What kind of user account do you normally use?

I use Admin, and I have my kids set as limited. I deleted that other one, called tech. I forgot the whole name of it, but I deleted it But now I wonder what that one was for?

 

'I usually make 2 accounts, 1 which is admin and goes by my name and the other I name 'Limited' for obvious reasons.'

I voted Admin above but

...I like to run browsers and email limited, 'Run as' Limited in admins account works or try another app, Process Explorers 'Run as Limited User...' will do the trick.
You can also automate the process so not to have to right click : r/c shortcut, select properties, click on short-cut tab and then Advanced - select run with different credentials then click ok.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Mercurie, ADMIN., all the little chicks LIMITED.

 

Always Administrator...

 

ADMIN , windows doesn't have a good enough normal user setting yet like *nix.

Alphalutra1

 

An account with local admin privvies. I always give the Administrator account a password also..IMO many people perform the mistake of leaving it blank..and there is some malware that can install itself assuming that.

Also...how many people here have worked on networks (domains)..where the person who set it up still leaves the local Administrator account <blank>

 

As usual, the Administrator! Because running with Limited accounts is called messed-up security and MS made the LUA system in XP way too bungled up.
You run as an admin, with various security restrictions and proper and layered security programs in place.

 

You should never run as an admin, unless you really need to for installations or changing security settings. Your HIPS settings can be changed, hacked, AV turned off, etc., and you could screw something up when you're not paying attention to what you're doing. It's just really careless to do that.
Newbies...

I do it....but YOU SHOULDN'T DO THAT!

 

good way to set an example

38 admin vs 2 limited users. yup we need vista.

 

I read, that eg. IE will run, even in admin account, with limited rights in Vista.
I asked beta tester and he confirmed me, that I will be able to disable it, cool.

 

Only Admin account . I cannot do many things in my limited account in XP

 

Admin
But...Browsers and e-mail are run as non-admin (via DropMyRights).

 

The only valid rationale I know is this: Running as an administrator is required for some programs to function properly.

And remember that you cannot expect everyone to run with limited rights. Becuase too much security can kill your functionality.

Which is more worthwhile? There's no answer to that.

What's a balanced diet in this case? Running with administrator rights is not necessarily a security risk, but it is what I call balanced security. Which means you won't lose any security while still retaining functionality.

As always, it seems to be a choice.

This is education. And there's really no need to label others as newbies or whatever other name, because we're all learning together as a community. Even the experts need to learn new things to keep up-to-date,right?

 

Administrator on this box. I want to control everything, having enough toys to protect this box.

I don't see a newbie as an inferior person. My wife is a newbie regarding computer security, but regarding a lot of other things not (I am sometimes).

Gerard

 

In between there is the power user option.

At work we use power user, eitehr it alwais work .. or there is a nice prompt that say: enter admion login when needed.

However one should not rely on poer user to secure a network as from there it's easier to get root access if you are a malicious user. But as long as self-security goes ... it's a nice option.

 

I use Admin. account being the only user of this computer.
I have read a few times it is safer to use Limited account, but a number of years later so far, so good.

 

I run as administrator...

 

Nobody likes to be limited in what he is doing. No wonder the administrator vote is so high.
An adminstrator account = freedom, a limlted account = handcuffs.

 

I run in admin mode but I do restrict certain processes from running in "admin mode" with the Software Restriction Policy tool found in XP Pro.

I have also hardened my system as much as possible, this means disabling stuff that can be used in attacks (Command Prompt, Windows Scripting Host, Services etc.). Of course I don´t need this stuff most of the time, but if I do I can temporarily enable them.

But I´m still looking for a good sandbox tool that will restrict certain processes even more. Of course I´m also blocking all executable and other possible dangerous files from executing with SRP and SSM. Combined with common sense, my system should be malware free, normally speaking.

 

Admin. here, too many hassles as limited account. Besides my system is well protected anyway.

 

Limited User

Only run as sys admin when needed ..

 

I only uses Limited Account when surfing the net, and Administrative Account for some other things. I think, you're very safe on the net when you are in a limited acct. together with good protection softwares. But some programs don't behave well in limited acct but I'd rather not use those programs.

 

I only use Admin because of how restrictive Limited is. But my XP installs have first been stripped of most of the vulnerabilities with nLite.

But I use it without a password, because you are better off not having one if you are the only one using it and you have physical security of it. XP will not let anyone by default (even the best hackers) into your user account from the outside if there is no password on it. However, if you have a password and someone figures it out with a keylogger/trojan or something, then you are owned.

 

Well, wasn't there malware that took advantage of the assumption that Administrator didn't have a password?

 

Administrator always, same reason as all of the above.