Administrator verses User accounts

Hi,
I see a lot of posts where people prefer to use a user account rather than an Administrator.
Why do they do that? What's wrong with just being logged on as a Administrator?
I am still using XP for the moment while waiting for drivers and I am always logged on as Administrator.
Am I doing something wrong?



Have a good day,
RScotti

remove "nospam" in order to email me.

"RScotti" wrote:

> Hi,
> I see a lot of posts where people prefer to use a user account rather than
> an Administrator.
> Why do they do that? What's wrong with just being logged on as a
> Administrator?
> I am still using XP for the moment while waiting for drivers and I am
> always logged on as Administrator.
> Am I doing something wrong?

The short answer is that using a user account is more secure. You are much
less likely to do the type of things that used to wreck the OS in previous
versions of Windows. Even when you have Administrator privileges, the UAC
prompt reminds you that what you are about to do may result in significant
system changes that are not necessarily good. It makes you THINK about what
you are doing.

In XP as well, it is best security practice to log on with normal user
privileges rather than as an Administrator -- for the same reasons. But
almost no one does it if they have a choice. Vista changes this. It treats
you like a normal user, but allows you to "run as administrator" if you have
administrator privileges.

Ken

Just to echo what Ken said, it's a means of protecting you from yourself.
With admin, you basically can destroy your OS if you went crazy, Under a
user or power user account, you're much less likely to cause a critical
problem.

Of course, there are those of us, who have done it long enough that we don't
liked to be bothered with all the safety features. In Vista, the UAC makes
it a little tougher to put yourself in God mode, so in order to do so, you
basically have to be knowledgeable enough to turn of the UAC and reassign
permissions as you want them.

I'd say 90-95% probably don't need that kind of power. The other 5-10% just
like to drive without a seat belt or wear a helmet

"RScotti" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi,
> I see a lot of posts where people prefer to use a user account rather than
> an Administrator.
> Why do they do that? What's wrong with just being logged on as a
> Administrator?
> I am still using XP for the moment while waiting for drivers and I am
> always logged on as Administrator.
> Am I doing something wrong?
>
>
>
> Have a good day,
> RScotti
>
> remove "nospam" in order to email me.
>

I don't want to highjack this thread , but I did post a similar question not
too long ago and didn't really receive the responses I was hoping for.
My question at that time was if you run under a limited account in XP , how
do you manage things like virus program and Windows Updates ?
If your antivirus software is set to install updates automatically ,does it
still happen in a limited user account or do you have to switch to Admin
and check for updates manually ?




"Dale White" <> wrote in message
news:bIGdne9hb9rEw0zYnZ2dnUVZ_t2tnZ2d@newedgenetwo rks.com...
> Just to echo what Ken said, it's a means of protecting you from yourself.
> With admin, you basically can destroy your OS if you went crazy, Under a
> user or power user account, you're much less likely to cause a critical
> problem.
>
> Of course, there are those of us, who have done it long enough that we
> don't liked to be bothered with all the safety features. In Vista, the UAC
> makes it a little tougher to put yourself in God mode, so in order to do
> so, you basically have to be knowledgeable enough to turn of the UAC and
> reassign permissions as you want them.
>
> I'd say 90-95% probably don't need that kind of power. The other 5-10%
> just like to drive without a seat belt or wear a helmet
>
> "RScotti" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> Hi,
>> I see a lot of posts where people prefer to use a user account rather
>> than an Administrator.
>> Why do they do that? What's wrong with just being logged on as a
>> Administrator?
>> I am still using XP for the moment while waiting for drivers and I am
>> always logged on as Administrator.
>> Am I doing something wrong?
>>
>>
>>
>> Have a good day,
>> RScotti
>>
>> remove "nospam" in order to email me.
>>
>
>

many people who use computers have no idea what their operating system will
allow them to do, and they dont know what to *not* run.

being logged in as an Admin all the time increases the chance of them
messing something up on their system.



"RScotti" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi,
> I see a lot of posts where people prefer to use a user account rather than
> an Administrator.
> Why do they do that? What's wrong with just being logged on as a
> Administrator?
> I am still using XP for the moment while waiting for drivers and I am
> always logged on as Administrator.
> Am I doing something wrong?
>
>
>
> Have a good day,
> RScotti
>
> remove "nospam" in order to email me.
>

You are on the net, do you want to
allow hackers full admin rights, worms &
trojans free access to install & operate
in the background? Internet banking?
passwords & usernames to spy on......hmmmm.
No AV is perfect. Malware writers are
getting more devious,
AV writers are usually playing catch-up.
Surf as a LIMITED User.
It is safer..... but u still have avoid
"happy clicking"

Windows Updates is installing patches so
u must be logged on as Admin. AV's
should update & protect in LIMITED User
accounts.

cheers Tom

Xenomorph wrote:
> many people who use computers have no idea what their operating system will
> allow them to do, and they dont know what to *not* run.
>
> being logged in as an Admin all the time increases the chance of them
> messing something up on their system.
>
>
>
> "RScotti" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> Hi,
>> I see a lot of posts where people prefer to use a user account rather than
>> an Administrator.
>> Why do they do that? What's wrong with just being logged on as a
>> Administrator?
>> I am still using XP for the moment while waiting for drivers and I am
>> always logged on as Administrator.
>> Am I doing something wrong?
>>
>>
>>
>> Have a good day,
>> RScotti
>>
>> remove "nospam" in order to email me.
>>
>
>


--
* Thankfully this message was not
scanned by AVG Free *

Thanks everybody for all your inputs,
Since I was a beta tester years ago I do have some idea on what to do so I will leave it the way it is.
Thanks again.


