User Accounts
OK… im not sure if this is the right place but…
Ok Well my dad is really tight on computer security. He is also concerned about the computer being slow. And i have a habit of downloading programs, using them once, then never using them again. He is also Big on "keeping it simple" and im just not that way.
Ok i use windows XP and ive suggested we have seperate user accounts but he doesnt like the idea. I think that it would help us and help the computer.
Can any help me think of any ways to convince him? And Can Someone tell me if having multiple users accounts is good or bad for your computer (Speed and Space Wise)
Thanks -Onyx
Well space wise, dont worry about it. For example a string name "Dad" as a user is just 3 characters long, so a very very tiny amount of space. The way space is used is by each user downloading files or obscuring disk quota. So all the users together (all system users) together make the mass space. Security wise, parents seem to find a firewall a nice touch. They only know of Norton so just get a torrent of it. But also I recommend going to google and typing in "Local Port Scanner" and it will come up with a file for LPS (Local port scanner). And it varies by scanning methods but it is a fantastic port scanner… Locally. Efficient and will tell you how many door you have that people can be busting down. So take a look at it. And yes having separate users is a good thing because it will allow you to gain some hacking knowledge by giving yourself root or escalated privileges, if you are limited user.
Depends a lot on what system you've got running. Processor speed and RAM and HDD space all depend on what you have. If you have a Celeron, i wouldn't do it, not only because it's gonna make it crazy slow, but because it's slow to begin with. If you have 512+ RAM Making another user account will be fine. So RAM is pretty much not an issue for that. HDD space won't really be changed, back before i got my new rig i had an 80 GB HDD with 4 users on it.
Well I'm running a AMD athlon Processor 2400+ with 80 HDD and 256 mb DDR.
So I think that would be ok the only problem is i cant convince my dad to let me do it. I just get annoyed since my dad likes everything simple and doesn't like it when i change settings, like i got chewed out for installing Firefox even after his "people" told him it was better than IE. I have one More Q
Ok, I have probably over 25 new programs downloaded, now if i did move all of those to a new user, would it lighten the load a little for my Dad on his user?
EDIT: OH and um chronic We have Norton, But i was talking about security, here is my dad's Philosophy: If it didn't come from Big Company's like Microsoft or it isn't advertised on tv and i don't know about it then it must be a virus. That is basically how he thinks And im very skilled in computer Security and he doesn't really trust me much…
Well, it will a little, but you have to make sure you're doing it for only your user. You still wouldn't see that big of a difference though. Mad props for getting Firefox though. IE is completely disgusting. A RAM boost would help substantially, but that's only if you can get it some time. Having another user will help him keep his account much more organized though.