Switching Users

One neat new feature of Windows XP is that you don't have to reboot your computer to switch users.

Under previous versions of Windows, the only way to change users was to restart the computer and log on as a different user. Windows XP uses something called Fast User Switching to change users without rebooting. In fact, when you switch to another user and then back again, all your open programs and documents are still there, still open and running. It's almost like having multiple users logged on at the same time!

Activating Fast User Switching

For Fast User Switching to work, you have to turn it on. (And only a computer administrator can do this.) Follow these steps:

1.	From the User Accounts utility, select the Change the Way Users Log On or Off option.
2.	When the next screen appears, check both the Use the Welcome Screen and Use Fast User Switching options.
3.	Click OK.

To switch users under Fast User Switching, all you have to do is click the Start button, click the Log Off button, and then select Switch User from the Log Off Windows dialog box. When the Welcome screen appears, click the user to switch to and enter the password (if assigned).

That's it. Windows will now log on the next user, with all that user's settings active. Which means that this instance of Windows could look and feel quite different from what was just on the screen mere seconds ago.

CAUTION

The only downside to using Fast User Switching is that it causes your computer to run slower when multiple users are logged on. (That's because everyone's programs keep running in the background.) If your system is too sluggish, turn off Fast User Switching and make everyone log on and off like they used to in previous versions of Windows. I can't stress this point enough Fast User Switching eats up a lot of RAM. Beyond the recommended minimum 256MB of RAM, you should plan on adding another 64MB of RAM for each user that will be using Fast User Switching.

That's because Windows XP automatically saves the settings for each user and activates that user's settings when the user logs on. So if you'd selected one wallpaper and the next user had selected another, the wallpaper would change, as would all the customization options discussed in Chapter 2, "Changing the Way Windows Looks and Acts," including folder settings, display settings, special effects, and so on.

When you switch back to your account, all the settings change again which is a heck of a lot better than reconfiguring Windows every time a new user logs on!

Now, if you'd rather just log off permanently, that's a different deal. When you log off permanently, all your open documents and applications close, and won't be there waiting for you when you next log on. To log off in this fashion, without necessarily switching users, click the Start button, click the Log Off button, and then select Log Off.