On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 21:28:05 +1300, TomC <> wrote:

>You are on the net, do you want to
>allow hackers full admin rights, worms &
>trojans free access to install & operate
>in the background? Internet banking?
>passwords & usernames to spy on......hmmmm.
>No AV is perfect. Malware writers are
>getting more devious,
>AV writers are usually playing catch-up.
>Surf as a LIMITED User.
>It is safer..... but u still have avoid
>"happy clicking"
>
>Windows Updates is installing patches so
>u must be logged on as Admin. AV's
>should update & protect in LIMITED User
>accounts.
>
>cheers Tom
>
>Xenomorph wrote:
>> many people who use computers have no idea what their operating system will
>> allow them to do, and they dont know what to *not* run.
>>
>> being logged in as an Admin all the time increases the chance of them
>> messing something up on their system.
>>
>>
>>
>> "RScotti" <> wrote in message
>> news:...
>>> Hi,
>>> I see a lot of posts where people prefer to use a user account rather than
>>> an Administrator.
>>> Why do they do that? What's wrong with just being logged on as a
>>> Administrator?
>>> I am still using XP for the moment while waiting for drivers and I am
>>> always logged on as Administrator.
>>> Am I doing something wrong?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Have a good day,
>>> RScotti
>>>
>>> remove "nospam" in order to email me.
>>>
>>
>>

Have a good day,
RScotti

remove "nospam" in order to email me.

Hi,

In XP those sorts of routines are managed with admin rights. They have to be
installed with admin priviliges, and when they run it is with that level of
privilege so that things like automatic updates work without any action on
the part of the standard/limited user.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"Tom Crooze" <> wrote in message
news:jLdAh.953227$1T2.746610@pd7urf2no...
>I don't want to highjack this thread , but I did post a similar question
>not too long ago and didn't really receive the responses I was hoping for.
> My question at that time was if you run under a limited account in XP ,
> how do you manage things like virus program and Windows Updates ?
> If your antivirus software is set to install updates automatically ,does
> it still happen in a limited user account or do you have to switch to
> Admin
> and check for updates manually ?
>
>
>
>
> "Dale White" <> wrote in message
> news:bIGdne9hb9rEw0zYnZ2dnUVZ_t2tnZ2d@newedgenetwo rks.com...
>> Just to echo what Ken said, it's a means of protecting you from yourself.
>> With admin, you basically can destroy your OS if you went crazy, Under a
>> user or power user account, you're much less likely to cause a critical
>> problem.
>>
>> Of course, there are those of us, who have done it long enough that we
>> don't liked to be bothered with all the safety features. In Vista, the
>> UAC makes it a little tougher to put yourself in God mode, so in order to
>> do so, you basically have to be knowledgeable enough to turn of the UAC
>> and reassign permissions as you want them.
>>
>> I'd say 90-95% probably don't need that kind of power. The other 5-10%
>> just like to drive without a seat belt or wear a helmet
>>
>> "RScotti" <> wrote in message
>> news:...
>>> Hi,
>>> I see a lot of posts where people prefer to use a user account rather
>>> than an Administrator.
>>> Why do they do that? What's wrong with just being logged on as a
>>> Administrator?
>>> I am still using XP for the moment while waiting for drivers and I am
>>> always logged on as Administrator.
>>> Am I doing something wrong?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Have a good day,
>>> RScotti
>>>
>>> remove "nospam" in order to email me.
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

Hi,

Normal users should not run everyday operations in admin mode. When you
logon as admin or as a member of the admin group, any operation or routine
you run executes with that level of privileges on the system. With most
software this is fine, but if the code being executed happens to be a
malicious activex control or email virus, then you just gave it free rein on
the system. Running in a standard user account prevents this, as the code
will not have sufficient privileges to make alterations to the system.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"RScotti" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi,
> I see a lot of posts where people prefer to use a user account rather than
> an Administrator.
> Why do they do that? What's wrong with just being logged on as a
> Administrator?
> I am still using XP for the moment while waiting for drivers and I am
> always logged on as Administrator.
> Am I doing something wrong?
>
>
>
> Have a good day,
> RScotti
>
> remove "nospam" in order to email me.
>

"Ken Gardner" <> wrote in message
news:98E897F9-3EF5-4D63-BEDE-...
> "RScotti" wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>> I see a lot of posts where people prefer to use a user account rather
>> than an Administrator.
>> Why do they do that? What's wrong with just being logged on as a
>> Administrator?
>> I am still using XP for the moment while waiting for drivers and I am
>> always logged on as Administrator.
>> Am I doing something wrong?
>
> The short answer is that using a user account is more secure. You are
> much less likely to do the type of things that used to wreck the OS in
> previous versions of Windows. Even when you have Administrator
> privileges, the UAC prompt reminds you that what you are about to do may
> result in significant system changes that are not necessarily good. It
> makes you THINK about what you are doing.
>
> In XP as well, it is best security practice to log on with normal user
> privileges rather than as an Administrator -- for the same reasons. But
> almost no one does it if they have a choice. Vista changes this. It
> treats you like a normal user, but allows you to "run as administrator" if
> you have administrator privileges.
>
> Ken
>

You know I hate to be the negative voice here but the blackhats don't take
that seriously so why should users?