Windows 7 administrator vs owner

[young]

I'm a single user not concerned about external access except for the usual virus and scamming issues which I think I have covered.

I've just shifted to a new computer and from XP to 7.

I'm confused about about all the different accounts i.e. system, owner, administrator, user groups, users and my name, which is used a couple of ways.

The bottom line is; I want to delete as many of them as I can and keep this as simple as I can.

Is there something I can read that will sort all this out?

 

[Drew]

Yes, there is & it's in your nearby Windows 7 OS. Here is a picture of it -->

Cheers,
Drew

 

[Medico]

You start deleting this stuff and pretty soon you will be asking how to reinstall Win 7. Did you set up only one user when you installed Windows? If so, then everything listed is required for Windows to work properly. The owner and administrator are generally the same person in a single user senario, but the hidden administrator account needs the administrator stuff to work correctly. The owner is set up as an administrator but does not have the highest level administrator right unless you right click a file and choose Run As Administrator. This is set up in this manner to add layers of security. It actually is simpler if you choose not to show hidden files and to leave Hide Protected System Files checked:

 

[Drew]

Everything Ted has said is all good, I 2nd his statements... although, personally, I'd suggest these settings in Folder Options

I had hesitated to respond to you query cus I really was just sure what you were asking. If I have it right what you are describing is the way things are supposed to be, as Ted has nicely addressed. 2 phrases come to mind, (1) Leave well enough alone & (2) If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Cheers,
Drew

 

[Elmer]

....(2) If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Well, that's me shown the door! I've always used the theory that if it ain't broke take it apart, so when it does break.......

(Runs off to the Windows 7 Installation and Upgrade forum to ask how to re-install!)

 

[young]

Thanks everyone for the comeback.

My Manage Accounts show;

David - Administrator
Owner - Standard User, Password Protected
Guest - Guest account is off

My Users folder has;

All Users
David
Default
Owner
Owner.David-PC
Public

In my Properties Security I have everyone listed with full access.

My question is; Shouldn't users David, Owner and Owner.David all be the same and can't I delete two of them?

I realize that may be pushing the limits.

 

[Drew]

'young',

It's right the way it is... just leave it alone. The David folder is where most of your interest will be most of the time (in this context).

Cheers,
Drew

 

[young]

Well, I think everyone is right. I'll leave well enough alone and get on to the next concern.

Thanks to all.

young

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

As everyone else said you will only really be dealing with the Master Account the one with your name on it.

My advice is turn off the UAC, and download and run this application.
It will ad a command to the right click drop down list.

Grant Admin Full Control

Link Removed - Not Found

And save these instructions for when you will need them.... These instructions allow you to do the things Window really doesn't want you to do.

How to Enable the Administrator Account

Open the command prompt with elevated privileges by clicking the Start orb, All Programs, Accessories, right-click Command Prompt and then select Run as administrator.

Type or cut and paste…

net user administrator /active:yes

and then press Enter.

Log out and log back in as Administrator.

When you are done undue the process by doing the same thing and pasting in

net user administrator /active:no

If you are switching from XP you might like to use...

Classic Shell

Classic Shell | Free software downloads at SourceForge.net

It makes the interface work more like XP and improves the way that Windows Explorer works.

I beta tested Windows 7 and I still use Classic Shell all the time but it will let you switch back and forth with a click.

Mike

 

[young]

I turned off the UAC and clicked on the web site. I hit the download and got a lot of advertising. I finally got a Gold something or other payment page. Do I have to register and make monthly payments?

 

[davehc]

Well, that's me shown the door! I've always used the theory that if it ain't broke take it apart, so when it does break.......

(Runs off to the Windows 7 Installation and Upgrade forum to ask how to re-install!)

Gosh. I loved that Elmer. I would qualify it by saying, after an installation or whatever, if everything is working tickety boo, then it is time to start deliberately making it go wrong! .- lol

 

[davehc]

I turned off the UAC and clicked on the web site. I hit the download and got a lot of advertising. I finally got a Gold something or other payment page. Do I have to register and make monthly payments?

Did you get the text?
If not, here is the whole thing, from my own notes.
There are a couple of ways:
Open a command prompt(Run as Administrator).
Type the following command and enter.
net user administrator /active
Log out and see if you have a new alternative login, as well as your existing one. If not, do it the long way.

Shut down the computer for a cold boot. Tap the "F8" key as you are booting.
Select "Safe Mode with networking" from the boot menu.
Log into windows 7 with your personal account that holds the administrator access.
Open a command window (START--->RUN--->CMD.exe). At the command prompt type the following
net user administrator /active
Log out and log back in as administrator.

Another way:
Go to Start
Type Control UserPasswords2. (or Open the Start menu, and type lusrmgr.msc )
Click Advanced.
Click Advanced again.
Select Users.
Select Administrator and untick the the box “Administrator is disabled”
Now log out and login as Administrator.
The action leaves you a little more vulnerable to outside attack. Not a big issue if you are confident with your anti virus control etc.

 

[Elmer]

Here's the Take Ownership.reg file that will be add to your context menu for all files and folders. I've removed the options for taking ownership of the drives. Not a good thing to do in my opinion and by doing this I've removed temptation.

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

I see Elmer has already taken care of this, I didn't see this post when I logged in.
It took me to the bottom of the first page.

But I was going to say just click under the left clock face and it's a free download.

Mike

 

[young]

I downloaded the file. Thanks Elmer. I ran it and entered the ...active:yes. Restarted and got a new "Administrator" icon. Now there are three; Administrator, David, and Owner. I clicked on "Administrator" and went to Start, All Programs, Accessories. Command Prompt was not listed as an option. I went back in as "David" and the Command Prompt was there. Is this telling me this process is unnecessary?

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

Don't get the two confused the file download doesn't have anything to do with the active administrator icon.

The new icon will allow you to make changes that you can't when you are logged in normally and you should follow the instructions to disable it when you don't need to use it.

The file you downloaded will add a command to the right click drop down list and it will give you access to a specific file.

If you have a log in icon other then David that you don't want you can remove that, so that the computer will just log in without you having to click anything.

Mike

 

[young]

OUTSTANDING

I've gotten rid of the extra icons and accounts and I now know how to use the Administrator account. Much more than I expected.

I agree with leaving well enough alone but at the same time if you don't dig into it how do you learn?

Thanks to everyone for the advice and information

All the best, young

 

[Howard Walker]

Windows 7 is the most intrusive operating system I have ever used. Its like you buy a car and someone else gets to drive it. usr control is the worst, as this post shows, but the library system is also an out of control thing to my mind. I used to have a folder in XP called downloads. I put in it all details of important programs that I had downloaded, with serial numbers, related invoice numbers and so on. I could find anything in seconds.
Now every thing that I download - images, pdfs and my important stuff always goes to the download folder.
It took my old XP computer's motherboard to die and me not be able to find my XP disk to make me use this brand new and expensive machine with Win 7 on it that had been sitting in a corner for two years unused. Thank god I eventually managed to find a new 'old' motherboard to fix my XP machine. Now its up and running again, so its good by to Win 7 and I'm back in control again. Long live XP - the best windows operating system since the BBC Micro!

 

[Howard Walker]

Why disk and drive are underlined and linked in my post above is nothing to do with me.
That really is intrusive!