Enabling or disabling the guest account
The Guest account is for anybody who
might need to use your computer on a temporary basis. For example, with
a home computer, you might set up a Guest account for houseguests so
that they can check their e-mail, browse the web, and such. The Guest
account has very limited privileges, so you don’t have to worry about
guests messing things up while using your computer.
The Guest account is turned off by
default. You can keep it that way until you actually need it. To
activate the Guest account, go to the Manage Accounts Control Panel
page and click the Guest account icon. Then choose Turn On. Likewise,
should you ever need to disable the Guest account, click its icon on
the Manage Accounts page and then click Turn Off the Guest account.
Navigating through user account pages
In Windows 8, user account management
involves using two environments, including the Control Panel and PC
Settings page. You can use the Control Panel to complete almost all
user account tasks, even those that use the new PC Settings page. When
you get to a task, it’s largely just a matter of choosing options and
reading text that’s right on the screen. Windows provides links to
advance to configuration screens. Some links are blue text (standard
web hypertext color), while others use new Windows 8 buttons to display
new settings or options for a task (as in Figure 12).
You can use Back and Forward buttons to get around from page to page.
You can click the Manage Another Account link on the User Accounts page.
Cracking into standard user accounts
If a local standard user forgets his or
her password, you can use an account that has administrative privileges
to reset the standard user’s password. If you’re an administrator and
just want to see what a standard user is up to, you can use this same
technique to change the password and get full access to its folders.
Caution
This approach will cause the standard
user to lose access to encrypted files and e-mail messages created in
an e-mail program such as Windows Live Mail.
To change the password for a local standard user account:
1. Log in to a user account that has administrative privileges.
2. Go to the
Manage Accounts page (press Windows Key+X and choose Control Panel,
click User Accounts, and click Manage Another Account).
3. Click the password-protected account for which the user has forgotten the password.
4. Click the Change The Password link.
5. Enter a new password and then enter it again to confirm it.
6. Type a password hint.
7. Click Change Password to save the new password.
The local standard user account
will now have a new password. Be sure to share this password with the
user so he or she can sign into Windows.
