Most computers are set up so that when Windows starts, the desktop appears immediately. This is convenient but it has a significant downside: what if other people, who should not have access to all your files, want to use the computer?

Children, for example, might alter important documents, visit inappropriate websites or accidentally ruin your settings.

Fortunately, there’s a simple way to avoid this problem, as both Windows XP and Vista make it possible to give each person a separate user account. A separate account prevents visitors or children from changing settings and keeps private documents hidden from prying eyes.

Windows Vista also includes some clever tools to limit what children can do on a computer. In this feature, we’ll explain how to set up a secure but simple set of user accounts.

Hidden strengths
To keep life simple, most new computers are supplied with just one user account that is logged on automatically when the computer starts. This account is known as the Administrator, and the capital letter at the start of this name is well deserved.

This is because the Administrator can do just about anything on the computer. This includes accessing everyone else’s files, unless they have been expressly marked as private. This not only poses a risk to privacy but can be dangerous if malicious software is installed accidentally.

Not using User Accounts also makes it hard to stay in control of what children get up to on a PC. A reader once contacted us because his children had found the password for his parental control software, used it to remove the restrictions placed on them and finally changed the password to lock him out of his own computer. This would not be possible with User Accounts set up properly.

To avoid this kind of problem, it’s best not to use the Administrator account for day-to-day computing. Instead, every user should have their own named account, with the Administrator account being reserved for specific jobs such as installing software or changing settings.