Should I be logged in as Administrator or not?

[Guest Richh]

Hello,

 

I recently formatted and reinstalled XP pro. I've just noticed that I am

logged in as Administrator.

 

On my laptop (also XP Pro), I see that I am logged in as a user and that

there is a separate Administrator account.

 

What are the rights and wrongs of the two set ups?

[Guest Leythos]

Re: Should I be logged in as Administrator or not?

 

In article <484455fe$0$841$ba4acef3@news.orange.fr>, spam@spam.com

says...

> Hello,

>

> I recently formatted and reinstalled XP pro. I've just noticed that I am

> logged in as Administrator.

>

> On my laptop (also XP Pro), I see that I am logged in as a user and that

> there is a separate Administrator account.

>

> What are the rights and wrongs of the two set ups?

 

Administrator accounts can make changes and configuration settings,

users are very limited in what they can do. Admins can install software,

including malware, like virus's and programs like MS Office, users have

a harder time.

 

If you are running as an Admin you are living on the edge since you

don't appear to already know the difference.

 

 

--

- Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.

- Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a

drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"

spam999free@rrohio.com (remove 999 for proper email address)

[Guest Richh]

Re: Should I be logged in as Administrator or not?

 

I do know the difference - just asking what is best.

 

Is there any harm in just running as Administrator if I have decent

firewalls and virus software in place?

[Guest Nonny]

Re: Should I be logged in as Administrator or not?

 

On Mon, 2 Jun 2008 23:04:20 +0200, "Richh" <spam@spam.com> wrote:

>Is there any harm in just running as Administrator if I have decent

>firewalls and virus software in place?

 

Most everyone will tell you that the best way is to set up an account

for yourself that doesn't have admin privileges since an admin account

is supposedly more susceptible to security breaches from outside

sources.

 

Might be tehnically true, but speaking from a practical staindpoint, I

I think it's rubbish.

[Guest Patrick Keenan]

Re: Should I be logged in as Administrator or not?

 

"Richh" <spam@spam.com> wrote in message

news:48446059$0$895$ba4acef3@news.orange.fr...

>I do know the difference - just asking what is best.

>

> Is there any harm in just running as Administrator if I have decent

> firewalls and virus software in place?

 

It is NOT a good plan to use the Administrator account itself for anything

except initial system install and later emergency service.

 

It is often useful to use an account with administrator-level rights, and

that is a completely different thing.

 

Could you please be clearer as to which you mean?

 

HTH

-pk

[Guest Jim]

Re: Should I be logged in as Administrator or not?

 

 

"Richh" <spam@spam.com> wrote in message

news:48446059$0$895$ba4acef3@news.orange.fr...

>I do know the difference - just asking what is best.

>

> Is there any harm in just running as Administrator if I have decent

> firewalls and virus software in place?

>

Yes there certainly is. The harm comes from using more privileges than are

needed for the task at hand.

It is very easy to slip up and change something that should be left alone.

Jim

[Guest Bruce Chambers]

Re: Should I be logged in as Administrator or not?

 

Richh wrote:

> Hello,

>

> I recently formatted and reinstalled XP pro. I've just noticed that I am

> logged in as Administrator.

>

> On my laptop (also XP Pro), I see that I am logged in as a user and that

> there is a separate Administrator account.

>

> What are the rights and wrongs of the two set ups?

>

>

 

 

Routinely using a computer with administrative privileges is not

without some risk. You will be much more susceptible to some types of

malware, particularly adware and spyware. While using a computer with

limited privileges isn't the cure-all, silver bullet that some claim it

to be, any experienced IT professional will verify that doing so

definitely reduces that amount of damage and depth of penetration by the

malware. If you get infected/infested while running as an

administrator, the odds are much greater that any malware will be

extremely difficult, if not impossible, to remove with formating the

hard drive and starting anew. The intruding malware will have the same

privileges to all of the files on your hard drive that you do.

 

A technically competent user who is aware of the risks and knows

how to take proper precautions can usually safely operate with

administrative privileges; I do so myself. But I certainly don't

recommend it for the average computer user.

 

Further, the built-in Administrator account was never intended to

be used for day-to-day normal use. The standard security practice is to

rename the account, set a strong password on it, and use it only to

create another account for regular use, reserving the Administrator

account as a "back door" in case something corrupts your regular account(s).

 

 

 

--

 

Bruce Chambers

 

Help us help you:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

 

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

 

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary

safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

 

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

 

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has

killed a great many philosophers.

~ Denis Diderot

[Guest +Bob+]

Re: Should I be logged in as Administrator or not?

 

On Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:47:30 -0600, Bruce Chambers

<bchambers@cable0ne.n3t> wrote:

> Further, the built-in Administrator account was never intended to

>be used for day-to-day normal use. The standard security practice is to

>rename the account, set a strong password on it, and use it only to

>create another account for regular use, reserving the Administrator

>account as a "back door" in case something corrupts your regular account(s).

 

I'd agree that you should use another account - but running without

admin priv's is a royal PITA on Windows. It borders on "totally

impractical".

[Guest Bruce Chambers]

Re: Should I be logged in as Administrator or not?

 

+Bob+ wrote:

>

>

> I'd agree that you should use another account - but running without

> admin priv's is a royal PITA on Windows. It borders on "totally

> impractical".

 

 

Not if all of one's installed applications have been properly designed

for WinXP's security paradigm. Use incompatible programs and it can be

something of a nuisance, yes. But, even then, the knowledgeable user

can fix most such issues easily enough.

 

You may experience some problems if the software was designed for

Win9x/Me, or if it was intended for WinNT/2K/XP, but was improperly

designed. Quite simply, the application doesn't "know" how to handle

individual user profiles with differing security permissions levels, or

the application is designed to make to make changes to "off-limits"

sections of the Windows registry or protected Windows system folders.

 

For example, saved data are often stored in a sub-folder under the

application's folder within C:\Program Files - a place where no

inexperienced or limited user should ever have write permissions.

 

It may even be that the software requires "write" access to parts

of the registry or protected systems folders/files that are not normally

accessible to regular users. (This *won't* occur if the application is

properly written.) If this does prove to be the case, however, you're

often left with three options: Either grant the necessary users

appropriate higher access privileges (either as Power Users or local

administrators), explicitly grant normal users elevated privileges to

the affected folders and/or part(s) or the registry, or replace the

application with one that was properly designed specifically for

WinNT/2K/XP. You've already stated that granting your son elevated

privileges is a very bad idea.

 

Some Programs Do Not Work If You Log On from Limited Account

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q307091

 

Additionally, here are a couple of tips suggested, in a reply to a

different post, by MS-MVP Kent W. England:

 

"If your game or application works with admin accounts, but not with

limited accounts, you can fix it to allow limited users to access the

program files folder with "change" capability rather than "read" which

is the default.

 

C:\>cacls "Program Files\appfolder" /e /t /p users:c

 

where "appfolder" is the folder where the application is installed.

 

If you wish to undo these changes, then run

 

C:\>cacls "Program Files\appfolder" /e /t /p users:r

 

 

 

--

 

Bruce Chambers

 

Help us help you:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

 

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

 

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary

safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

 

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

 

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has

killed a great many philosophers.

~ Denis Diderot