Windows 7 User Account Types

Windows 7 supports two basic types of user accounts: Administrator and Standard User. Each one of these accounts has a specific purpose:


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Administrator The Administrator account provides unrestricted access for performing administrative tasks. As a result, Administrator accounts should be used only for performing administrative tasks and should not be used for normal computing tasks. Only Administrator accounts can change the Registry. This is important to know because when you install most software onto a Windows 7 machine, the Registry gets changed. This is why you need administrator rights to install most software.



Standard User You should apply the Standard User account for every user of the computer. Standard User accounts can perform most day to-day tasks, such as running Microsoft Word, accessing email, using Internet Explorer, and so on. Running as a Standard User increases security by limiting the possibility of a virus or other malicious code from infecting the computer and making system wide changes, because Standard User accounts are unable to make system wide changes.