Benefits
Each user can have a customized interface

Time
15 minutes

Skill Level
Intermediate

When more than one person uses a Windows 98 computer, each user prefers his or her own configuration for both Windows and applications such as the one in the Microsoft Office suite. Rather than trying to compromise on one configuration for all users, you can give each user his or her own configuration.

The Win98 operating system can track as many users as you want. In addition, each user is free to vary most Windows options and any application options stored in the Registry. (The Registry is a database that contains information about user preferences and system configuration in Windows.)



Create The First Profile.

You create unique user accounts using Multiple User Profiles. To create a profile, click Start, Settings, and Control Panel. Then double-click the Users icon. If the system does not already have a user profile, the multiuser settings wizard will run. It will prompt you for a user name and password. Next, Win98 will ask you to select the things you want to be able to customize. Your options are Desktop Folders And Document Menus, Start Menu, Favorites Folder, Downloaded Web Pages, and My Documents Folder. Most users will want to select all these. Finally, you have the option of starting this profile as a copy of the present profile or as a blank profile. Most users will want to start with a copy.

You may be tempted to enter a password to protect your files. Don't bother. Without the password, no one can log in as you and change your profile settings. However, another person can press the Cancel button on the logon screen to anonymously log on. When someone does this, he or she will have full access to all the files on the computer.



Manage & Create Additional Profiles.

After creating the first profile, selecting Users in the Control Panel brings up a dialog box that lets you create a new user using the wizard discussed above. You can also delete an existing user (but not the present user) and change your profile password.

Installing new programs and removing existing ones gets harder when you have multiple profiles. Most installation (and uninstall) routines only affect the present profile. Add a new program, and it will only show up in the menu of the present user. (However, the program will still be accessible from the hard drive.) Uninstall a program, and it will be removed only from the menu of the present user. Other users will still see the program's icon, even though the program is no longer present on the hard drive. So, it is best to get all the programs installed before you consider multiple profiles. ( NOTE: This all depends on the selections you made when you created the first profile.)



Switch Profiles.

When you install the first user profile, Windows adds an additional item to the Start menu. If you are logged on using the profile, there will be a Log Off option in the Start menu. This allows you to log off, and it automatically brings up the dialog box for the next user to log on.



How Do Profiles Work?

Windows stores most of the icons for your Desktop in the C:\WINDOWS\DESKTOP subdirectory. The Start Menu and Favorites list are stored in the C:\WINDOWS \START MENU and C:\WINDOWS\FAVORITES subdirectories, respectively. The Registry is stored in two hidden files, System.dat and User.dat.

With profiles activated, Windows creates a unique subdirectory for each user inside the C:\WINDOWS\PROFILES subdirectory. Each profile subdirectory will have a User.dat Registry file and a set of subdirectories to store the items that profile can change.



Add A Little Security.

There are two options to slightly increasing the security of Win98. The first is to password protect your screen saver. To do this, click Start, then select Settings, Control Panel, and Display. On the Screen Saver tab, click Password Protect and then Change to enter a password. Even though you must enter a password to resume once the screen saver kicks in, suave users can reboot to bypass this.

Many computers also offer a boot password through the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS). To use this, reboot and start the setup program, usually by pressing DELETE or a similar key. Each BIOS will be different, so follow the instructions to set a boot password. Once the computer boots, this offers no additional protection.



More Security.

If you need higher security, you need the Windows NT operating system. Its security is based on user accounts. With WinNT, the system administrator can control access to the machine for each account on a per file, directory, or program basis. Security is established, removed, and disabled with the User Manager in the Administrative Tools group.

The administrator profile has full access. The administrator can set up lower-access profiles as required. Even the administrator should have a lower-access profile for performing general, nonadministrator tasks. Administrators can even set up guest accounts with low access. You log in to WinNT by pressing CTRL-ALT-DELETE. This brings up a box where you enter your user name and password. Like Win98, you log off using the Shut Down command in the Start menu.

Learning to use and administrate WinNT is more difficult than Win98, so you should be sure you need the additional security before considering a switch.

by Ronny Richardson