User Account Creation in New/Reinstalled Vista Computer!

[garettap]

noob question: what's the advantage of using a User account rather than the standard admin account you get upon setup?

[booboo12]

noob question: what's the advantage of using a User account rather than the standard admin account you get upon setup?

A "standard" user account-one you create after Windows Vista setup is complete, gives you more protection because it limits what changes can be made to your system-either by a person or a program. The account you created during the Vista setup process defaults to an "administrator" account that allows (almost-your still one step below the true "administrator" account) full access to all system settings.

In Windows XP SP2, Microsoft began to recommend that people create two accounts for themselves-one Administrator account for installing software and performing maintenance, and a (in XP terms) "Limited" account for everyday use. Many people still ran under an Administrator account because, unlike in Windows Vista, there was no "easy" way to run a specific program as an administrator while using a Limited account. You would have to "switch users" to make your changes. (Yes you could use the Run As command, but many beginners didn't understand) In Windows Vista, though, UAC helps by A: Clearly defining what needs administrator privileges (the shield icon over certain options/programs) and B: Allowing a "Standard" user to quickly gain temporary administrator rights by simply entering the password of an administrator user at the UAC prompt.

I use a standard account for most of my stuff-only typing the password at the UAC prompts when I need to tinker around.

[TuxDude]

In Linux I like to use the normal account most of the times since if I accidentally give a rm -rf * in / when running as root I may delete all the files in my system..... But in Windows I generally like to run as Admin as because UAC is not so powerful as su or sudo under linux.... It is more or less annoying..... For most of the day to day operations I perform on my Windows it would be frequently popping the UAC prompt only.... So I like better to disable UAC and run as Admin...