Make a limited XP account without losing settings?
in [Design]
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From: Joel Koltner on 20 Jul 2010 14:55 "Joerg" <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in message news:8am424Fv4jU1(a)mid.individual.net... > For trips where a laptop may be exposed to unsecured WLAN it would be > good to have a limited user account. Easy to do but: Every time I switch > an account from "administrator" to "limited" all the Windows daftnesses > creep back in. Tons of sounds, touchpad tap, IOW all the stuff that > needs to get turned off after buying a computer. Needless to say, once > switched to "limited" XP does not allow one to change any of this. "Limited" might be a bit too ...limiting... but "power user" accounts are usually quite serviceable except for installing some new software or hardware drivers. Some ideas: If you go to control panel, you can shift+right click an icon to get a menu that includes "Run as..." -- you then enter the name and password of an admin account and you can change whatever you want for that limited user. In general you can right-click a program or shortcut and yse "Run as..."; the control panel applets just need shift held done as well for some reasons. The menus that show up in the start menu are a combination (merging) of "c:\documents and settings\[your user name]\Start Menu" and "c:\documents and settings\all users\Start Menu". If you're logged on as an admin, right-clicking the start menu button gets you both "Open" and "Open all users," which lets you easily copy the shortcuts for a program you installed just for yourself to show up for all users. (Although most newer setup.exe's include a clickable options for "Install for everyone who uses this computer" vs. "Install for just me.") Unfortunately XP was introduced back when Microsoft was still in the mindset of, "well, individual users are probably OK just running as admins 100% of the time" so it is just plain old clunky to want to run under a more limited account. There are some utilities that can help here as well, e.g., "cpau" (http://www.joeware.net/freetools/tools/cpau/index.htm) which lets your limited account essentially do a "run as" with any program that can be launched from the command line. Making a batch file to run cpau to launch explorer.exe is quite useful, as is one to launch cmd.exe if you prefer the command-line environment. ---Joel
From: Joerg on 20 Jul 2010 15:30 Joel Koltner wrote: > "Joerg" <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in message > news:8am424Fv4jU1(a)mid.individual.net... >> For trips where a laptop may be exposed to unsecured WLAN it would be >> good to have a limited user account. Easy to do but: Every time I switch >> an account from "administrator" to "limited" all the Windows daftnesses >> creep back in. Tons of sounds, touchpad tap, IOW all the stuff that >> needs to get turned off after buying a computer. Needless to say, once >> switched to "limited" XP does not allow one to change any of this. > > "Limited" might be a bit too ...limiting... but "power user" accounts > are usually quite serviceable except for installing some new software or > hardware drivers. > My XP only offers "admin" and "limited". > Some ideas: > > If you go to control panel, you can shift+right click an icon to get a > menu that includes "Run as..." -- you then enter the name and password > of an admin account and you can change whatever you want for that > limited user. > > In general you can right-click a program or shortcut and yse "Run > as..."; the control panel applets just need shift held done as well for > some reasons. > Yes, but this did not work with the control panel. Which I'd need to turn those <censored> sounds off. > The menus that show up in the start menu are a combination (merging) of > "c:\documents and settings\[your user name]\Start Menu" and > "c:\documents and settings\all users\Start Menu". If you're logged on > as an admin, right-clicking the start menu button gets you both "Open" > and "Open all users," which lets you easily copy the shortcuts for a > program you installed just for yourself to show up for all users. > (Although most newer setup.exe's include a clickable options for > "Install for everyone who uses this computer" vs. "Install for just me.") > > Unfortunately XP was introduced back when Microsoft was still in the > mindset of, "well, individual users are probably OK just running as > admins 100% of the time" so it is just plain old clunky to want to run > under a more limited account. ... It sure is clunky. Lots of things won't work in limited mode. I mean, what's the security risk in turning sounds on and off? They could at least allow part of the control panel. XP ain't that old, they had 95, 98, NT and 2000 before. But ... > ...There are some utilities that can help > here as well, e.g., "cpau" > (http://www.joeware.net/freetools/tools/cpau/index.htm) which lets your > limited account essentially do a "run as" with any program that can be > launched from the command line. Making a batch file to run cpau to > launch explorer.exe is quite useful, as is one to launch cmd.exe if you > prefer the command-line environment. > Thanks, that one I'll have to try out. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Joel Koltner on 20 Jul 2010 15:59 "Joerg" <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in message news:8ambqoFgivU1(a)mid.individual.net... > My XP only offers "admin" and "limited". Ah, you must be running XP Home. Gotcha... although I can't say I have that much experience with it. > It sure is clunky. Lots of things won't work in limited mode. I mean, > what's the security risk in turning sounds on and off? There's no security risk, but in the mind of many an IT guy, "limited" users aren't "supposed" to change sounds, backgrouns, keyboard/mouse settings, the start menu, etc. since it's just "asking for trouble" -- or something like that. Apparently Microsoft largely agrees with that definition... ---Joel
From: Joerg on 20 Jul 2010 16:07 Joel Koltner wrote: > "Joerg" <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in message > news:8ambqoFgivU1(a)mid.individual.net... >> My XP only offers "admin" and "limited". > > Ah, you must be running XP Home. Gotcha... although I can't say I have > that much experience with it. > Yes, XP Home. >> It sure is clunky. Lots of things won't work in limited mode. I mean, >> what's the security risk in turning sounds on and off? > > There's no security risk, but in the mind of many an IT guy, "limited" > users aren't "supposed" to change sounds, backgrouns, keyboard/mouse > settings, the start menu, etc. since it's just "asking for trouble" -- > or something like that. Apparently Microsoft largely agrees with that > definition... > Well, I guess then Microsoft should get into the habit of talking more to their customers. They tout in their latest ads that customers built Win7 but I don't believe that. Everyone is bitching about this limited user stuff around here. So they all run it as admin, not good. That's a large part of the virus issues we are hearing about, if not the largest. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Nunya on 20 Jul 2010 17:51
On Jul 20, 1:07 pm, Joerg <inva...(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: > Joel Koltner wrote: > > "Joerg" <inva...(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in message > >news:8ambqoFgivU1(a)mid.individual.net... > >> My XP only offers "admin" and "limited". > > > Ah, you must be running XP Home. Gotcha... although I can't say I have > > that much experience with it. > > Yes, XP Home. > > >> It sure is clunky. Lots of things won't work in limited mode. I mean, > >> what's the security risk in turning sounds on and off? > > > There's no security risk, but in the mind of many an IT guy, "limited" > > users aren't "supposed" to change sounds, backgrouns, keyboard/mouse > > settings, the start menu, etc. since it's just "asking for trouble" -- > > or something like that. Apparently Microsoft largely agrees with that > > definition... > > Well, I guess then Microsoft should get into the habit of talking more > to their customers. They tout in their latest ads that customers built > Win7 but I don't believe that. Everyone is bitching about this limited > user stuff around here. So they all run it as admin, not good. That's a > large part of the virus issues we are hearing about, if not the largest. > > -- > Regards, Joerg > > http://www.analogconsultants.com/ > > "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. > Use another domain or send PM. There is no "admin mode" in Windows7. This is about XP, and should be about Pro as any idiot that buys anything else should be ignored. Anyone that opts for the home version is an idiot. The pro version and ultimate versions have the functionality you need. Especially if you have a multi-core motherboard and want optimal use of it. It isn't all about the frills. Then, you can make a user and then downgrade that user's abilities. Vista and 7 have a different paradigm altogether. |