Answers: security - Creating limited user account on Windows 7

serena

I'm sharing my PC (Win 7 x64 Home Premium) with a friend, and I wanna create a guest user for her. I don't want her to reach my files, Windows settings, program adjustments etc. She should just surf the net, create/edit her own Word, Excel documents, and simple things like these. How can I create this user account and make the necessary arrangements for limitations?

Neal

You can create a user in the "User Accounts and Family Safety" section of the Control Panel. Create the account as a "Standard" user.

This new user shouldn't be able to see or change anything that matters to you, but you can add extra restrictions if you like, such as not allowing access to some programs, by setting up "Parental Controls".

security - How can a Windows 7 user account be hacked?

windows-7 security user-accounts

eran

Last week I had some serious problems with my PC, so I asked the shop from which I bought it to have it fixed. Today I got it back, and noticed two strange things:

I have two user accounts. When I wanted to get into mine, I wasn't asked for a password (and I did have a password for it)
Windows has notified me my license wasn't legal. And indeed, the license key was not the one I have been using (which is legal)

I called the shop, and they said they use their own hard drive when checking hardware problems, in order not to cause any loss of data for the customer. Since my system has indeed become extremely unstable prior to the fix, I assumed the problems were caused when I still had the PC.

Now, I've just noticed there's an unfamiliar folder on my desktop, with some hardware testing tools. The folder was created yesterday, before I got the PC back, but the files owner was my user... Sadly, I've already cleared the event logs, so I have no further proofs, but it seems to me the technicians have somehow reset my user's password, and have used it to log in.

I'm not interested in becoming a hacker, and I don't need the details. Just wondering if this is possible. Should I be extremely angry, or am I missing something?

(FWIW, they told me they've replaced my 4GB G.Skill RAM and AMD Phenom 945 CPU. God knows how those two would break while the motherboard survives. OS is Win7 x64)

Related Answers

Pitto

My two cents:

at the repair shop they cracked your password with a tool (ERD commander, MiniPE or any kind of similar software) just to test if the pc was ok. In third world countries like mine (Italy :P) it's VERY common. Of course you could try a serious antivirus and antispyware software (in the free as in beer world I'd suggest Malwarebytes Antimalware and Super Antispyware) to be sure you didn't get any other guest. Just to live with a better smile maybe a format is not a bad idea: everytime you format your pc you make it a little better and learn a little more! If I can suggest also a wonderful tool to install easily all the "basic stuff": http://www.ninite.com

Have fun and next time you'll be there just keep your hd @ home :)

Kyle

I work in a tech shop. If we can't get hold of a customer to find out their password, we reset it to a blank one so we can work on the machine. So in your case, this is normal.

We also copy files to a hard drive to do general diagnostics, but we delete them afterwards. Again, in your case, it's normal but they got sloppy.

RAM and CPU can be damaged by power spikes and leave the motherboard alone. It's not common, and is very difficult to diagnose, but it's theoretically possible.

In any event, your Windows activation kicked in because of the new CPU, so phone in the number with your existing key and you should be good to go. It's automated and takes five minutes or less.

I hope this helps.

Sathya

Just wondering if this is possible

Yes. It's trivial to reset Windows password.

Should I be extremely angry, or am I missing something?

What would you be angry about ?