Chapter 6: Sharing Your Computer with Multiple Users

Chapter Introduction

Because Windows XP is based on Windows 2000, it has a bevy of security-oriented features that were never present in Windows Me/9x. Windows Me/9x (like the original DOS operating system on which they were based) had almost no built-in security, with no way to prevent one user from reading another user's files. For example, if you create multiple user profiles on a computer running Windows 98 Second Edition, you see a password dialog box when you start Windows. This suggests that the computer is secure, but you can simply click Cancel and get complete access. Windows XP can require a user name and password, and, if you make too many attempts to gain entry, Windows XP can also deny further attempts for a period of time.

Windows XP also has a new feature, Fast User Switching, so that multiple people can be logged on and running programs at the same time. Once you have created separate user accounts for the people who will use the computer, you can set file and folder permissions to control who can open, run, modify, or delete files and folders. It also provides Simple File Sharing, which makes it easy to share access to files and folders with other people who use your computer. This chapter examines how to set up Windows for multiple users, including creating user accounts, assigning passwords, logging on, and switching users. We also describe how to log on and off, and how to check who's logged on.

Chapter 29 describes how to share files, folders, and printers with other people on a local area network (LAN), rather than users on a single computer. For network security topics, such as how to send secure e-mail, control what information Internet Explorer stores on your disk, or protect your computer from viruses, see Chapter 31.

If your computer is part of a local area network that includes a Windows NT, 2000, or Windows .NET Server, it is probably part of a domain--a workgroup that is controlled by a server computer. If your computer is part of a domain, don't set up or modify user accounts on your computer without consulting your network administrator, because user accounts are probably managed on the server using Windows authentication services. Domain-based networks are covered in Windows .NET Server: The Complete Reference (by Kathy Ivens, published by Osborne/McGraw-Hill)--the instructions in this chapter apply primarily to workgroup-based LANs and multiple people using one computer.

Windows XP Home Edition doesn't contain all the features described in this chapter. We note which features are missing in Windows XP Home Edition.