Windows 7 : Creating and Managing User Accounts (part 2) - Working with the User Accounts Dialog Box

Working with the User Accounts Dialog Box

Control Panel’s User Accounts window has one major limitation: It offers only the Administrator and Standard User account types. If you want to assign a user to one of the other groups, you have to use the User Accounts dialog box. You get there by following these steps:

To enable the list of users, make sure that the Users Must Enter a User Name and Password to Use This Computer check box is activated.

Adding a New User

To add a new user via the User Accounts dialog box, follow these steps:

Performing Other User Tasks

Here’s a list of the other tasks you can perform in the User Accounts dialog box:

• Delete a user— Select the user and click Remove. When Windows 7 asks you to confirm, click Yes.

• Change the user’s name or group— Select the user and click Properties to display the user’s property sheet. Use the General tab to change the username; use the Group Membership tab to assign the user to a different group. Note that you can only assign the user to a single group using this method. If you need to assign a user to multiple groups, see “Working with the Local Users and Groups Snap-In,” next.

• Change the user’s password— Select the user and click Reset Password. Type the password in the New Password and Confirm New Password text boxes and click OK.

Working with the Local Users and Groups Snap-In

The most powerful of the Windows 7 tools for working with users is the Local Users and Groups MMC snap-in. To load this snap-in, Windows 7 offers three methods:

• In the User Accounts dialog box (refer to the previous section), display the Advanced tab, and then click the Advanced button.

• Select Start, type lusrmgr.msc, and then press Enter.

• Select Start, right-click Computer, and then click Manage. In the Computer Management window, select System Tools, Local Users and Groups.

Whichever method you use, in the snap-in window that appears, select the Users branch to see a list of the users on your system, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. The Users branch lists all the system’s users and enables you to add, modify, and delete users.

From here, you can perform the following tasks:

• Add a new user— Make sure that no user is selected, and then select Action, New User. In the New User dialog box, type the User Name, Password, and Confirm Password. Click Create.

• Change a user’s name— Right-click the user, and then click Rename.

• Change a user’s password— Right-click the user, and then click Set Password.

• Add a user to a group— Double-click the user to open the user’s property sheet. In the Member Of tab, click Add and use the Enter the Object Names to Select box to enter the group name. If you’re not sure of the name, click Advanced to open the Select Groups dialog box, click Find Now to list all the groups, select the group, and then click OK. Click OK to close the property sheet.

  Note

  Another way to add a user to a group is to select the Groups branch in the Local Users and Groups snap-in. Right-click the group you want to work with, and then click Add to Group. Now click Add, type the username in the Enter the Object Names to Select box, and then click OK.

  
  

• Remove a user from a group— Double-click the user to open the user’s property sheet. In the Member Of tab, select the group from which you want the user removed, and then click Remove. Click OK to close the property sheet.

• Change a user’s profile— Double-click the user to open the user’s property sheet. Use the Profile tab to change the profile path, logon script, and home folder (activate the Local Path option to specify a local folder; or activate Connect to specify a shared network folder).

• Disable an account— Double-click the user to open the user’s property sheet. In the General tab, activate the Account Is Disabled check box.

• Delete a user— Right-click the user, and then click Delete. When Windows 7 asks you to confirm, click Yes.