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Modifying a User Account

You can make changes to existing accounts, such as specifying a password for that account, changing the picture, and so on. A picture appears on the Welcome screen, as well as at the top of the Start menu. You can, for instance, use one of the selected Windows pictures. As another example, you may assign a password so that no one can log on to the computer without first typing a password.

To modify an account, follow these steps:

1.	Click Start and then click Control Panel.
2.	Click User Accounts in the Control Panel window. Any accounts you have created are listed (refer to Figure 22.1).
3.	Select the account in the User Accounts window. You'll see the available options for modifying this account (see Figure 22.4). Figure 22.4. You can modify existing accounts as needed.
4.	You can then make any of the changes covered in the following sections.
5.	When you are finished making changes, close the Control Panel window.

Changing the Account Name

To change the name of the account, click Change the name. In the screen that appears, type a new name and then click the Change Name button. Again, this name shows up on the Welcome screen and Start menu.

tip

You can also remove a password. To do so, display the account and then click Remove the Password. Click the Remove the Password button to confirm the deletion. Keep in mind that doing so also removes any passwords you have saved for your Internet browsing. If you have to type a password, Internet Explorer asks whether you want it to remember that password automatically. If you click Yes, the password is stored with your account. Deleting the account password deletes all of these passwords as well.

Adding a Password

If you want to apply some security to using the computer, you can assign a password to an account. Then a user must type the password to log on to that account.

To create a password, click Create a password. You'll see several text boxes (see Figure 22.5). Type the password you want to use in the first text box. Type it again to confirm in the second text box. Finally, type a hint to help you remember the password. When you've completed all three text box entries, click the Create Password button. Now, this person is prompted to type the password to gain access to this account.

Figure 22.5. Assign a password for one measure of security.

Assigning a Picture

Windows XP assigns a graphic image to each account (including an airplane, butterfly , guitar, chess set, and others). If you don't like the graphics, you can use one of the other icons supplied with Windows XP. If none of these suits your fancy, you can use other graphic images. For instance, you might use actual pictures of each person for his or her account.

To use a different picture for the account, follow these steps:

Click Change the picture.

Select from one of the available pictures (see Figure 22.6).

Figure 22.6. You can select from several images included with Windows XP.

Or

Click Browse for more pictures to select another picture (for instance, a photograph) that is stored in another location. Open the folder that contains the image (see Figure 22.7). Select the image and then click Open. The image is then used for this account (see Figure 22.8).

Figure 22.7. To use another image, browse to that drive and folder.

Figure 22.8. You might, for instance, use a photograph of each person.

Changing the Account Type

If you want to set limits (or lift the limits) on a user account, change the account type. To do so, click Change the account type, select the account type, and then click the Change Account Type button. You can view the specifics for the different account types by checking the screen. When you select an account type, you see a description of what that person can (and cannot do).

Deleting an Account

If someone no longer uses the computer (perhaps he got his own!), you can delete accounts. Doing so frees up the disk space taken by this person's user account settings and documents. (You do have the option of saving the documents or deleting them.)

To delete an account, follow these steps:

1.	Select the account you want to change.
2.	Click Delete the account. You are then prompted to keep or delete the files (see Figure 22.9). Figure 22.9. You can delete outdated or unused accounts.
3.	Select whether to keep or delete the account files by clicking Keep Files or Delete Files. Next you are prompted to confirm the deletion.
4.	Click the Delete Account button.

The Absolute Minimum

User accounts provide a handy way to let multiple users have personalized versions of Windows XP that suit how each person uses the computer (including how the desktop appears, the list of favorite sites, and so on). For this purpose, Windows enables you to create user accounts. You can use this feature to do the following:

You can set up accounts for each person who uses the computer by selecting an account name, picture, and type.
When you turn on the computer, all user accounts are displayed. You can then log on to your account.
When you are done using the computer, you should log off. Then another user can log on. You can have several people logged on at the same time and simply switch users, but it's best to conserve system resources by logging off. Use the Log Off button on the Start menu to log off.
Any changes made to Windows settings are saved each time a person logs off.
You can modify a user's account as needed by changing the name, type, or picture. You can also assign passwords and delete unneeded accounts.