as to why using a standard user w/admin rights instead of the built-in (default hidden) admin account: I dont see why anyone needs to use it unless there's a problem with their usual account, I don't use it because the built-in administrator account just runs with virtualization and UAC disabled and also causes problems with some older xp/2000 applications (i.e. CivilCad & Visual Studio) that need the virtualization to run properly on Vista/Windows 7. XP was simple. Use Admin for maintenance, Use User account for main use. Done. A must on a networked environment. We had a couple minor infections on desktops but since they were not in admin mode, the infections could not spread to others. Edited June 22, 2010 by Samrc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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