Configuring an Account
After the account is created, you can configure a few options for it by clicking on the user on the Manage Accounts page:
• Change the Account Name—The name you type here appears on the Welcome screen and Start menu.
• Change a Password—In this dialog, you can change a password and password hint.
• Set Up Family Safety—This opens the Family Safety item, allowing you to customize the configuration of the account.
• Change the Account Type—Select
between Standard User or Administrator accounts. You would want to
limit the amount of users that have Administrator accounts, as these
users will have full control of Windows 8.
• Delete the Account—Before
deleting the account, you are prompted whether you want to save the
user’s personalized data (such as documents, favorites, music,
pictures, and more).
Recovering Lost Passwords
From time to time a user might forget the
password he uses to log on to Windows 8. Without the password, there is
no logging on to the system—plain and simple. To ward off a potential
problem, it’s recommended that each password-protected user account
create a password reset disk. Bear in mind, however, that the password
reset disk needs to be created from the account requesting it, and you
can only perform this on local accounts (you won’t see the tool if you
are logged in with a Microsoft account). This means if you’ve lost your
password without having created a reset disk, you have no way of
recovering the password.
Creating a User Account Password Reset Disk
The following steps require you to log on to
the account you want to create the password reset disk for. An optional
USB drive can be used to save the password.
1. Log-on to the account you want to create a password reset disk for.
2. From the Start screen right-click on the screen.
3. Click the All Apps button that appears on the lower-right corner of the screen.
4. Select Control Panel.
5. Click the User Accounts and Family Safety group.
6. Click User Accounts.
7. In the left pane,
click Create a Password Reset Disk. This opens the Forgotten Password
Wizard. (If you intend to save this to a USB drive, insert that drive
now.)
8. Click Next.
9. Select the location where you want to create the password key disk from the drop-down menu.
10. Click Next.
11. Type your account password in the text box.
12. Click Next. A progress indicator appears as the key is being saved.
13. When the indicator stops at 100%, click Next.
14. Click Finish. You can locate your key on the media you saved it to by finding the file userkey.psw.
Another quick way to
reset your account password is to have someone who has an administrator
account log on and manually replace your password. Then you can log on
with the password they provide and change the password.
If you are an administrator doing this on
behalf of a user, be careful; there is a potential risk involved. When
you use an administrator account to reset a password for another user,
that user loses access to his or her encrypted files, encrypted email
messages, and stored passwords for websites or network resources.
This same risk does not apply if a user uses a password reset disk to reset her password.
Deleting a User Account While Keeping the User’s Files
From time to time, you might need to delete a
user account. Like the other aspects of user accounts, this is easily
done. The key to completing this is logging on with an administrator
account.
The following steps show you how to delete a
user account while keeping its data. On completion of the steps, the
data is saved in a folder on the Desktop.
1. Log on to an administrator account.
2. From the Start screen right-click on the screen
3. Click the All Apps button that appears on the lower-right corner of the screen.
4. Select Control Panel.
5. Click the User Accounts and Family Safety group.
6. Click User Accounts.
7. Click Manage Another Account.
8. Select the account you want to delete by clicking on it.
9. Click Delete the Account.
10. You are asked to either Delete Files or Keep Files. Click the Keep Files button.
11. You are asked to
confirm the deletion along with a message that the user’s files will be
saved in a folder placed on your Desktop. Click the Delete Account
button.
12. Minimize the Manage Accounts page and locate the saved data in the folder Windows created on your Desktop.
