Apparently it is running under the administrator account all the time. Read somewhere that XP should not be run under the administrator. If it should be changed how would that change be done?

Hi
In winxp Home edition,One person HAS to have the administrative program to have access to the entire computer and all it's files. If you plan to add other users go to user accounts in your controlpanal and it has the option to add a new account. Just name the account and make it a "limited" account so you are the only one who has complete control of the computer.
I'm still useing the original administrator account that was on my computer the other family members are on limited accounts. Please when you add accounts "password Protect" them so someone who uses your guest account cannot obtain access to them
Hope this helps
Magic

Bluie, are you running Home or Pro?

In Pro you have a third user account type--Power User. It will allow you to download files but restricts what settings changes you can make.

I've been meaning to look into this when I had more time, but as I understand it, here are the differences in account types.

Admisnistrator: Can download files, install & remove hardware, make any configuration changes and (with some exceptions) can access the files of any other user.

Power User: As described above.

Limited: Can't download files or make changes that would affect the entire machine (global).

Anyone who can describe these differences more clearly please do so.

And to answer your question--well, magicmunchkin did pretty good. Someone has to be an Administrator to have global control over the machine. I think where the security issue comes in is this--any malware that gets on your system thru your user account will have the same power or permissions to make changes as the user. So if an Administrator can make any changes, so can the malware--if a limited user can make no changes, neither can the malware.

What you can do is create a limited (or power) user account account and use it to conduct your daily activity, such things as word processing, running programs & normal websurfing. When you want to download or tweak something, log in to your password protected Administrator account.

There's also an Administrator folder that I've been meaning to ask and learn more about. Apparently it can only be accessed in safe mode. When the admins get back, maybe they can shed some more light on this.

Thanks Magic and Papa. Further investigation shows that the Administrator account is under my name and it is the only account on this computer. In the interests of tighter security looks as if a second account with limited permissions should be created and used for day to day routine. Also looks to be a fairly simple thing to accomplish. Again thanks for the explanations and suggestions.