Vista Tips - Secure the Administrator account

The Administrator account is the most important account on the computer because it has the highest permissions and can do anything it wants to the configuration and settings of your computer.

Securing this valuable account is critical to the overall security of your computer.This can be accomplished by ensuring the account is disabled, setting a strong password, and renaming it so that it is harder for malicious scripts and viruses to try to use.

Doing this is very similar to securing the Guest account as you just did in the Assigning Password on Guest Account.

Follow these steps to protect your Administrator account:

• Click the Start menu, right-click Computer, and select Manage.
• After Computer Manager loads, expand Local Users and Groups and select the Users folder.
• Right-click the Administrator account and select Properties.
• Check the Account is disabled option if it is not already selected. Then, click OK to save the changes.
• Right-click the Administrator account and select Set Password.
• A warning screen will appear, telling you about what might happen if you proceed. Disregard this message and click Proceed.
• When the Set Password window appears, type a completely random complex password that is at least 20 characters long in both boxes and click OK. The new password will now be set.
• Rename the account to confuse any malicious scripts that might be looking for it. Right-click the Administrator account again and select Rename.
• Type a new name for the account that has some random letters and numbers in it. I like to use AdminDisabled2341 as a new name.
• Press Enter and you are finished.

Now both of the built-in Windows Vista accounts are secured.

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Vista Tips - Assigning a Password and Renaming the Guest Account

One of the default accounts set up in Windows Vista is the Guest account. This account can be useful if your computer is in a public place such as a library and a low rights account is needed.

However, for most of us, this account is just another possible security hole because it cannot be deleted. It is disabled by default but it could be enabled again by a virus or malware if your computer ever gets infected. The best way to neutralize this account is to give it a random password and rename it to eliminate the chances that some script will be able to use it.

Follow these steps to protect this account:

• Click the Start menu, right-click Computer, and then select Manage.
• After Computer Manager loads, expand Local Users and Groups and select the Users folder. All the local computer accounts will be listed.
  
• Right-click the Guest account on the list and select Set Password.
• A warning screen will appear, telling you about what may happen if you proceed. Disregard this message and click Proceed.
• When the Set Password window appears, type in a completely random password that is a complex password and is also at least 20 characters long in both boxes and click OK. The new password will now be set.
• Rename the account to confuse any malicious scripts that might be looking for it. Right-click the Guest account again and select Rename.
• Type a new name for this account that has some random letters and numbers in it. You just want to make it different from Guest.
• When you are done renaming it, click Enter and you are finished.

Your Guest account is now more secure than ever.
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