The most basic element ofWindows security is the user account. Each usermust
present a valid user name and password of a user account to log into to aWindows
computer. There are ways to make this logon highly simplified, even invisible
in some cases, but there is no exception to this rule. Each user is also a
member of one or more groups of users. Groups enable the system administrator
to assign the same rights and permissions to allmembers of the group without
the need to set those rights and permissions individually.
Windows 2000/XP have several built-in groups and two user accounts
created during installation—Administrator and Guest—with only the Administrator
account enabled by default.When you installWindows, you supply the
password for the Administrator account. This is the only usable account you
have to log into the computer, unless you joined the computer to a domain or
until you create a new user account.
You can manage users and groups using the Local Users and Groups node in
the Computer Management console, accessed by right-clicking My Computer
and selectingManage. Local Users and Groups can also be used on stand-alone
computers, but Microsoft includes simpler GUI tools for that purpose inWindows
2000/XP. InWindows XP,Microsoft made significant changes in the GUI
tools for managing users and groups, so I’ll break up this discussion between
these two OSs.