Which one is better or safer for you. To have your user account password protected or not? I am running windows xp on a vaio comp.
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whats better?
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Just my opinion here but "Better" is a personal choice that only you can decide. Some like the "ease" of the computer booting without a password when they have no other folks around the house using the computer. Other's prefer the password because they don't want the kids tinkering with their data.."Better" is up to you.
"Safer" is a little more clear. It is "safer" to put a log in password on the computer and it's also "safer" to place a password on the original "adminstrator" log in, even if you don't use it..(On Windows XP, the "administrator" log in is "hidden". You'll only see it when you start into Safe Mode") On either XP PRO or HOME, you can place a password on the original "administrator" user by clickin on Start-Run, type "control userpasswords2", then click on OK. When the "User Accounts" window loads, click on the the "Administrator" listing to highlight it, then click on the "Reset Password" button. Follow the prompts to create a new password...DO NOT FORGET YOUR PASSWORDS.
Hope this helps.
Grif
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i am the only one who uses this computer. i have tried with password protection and without protection. is there any way hackers can or viruses can get a hold of the password. thats the only thing that i am worried about.
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Although anything is possible, you're just one of the small fish in the sea and as long as you have a firewall running, you probably won't attacked by any individuals...On the other hand, there are some viruses that can, and will, infect computers without good "Administrator" passwords. If you want to leave your regular user log in without a password, that's fine, but make sure to give the Administrator a password that is fairly complex.
Hope this helps.
Grif
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my user is the administrator and im going to use a password protection with that user and then just have guest user. what happens if i somehow forget my password though. hopefully it wont happen, but you never know. i already have it memorized but what if?
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If you forget your password, you won't be able to access the machine. Windows 2000 and XP are designed to be secure. Generally, a reinstall would be required..
Be sure to set up two users with admin privileges..To show you what I'm talking about, restart the computer into "Safe Mode", using the instructions below.
Once in Safe Mode, you'll be able to see that there is a "hidden" adminstrator log in as well as your user log in. For the administrator log in, unless you've done so, there will NO PASSWORD created. Leaving the password box empty, then pressing "Enter" will allow you to access the administrator log in...The "Administrator" log in is almost surely NOT your normal user..The normal user is generally named something like "Owner" or "User".
If you want to use a password for both, that's up to you..but if you create a password for the "Administrator" user only and don't create a password for your normal user, you should be OK...Still, it's up to you...On secure machines, EVERY user has a password and I write them down and put them in a safe location JUST IN CASE I forget.
Hope this helps.
Grif
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my user is titled computer administrator. is this the same administrator that you are talking about or something else?
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On Windows XP HOME, you'll ONLY be able to see what I'm talking about by restarting into Safe Mode...When you restart into Safe Mode, there will TWO separate users with admin privileges. One named "Administrator" and one which is you..."User" or "Owner". You can log on with either one but they are DIFFERENT user profiles and can be given different passwords, if you wish.
There is one more way you can get a hint..Double click on the "My Computer", then the C drive, then the "Documents and Settings" folder. IN that folder, you'll see the current users on the computer..You should see a folder for "Adminsitrator", "All Users", Default Users", and your username which might be "User" or "Owner"..
Hope this helps.
Grif
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