Beginner Geek: Add a New User Account in Windows 7

Beginner Geek: Add a New User Account in Windows 7

If you’re a home user who skipped the Windows Vista release and are moving from XP to Windows 7, one thing you might want to do is create new user accounts for other members of the household. Since the interface is laid out quite differently than XP, we will take a look at user accounts in the new OS.
Several aspects of the user interface have changed from XP to Vista and Windows 7. If your computer is shared by the rest of your family, it is nice to be able to give each person their own account. However, you probably don’t want to give the same functionality to each of them. Let’s take a look at how to add a new user account, an overview of each account type, and assigning the type to each user. 
Add New User
To add a new user open Control Panel and under User Accounts and Family Safety click on Add or remove user accounts.

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Now click on Create a new account.

Just type in the name of the user and select the type of account. Your best bet is to make them a Standard User so they cannot make changes to system settings, delete other users important files, or change security settings.

Now when you reboot the PC you will see the new users you created at the log in screen.

Standard users won’t be able to make any important system changes without the admin password.

Types of User Accounts
There are three types of user accounts and each provides the user with different levels of control over the computer.

• Administrator – The Admin account have complete control over the computer and its settings.
• Standard – Standard users can use most of the capabilities on the machine. They cannot install software, delete system files, or change settings. If you’re working in a Standard account and need to make system changes, the administrator password will be needed. 
• Guest – Let’s a user have temporary access to the computer. They cannot install software, make any changes, or create a password. This is a good choice for someone to use to check their email quick or type out a document.

Here is an example of what a user with a Standard account would see if they tried to monkey around with something they shouldn’t be.

The Guest user account it off by default but you just need to go in and turn it on.

The only changes available to the Guest account are changing the picture and turning it on or off.

User Account Tips
If you’re the administrator and installing software, remember to select if you want it available for all users or only yourself.

Keep in mind that if you shut down the machine while another person is logged in, they might lose all any data they have not yet saved. Even though you get a confirmation screen, it might be worth mentioning to other users so they are aware of it, especially in a busy household.

These basic tips should help create and configure user accounts so each member of the household has their own account when working on the computer.

Windows Keyboard Shortcuts You Might Not Know

Windows Keyboard Shortcuts You Might Not Know

Mastering the keyboard will not only increase your navigation speed but it can also help with wrist fatigue. Here are some lesser known Windows shortcuts to help you become a keyboard ninja.

Global Windows Shortcuts

Win+1, 2, 3, 4, etc. will launch each program in your taskbar. It is helpful then to keep your most used programs at the beginning of your task bar so you can open them one right after another. This also works in Windows Vista for the quick launch icons.

Win+Alt+1, 2, 3, etc. will open the jump list for each program in the taskbar. You can then use your arrows to select which jump list option you want to open.

Win+T will cycle through taskbar programs. This is similar to just hovering over the item with your mouse but you can launch the program with Space or Enter.

Win+Home minimizes all programs except current the window. This is similar to the Aero shake and can be disabled with the same registry key.
Win+B selects the system tray which isn’t always useful but can come in very handy if your mouse stops working.

Win+Up/Down maximizes and restores down the current window so long as that window has the option to be maximized. It is exactly the same as clicking on the middle button on your windows.
Alt+Esc is like Alt+Tab but switches windows in the order they were opened and does not have the fancy window preview overlay.
Win+Pause/Break will open your system properties window. This can be helpful if you need to see the name of a computer or simple system statistics.

Ctrl+Esc can be used to open the start menu but will not work as a Windows key replacement for other shortcuts.
Ctrl+Shift+Esc will open the task manager without needing to hit Ctrl+Alt+Del first.

Alt+Space will open the window system menu which can be used to maximize (x), minimize (n), close (c), or move (m) the window which can be especially helpful if your window is somehow off-screen. This shortcut can also be helpful with windows that don’t close with the Alt+F4 shortcut such as the command window.

Windows Explorer Shortcuts

Here are handy shortcuts built into Windows Explorer which may have similar features in other programs too.
Alt+Up will navigate up one folder level since the up arrow on the menu bar was removed in Windows Vista. Alternatively, you can also make Backspace go up one folder level with a handy AutoHotKey script.
Shift+F10 opens the contextual or “right click” menu for a file/folder. This can be very handy for speed especially if you know which option you want to select. Look for an underlined letter in each option to know which letter you can press for faster access.

