ComputerLife : 10 Easy Steps To Protect Your Windows Computer From Malware etc...: Creating A Limited User Account

By Avatar JayR Cela

     After reading my Anonymous friends comment yesterday, and giving it some thought, it suddenly dawned on me, ( Duh ! ) there are a lot of Windows users who never bother to set up separate Administrator and User Accounts on their hardware, as 'Anon' pointed out Linux is generally more secure because you have no choice in the matter during the initial setup procedure ( A highly questionable practice on MS's part )

    Here is the reason. The initial account setup defaults to an Administrator Privileges Level, or in Linux lingo the ' Root ' account, allowing full control over all aspects of of your Operating System, thus leaving you wide open to malicious attacks via the Web or say perhaps a friend drops by with a thumb drive full of really great stuff they would like to share with you. Unfortunately who knows what the heck kind of dastardly crap may be lurking about that innocent looking thumb drive or CD/DVD.  If you are logged in with the User Account as opposed to the Admin ( Administrator )  account, you will be prompted to enter the Admin password before anything !!! can be installed, including stuff downloaded from Free Ware sites, that routinely attach hidden product offerings during the installation procedure.  And the best part  it's easy and can be fun too.

    First lets find out if you even need to bother

Steps 1 - 2

    Open your Control Panel and go to User Accounts.
.If you find yourself to currently be in this position, it is very easy to fix. Just create a new Limited User Account


Steps 3 - 4

Steps 5 - 6

    Select Manage another account, and then Create a new account.

Steps 7 - 8

    Select Standard user, and type in a name of your choosing,  ( if you are curious you can read the Why is a standard account recommended ? ) Basically all this is explaining is that you will be required to enter the Administrator ( ROOT ) account password before ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING !! can be installed, including back door sneak attack's as well.

Steps 9 - 10

 
 






!!! Before you Log out or off. Create a New ( And Different     From Your Admin's ) Password.!!

    Now log out and back in with the new account, you'll notice right off the bat your previously well laid out Desktop has now reverted back to the Fresh Just Out Of The Box UI Desktop / Bummer :(

 
    Don't panic !!! ( This is The FUN Part I was talking about earlier / LOL ) It's just a simple matter of performing your usual Desktop setup routine to get things back to looking normal again. All your stuff is still installed, so this is a perfect opportunity to redo everything from scratch, just the way you want it :_)

 




    At this point you can do what ever you like with the User Account Control settings. ( nothing more than a nuisance anyways )

 







    So now you will be relatively safe, from getting infested with MalWare -Trojens - RootKits -Virus's etc..
The downside is that you will be required to enter your Administrator Account Password anytime you or someone or something ( a nasty payload hidden in the installer ) wants to infect your computer.

 
JayR Cela :_)