Windows® 7 for Dummies®

Chapter 13. Sharing One Computer with Several People

In This Chapter

• Understanding user accounts

• Setting up, deleting, or changing user accounts

• Logging on at the Welcome screen

• Switching quickly between users

• Sharing files between account holders

• Understanding passwords

Windows 7 allows several people to share one computer, without letting anybody peek into anybody else's files.

The secret? Windows 7 grants each user his or her own user account, which neatly separates that person from other users. When people log on using their own user account, the computer looks tailor-made for them: It displays their personalized desktop background, menu choices, programs, and files — and it forbids them from seeing items belonging to other users.

This chapter explains how to set up a separate user account for everybody in the house, including the computer's owner, family members or roommates, and even occasional visitors who ask to check their e-mail.

You'll also discover how to break down some of those walls to share information between accounts, letting everybody see your vacation photos, but keeping your love letters off-limits.

Understanding User Accounts

Windows 7 wants you to set up a user account for everybody who uses your PC. A user account works like a cocktail-party name tag that helps Windows recognize who's sitting at the keyboard. Windows 7 offers three types of user accounts: Administrator, Standard, and Guest. To begin playing with the PC, people click their account's name when Windows ...