Shift+Del deletes a file without sending it to the recycle bin because who wants to empty their recycle bin anyway?
Ctrl+Shift+N creates a new folder in your current directory.
Alt+Enter opens the file properties so you can view file size, sharing settings, and creation date.

F2 renames a file or folder.
F3 will open explorer and select the search bar. If you already have an explorer window open it will highlight the search bar. In some programs it will also open the search dialog to search within that program.

F6 cycles objects in the current window. In explorer this will cycle between the location bar, options bar, left pane, and right pane. It also works with varying success in other programs.
F10 toggles the file menu in explorer.

Switch users without logging off Windows XP

In Microsoft Windows XP, if you enable the Fast User Switching feature, multiple user accounts can log on to a computer simultaneously. This article describes how to enable and use this feature. With Fast User Switching, users can switch sessions without closing Windows, programs, and so forth. For example, User A is logged on and is browsing the Internet, User B wants to log on to their user account and check their e-mail account. User A can leave their programs running while User B logs on and checks their e-mail account. User A can then return to their session where their programs would still be running.

Fast User Switching is enabled by default in Windows XP Home Edition and Professional on computers with more than 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM. However, Fast User Switching is not available on Windows XP Professional-based computers that are part of a domain network.

Enable or Disable Fast User Switching

Note: To enable Fast User Switching, you must also enable the Use the Welcome screen option. This feature cannot be used if your computer is a member of a domain. To enable Fast User Switching:

1. Log on to the computer as an administrator.
2. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click User Accounts.
3. Click Change the way users log on or off.
4. If it is not already selected, click to select the Use the Welcome screen check box.
   
   NOTE: The Use Fast User Switching check box is unavailable until you click to select the Use the Welcome screen check box.
5. Click to select the Use Fast User Switching check box, and then click Apply Options. Quit the User Accounts tool.
   
   

Switch Users From the Task Manager

When a user initiates the Switch User option, the computer returns to the Welcome screen. The current user's session remains active and another user can now log on and use the computer. You can initiate the Switch User command in any of the following ways:

• Click Start, click Log off, and then click Switch User.
• Open Task Manager (CTRL+ALT+DELETE), and then click Switch User on the Shut Down menu.
• Hold down the Windows key, and then press the L key).
  
  

Switch Users From the Standard Logon Screen

1. Click Start, click Log Off, and then click Switch User. The Windows XP logon screen appears and displays the number of running programs for each user under that user name.
2. Click the user that you want to switch to.
3. Type your password, and then click the arrow button to log on to the computer.
   
   

Manage Other User Sessions

With administrative privileges you can log other users off from the computer, which frees up system resources, and you can send them a message from your session. To do this:

1. Open Task Manager (CTRL+ALT+DELETE).
2. On the Users tab, click the name of the user that you would like to log off or send a message to.
3. Click Logoff to log the user off from the computer, or click Send Message to send the user a message.
   
   

Troubleshooting

Fast User Switching cannot be used when Offline Files are enabled. When you attempt to enable Fast User Switching, you may receive the following error message when you click Change the way users log on or off:

Fast User Switching cannot be used because Offline Files is currently enabled.
To make changes to Offline Files, click OK.

To resolve this issue, disable Offline Files:

1. When you receive the preceding error message, click OK. The Offline Files Settings dialog box appears.
2. Click to clear the Enable Offline Files check box, and then click OK.
   
   NOTE: You will no longer be able to work with files and programs that are stored on the network when you are not connected to the network.

Your computer may run slower than you expect. If you leave many programs running when you switch users, you may notice that your computer runs slower than usual. To resolve this issue, quit some programs before you switch users.

Other users can turn off the computer while programs remain open. When you switch users, another user can turn off the computer. If a logged on user has programs running, they will be closed when the computer is shut down, and this may result in data loss. To prevent this, save your work before you switch users.

Switch users without logging off (windows 7)

If you have more than one user account on your computer, Fast User Switching is an easy way for another person to log on to the computer without logging you off or closing your programs and files. For instructions on creating user accounts, see Create a user account.

1. Click the Start button , and then click the arrow next to the Shut Down button .
2. Click Switch User.
3. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete, and then click the user you want to switch to.

Note

If you are logged on to a remote computer (for instance, using Remote Desktop Connection), you can't use Fast User Switching on that computer.

Warning

Make sure to save any open files before switching users because Windows doesn't automatically save files that are open. If you switch to a different user account and that user shuts down the computer, any unsaved changes you made to files that are open on your account will be lost.

