Create and customize user accounts

Do you have more than one person using your home computer? If you do, you can create user accounts for everyone in your home so that they can set up Windows XP with unique favorites, colors, wallpaper, and private files. You can even create a guest account for visitors to use.

How to add user accounts

To setup user accounts

1.  Log on to your computer as an administrator.  Click Start, and then Control Panel.

2.  Under Pick a category, click User Accounts.

3.  Under Pick a task, click Create a new account.

4.  In the User Accounts wizard, on the Name the new account page, type the name for the user. You can use the person’s full name, first name, or nickname.  Then click Next

5.  The User Accounts wizard displays the Pick an account type page.  Click Limited, and then click Create Account.

6.  To create another account, return to step 3.

Note: In these steps, you created a limited account. Limited accounts
offer better security than Computer administrator accounts. However, limited
accounts cannot make system-wide changes or install some applications. If you
need to make changes to your system, log on with the administrator account you
used to create the new accounts.

Now that you have added new user accounts, you can change the default display
pictures or create passwords for the accounts.

How to create passwords for user accounts

To create a password

1.   Log on to your computer as an administrator.  Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

2.   Under Pick a category, click User Accounts.

3.   Under or pick an account to change, click the account for which you want to create a password.

4.   Click Create a password.

5.   On the Create a password page, type the password twice.  Optionally, type a password hint.  Then click Create Password.

6.   To create passwords for other accounts, return to step 3.