do i really need a limited account? i pretty much feel like i know what i'm doing on the computer (make minor registry changes & tweaks, etc), i have antivirus and symantec firewall now even... but i just reinstalled windows and i want to do things right. using a limited account just seems to make things more difficult, even using run as. i'll install something as admin and it won't be on the start menu program list under my limited account etc, other such runarounds, etc etc etc... when i used linux i was always in a normal user-privileged account in large part because i wan't completely confident in what i was doing, but with windows it just seems like an unnecessary pain in the ass. oh, i'm the only user of this computer, too.

wow-- I've never met anybody that doesn't run under administrator on their own computer. neat. 754 3700+ @ 255x10 HTx4 ASUS K8Ne Deluxe 2GB PQI DDR3200 @ 215mhz Nvidia 6600GT Ultra 500w x-connect PSU

If you can run Linux, then you're good to use an Administrator acct. Use system restore on the C drive only, set the restore size to around 850 MBs, and create a manual restore point from time to time. The automatically created restore points are NOT always usable. Rich Gu P4 3.2 / 1 GB PC3200 Intel MOBO self built

"wow-- I've never met anybody that doesn't run under administrator on their own computer." x2 ^^ ^^ ^^ So you edit the registry and tweak your OS, Nothing wrong there, limiting your authority is limiting what you can learn. As mentioned above; Create manual restore points, always backup registry etc. From Linux to Microsoft? :( or maybe both still....? Have fun with it. ;)

It's interetsing to note that MS are setting up Vista so that users will run as limited by default... the opposite to how they do it now. From what I've read, any virus/malware you (accidentally) install runs in the context of the logged-in user. So if you run as administrator then any malware has total access to your machine. I usally run limited, though I admit it's a pain at times as I do tend to try out quite a lot of new software. But for most users who don't do a lot of installing then it's really not much hassle - most new software runs fine for a limited user.

Andy, FYI the Vista limited user accounts you speak of is called... Windows Vista's Least-privilege User Account (LUA) This link includes a nice writeup about Uncle Billy's sheer failure to address the insurmountable problems of XP administrator & limited user accounts. Whether it will be sorted out with Vista remains to be seen. Oh by the way I won't upgrade to Vista until Vista SP2 rolls out :-) i_XpUser

thanks for the help... and about linux, it was something i was into on and off for a couple of years... i got to about the point that most people get with windows--being able to get around, perform simple tasks, basic bash stuff... eventually i just decided that it wasn't worth the amount of time investment when i could already do much more on windows, i guess. i do have ubuntu, though.