To turn off Fast User Switching (advanced)

If your computer is on a domain, you can turn off Fast User Switching by following these steps:

1. Click the Start button , type gpedit.msc in the search box, and then press Enter.  If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
2. Under Computer Configuration, click the arrow next to Administrative Templates, and then click the arrow next to System.
3. Click the Logon folder.
4. Double-click Hide entry points for Fast User Switching Properties, click Enabled, and then click OK.

Turn on Remote Desktop in Windows 7 or Vista

Turn on Remote Desktop in Windows 7 or Vista

Remote Desktop is disabled by default in Windows 7 or Vista, but it’s easy enough to turn it back on. If you need to access your Vista PC from another box, it’s an essential thing to turn on.
Important note: Remote desktop is only included in the Professional, Business, or Ultimate versions of Windows. Home editions do not have remote desktop.

To get to the configuration page, you can either right-click the Computer icon and choose properties, or you can type in system into the start menu search box, and then find the entry for System.

Now you’ll want to click the Remote Settings link on the left hand side:

Now you can finally turn it on:

To connect from another Vista / Win7 PC on the same network, click the bottom radio button. If you need to connect from an XP/2k machine, click the “Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop” radio button.
Don’t worry about setting up firewall rules, Vista or Windows 7 does that for you automatically.
Note: This should work for both Windows 7 and Vista.

How To: Install Windows 7 Or Windows 8 From USB Drive 

This guide works 100% for Vista & Windows 7 unlike most of the guides out there. I have seen many sites/blogs that have “Install Vista from USB guide” but either with incomplete steps or not working guide. I have also seen some guides that don’t’ use proper commands in this guide. After spending many hours I have come up with this 100% working guide.

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I just did this method on one of my friends machine and installed the new Windows 7 BETA. The main advantage is that by using USB drive you will be able to install Windows 7/Vista in just 15 minutes. You can also use this bootable USB drive on friend’s computer who doesn’t have a DVD optical drive.

The method is very simple and you can use without any hassles. Needless to say that your motherboard should support USB Boot feature to make use of the bootable USB drive.

Requirements:

*USB Flash Drive (Minimum 4GB)

*Windows 7 or Vista installation files.

Follow the below steps to create bootable Windows 7/Vista USB drive using which you can install Windows 7/Vista easily.

1. Plug-in your USB flash drive to USB port and move all the contents from USB drive to a safe location on your system.

2. Open Command Prompt with admin rights. Use any of the below methods to open Command Prompt with admin rights.

*Type cmd in Start menu search box and hit Ctrl+ Shift+ Enter.

Or

*Go to Start menu > All programs > Accessories, right click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

3. You need to know about the USB drive a little bit. Type in the following commands in the command prompt:

First type DISKPART and hit enter to see the below message.

Next type LIST DISK command and note down the Disk number (ex: Disk 1) of your USB flash drive. In the below screenshot my Flash Drive Disk no is Disk 1.

4. Next type all the below commands one by one. Here I assume that your disk drive no is “Disk 1”.If you have Disk 2 as your USB flash drive then use Disk 2.Refer the above step to confirm it.

So below are the commands you need to type and execute one by one:

SELECT DISK 1

CLEAN

CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY

SELECT PARTITION 1

ACTIVE

FORMAT FS=NTFS

(Format process may take few seconds)

ASSIGN

EXIT

Don’t close the command prompt as we need to execute one more command at the next step. Just minimize it.

5. Next insert your Windows7/Vista DVD into the optical drive and check the drive letter of the DVD drive. In this guide I will assume that your DVD drive letter is “D” and USB drive letter is “H” (open my computer to know about it).

6. Maximize the minimized Command Prompt in the 4th step.Type  the following command now:

D: CD BOOT and hit enter.Where “D” is your DVD drive letter.

CD BOOT and hit enter to see the below message.

7. Type another command given below to update the USB drive with BOOTMGR compatible code.

BOOTSECT.EXE /NT60 H:

Where “H” is your USB drive letter. Once you enter the above command you will see the below message.

8. Copy your Windows 7/Vista DVD contents to the USB flash drive.

9. Your USB drive is ready to boot and install Windows 7/Vista. Only thing you need to change the boot priority at the BIOS to USB from the HDD or CD ROM drive. I won’t explain it as it’s just the matter the changing the boot priority or enabling the USB boot option in the BIOS.

Note: If you are not able to boot after following this guide means you haven’t set the BIOS priority to USB. If you got any problem in following this guide feel free to ask questions by leaving comment.