Account types in Windows XP and how to change them.
by Lee Brannon
In this article I will presume that you have Windows XP and that it is either
the Home version or the Professional version.
Account Types in Windows XP:
With the Windows XP Home version there are only two account types.
Administrator and Limited. Limited accounts can't install software.
Administrative accounts can do anything.
In Windows XP Professional you also have the same account types, but there is a
third type that is in between both called Power User that allows most programs
to install but does not give the user all the privileges of the Administrator
account. (Power User is not an option in the User Accounts types. To set a user account to Power User
you must join the account to a Power User group which is explained later.)
Now before someone gets excited: Yes, technically there is another account
type called Guest, but it should be disabled and should stay that way for
security reasons.
The Premise:
Now for the purpose of these instructions we will assume that you share a
computer with a friend named Windy. Windy has her own account on your computer, but she is constantly complaining that
she can’t install software or add-ins to her browser. She keeps getting the message that
she “…needs Administrator privileges.”
This is a common problem and is usually the result of her account being set to
the type “Limited”.
If you have Windows XP Home.
Let's assume you have the Home version of Windows XP. Since this is a home
computer that is not in a domain you will only have two user types: Limited and
Administrator.
You should go to Users accounts in you Control Panel and check the other persons
account. Most likely it is setup as a Limited account.
Warning: I should warn you that making him or her an Administrator gives
them full privileges on your computer. If you don't want them to stay that way
you can make them an Administrator and then change it back after they have run
the program and gotten everything setup.
To get to the User Accounts option got to the Start Menu, pick Control Panel
(If you don't see icons in the Control Panel Click the "Switch to Classic Mode"
option in the upper left of the window.) Now open User Accounts.
Start>ControlPanel>User Accounts.
Now click on the user. There should be an option in the list
for changing the account type.
Again, since this is a home computer that is not in a domain you will only
have two user types: Limited and Administrator. Pick administrator.span
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> needs will install. Now exit
the program and have Windy log off.
Now unless you want Windy to have Administrative privileges on your computer you
should change her account back again.
Using your account, login and reset Windy’s account back to Limited.
If you have Windows XP Pro.
If you happen to have Windows XP pro, you could just make the account a Power
User. An Account with Power User privileges can usually install software,
but not always. The idea behind
Power User was to give an account special privileges for common needs, but not
give them access to changing everything.
Unfortunately the option of Power User type does not show up in the Control
Panel User Accounts. You have to use "Computer Management" and join the
user to a group named Power users.
Warning: Be careful not to delete
an account or a local group.
You can get to "Computer Management" in several ways. One is to right
click on the "My Computer" icon and select Manage and the other is to go to
Administrative Tools in the Control Panel and then select Computer Management.
Either way once you have Computer Management open
you then have to go through several steps.
-
Pick Local Users.
-
Pick Users.
-
Right Click the user name and select properties.
-
Click the "Member of" TAB. Click the Add button.
-
Click the Advanced button.
-
Select Power Users from the list of Groups.
-
Click OK.
-
Click OK again.
-
Click another OK.
Now you can close computer management. The user is now a member of the
Power User's Group.
A faster yet slightly risky way to do it:
(Risky because you could
accidentally delete a group or worse.)
There is another way to do this in Windows XP. You could go to the command
prompt and type in the following (replacing accountgroup with an account type
like LIMITED or ADMINISTRATOR or POWERUSER and replacing username with the
account name of your friend)
NET Localgroup accountgroup username
For example lets say your friends account name is Windy and you want to change
Robert to a LIMITED user. You would enter:
NET Localgroup "Power Users" Windy /delete
And press the return key. This will take Windy out of the Power Users group.
To add him/her to a group you would enter:
NET Localgroup LIMITED Windy /add
And press the return key. This would add Windy to the limited group.
Press the Enter key and close the account window.
Note: If the user name or group name has spaces in it you need to put it in
quotes like "Power Users"
The following picture shows the net localgroup command used for adding an
account to the group Power Users and then removing it. The next two net
localgroup commands shows typical errors you would get if you left out the
quotes or tried to remove the account from a group it does not belong to.
Caution: If you plan to use this command I recommend that you review the
syntax for the command at the following URL
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490706.aspx since there are many
ways to foul things up with it's use.
Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft
Corporation.
| ©
2009 Lee Brannon All rights reserved. |
