Windows XP [Electronic resources] : Visual Quickstart Guide, Second Edition نسخه متنی

Logging On and Logging Off

Chapter 16, but for now you need to know only your user name and password, which depend on your installation:

If you upgraded to Windows XP from Windows 98/Me with no user profile, theres no password.

If you did a clean install of Windows XP, you set up at least one account during installation. Enter the user name and password you set for that account.

If your PC came with Windows XP pre-installed, the Welcome screen that appears after booting lists the account name(s). Follow the manufacturers instructions for logging on.

If you upgraded to Windows XP from Windows 2000 Pro or NT 4.0, or from Windows 98/Me with user profiles turned on, your existing accounts migrated to the new installation. See "Setting up User Accounts" in Chapter 16.

If youre on a large network at work or school, ask your network administrator.

Logging on Automatically

If your computer has only one user account with no password, Windows boots to that accounts desktop directly. (XP comes with hidden Guest and Administrator accounts, but they dont apply here.)

You can set up your computer to log on automatically at startup even if it has more than one account or if your account is password-protected. You may like auto-logon if youre the main user but sometimes others log on or if you keep your own separate accounts for different tasks.

To log on automatically at startup:

1.
Choose Start > Run; type control userpasswords2 and then press Enter.

The Windows 2000-style User Accounts dialog box appears.

2.
On the Users tab, uncheck Users Must Enter a User Name and Password to Use This Computer. (This check box wont appear if the computer doesnt support auto-logon, typically because its on a network or domain.)

3.
Click OK.

4.
In the Automatically Log On dialog box, type the user name and password of the account that you want to log on to automatically; then click OK.
Now the system invisibly enters your user name and password at power-up. Anyone who turns on your computer can access the same resources that you do.

You can use the other accounts on the computer by using Fast User Switching or by logging off and then logging on to another account.

Logging on

Logging on to a Domain" in Chapter 16.

Figure 1.1. The Welcome screen is the easiest way to log on to a computer that only a few people use.

Figure 1.2. The classic (Windows 2000-style) logon prompt.

To use the Welcome screen:

1.
Click your user name or picture.

2.
If your account is password-protected, type your password in the Type Your Password box (Figure 1.3 ).

Figure 1.3. If youve set a password hint (see "Setting up User Accounts" in Chapter 16), you can click the ? button to display it.

3.

Press Enter or click the arrow button. Your personalized Windows desktop appears.

Hiding the Last Users Name

The classic logon prompt (Figure 1.2 ) displays the name of the last user to log ona security hole that lets anyone glean valid user names. To plug this hole, choose Start > Run; type secpol.msc and then press Enter. In Local Security Settings, open Local Policies > Security Options; then double-click and enable Interactive Logon: Do Not Display Last User Name.

Switching users

Controlling the Logon Process" in Chapter 16 to turn Fast User Switching on or off and find out which situations it wont work in.

To switch users without logging off:

1.

Choose Start > Logoff.

2.

Click Switch User or press Alt+S (Figure 1.4 ).

Figure 1.4. Choose Switch User to keep all your work running in background memory while someone else uses the computer.

3.

In the Welcome screen, click another account name or picture; then log on normally.

To find out who else is logged on to your computer:

1.

Right-click an empty area on the taskbar; then choose Task Manager.

Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc.

2.

Click the Users tab to view users and their status (Figure 1.5 ).

Figure 1.5. The Users tab appears only if Fast User Switching is turned on.

If your computer is running slowly, use Task Manager to see the programs that other logged-on users are running and how much memory theyre chewing up. Task Manager lists filenames rather than program names;

winword.exe appears instead of

Microsoft Word, for example.

To find out which programs other users are running:

1.

Right-click an empty area on the taskbar; then click Task Manager.

Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc.

2.

Click the Processes tab.

3.

Check Show Processes from All Users (Figure 1.6 ).

Figure 1.6. This list is sorted by user name. Click any column heading to sort by that column.

Tips

To identify the active user quickly, click Start and read the user name at the top of the Start menu.

To log off another user, see "Logging off" later in this section.

Fast way to switch users: Right-click a user name in Task Managers Users tab; then choose Connect or Disconnect from the shortcut menu (refer to Figure 1.10).

If Fast User Switching is turned off,

Figure 1.7 appears instead of Figure 1.4.

If Fast User Switching is turned on, press Windows logo key+L to switch users.

Figure 1.7. This limited dialog box appears if you choose Start > Log Off when Fast User Switching is turned off.

Locking your computer

You can

lock your computerthat is, set it so that the keyboard and mouse wont change anythingto protect your programs and personal information while youre away from your PC. Locking prevents everyone except you (or an administrator) from unlocking your system and viewing your files or programs.

To lock your computer:

If the Welcome screen is turned on, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc; then choose Shut Down > Lock Computer (Figure 1.8 ).

If the Welcome screen is turned off, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete; then click Lock Computer (or press Enter).

Figure 1.8. Your programs continue to run while your computer is locked.

Windows displays the Unlock Computer dialog box until you return.

To unlock your computer:

In the Unlock Computer dialog box, type your password; then click OK (or press Enter).

Tips

If more than one user account exists and Fast User Switching is turned on, you cant lock the computer.

If the Welcome screen is turned off, press Windows logo key+L to lock your computer.

Locking Subtleties

A locked computer still is subject to power-management settings; see "Conserving Power" in Chapter 4.

A locked computer doesnt interfere with shared printers or other network resources.

If an administrator unlocks your computer, Windows closes all your open programs (without saving any unsaved work) and logs you off.

Logging off

Logging off ends your session in Windows XP. When you log off your user account:

Windows closes all your open programs and files. (Each program prompts you to save any unsaved work.)

Windows disconnects your dial-up connections.

You prevent curious or malicious passersby from using your user account to access your files or network.

Your computer remains turned on.

Windows displays a screen to let the next person log on.

To log off:

1.

Choose Start > Log Off (Figure 1.9 ).

Figure 1.9. Logging off is an option in the Start menu.

2.

Click Log Off.

If Fast User Switching is turned on, and other users are logged on to your machine, you can use Task Manager to log them off.

To log someone else off:

1.

Right-click an empty area on the taskbar; then click Task Manager.

Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc.

2.

Click the Users tab to view logged-on users.

3.

Select a user; then click Log Off.

Right-click a user; then choose Log Off from the shortcut menu (Figure 1.10 ).

Figure 1.10. Logging other users off without warning is impolite because it kills their programs without saving their unsaved work.

4.

In the confirmation dialog box that appears, click Yes to end the users session.

Turning off your computer

Turning off your computer requires more than flipping the power switch absently. Windows prepares itself for shutdown by saving session and system information and by disconnecting network, dial-up, and other external connections.

To turn off your computer:

1.

Choose Start > Turn Off Computer. (If youre on a network domain, choose Start > Shut Down.)

2.

In the Turn Off Computer (or Shut Down Windows) dialog box (11.2, and 1.13 ), choose one of the options listed in

Table 1.1 .

Figure 1.11. The Turn Off Computer screen contains four choices. The fourth one, Hibernate, is hidden until...

Figure 1.12. ...you hold down the Shift key to see it.

Figure 1.13. If the Welcome screen is turned off or youre a network domain member, youll see this screen instead of the one shown in Figure 1.11.

Updating Windows XP" in Chapter 19). When updates have been downloaded and are ready to install, Windows shows this option as the default choice and marks it with the Windows Security shield, which indicates that this is a security recommendation. This option ends your session, installs updates, and then shuts down Windows normally.

Conserving Power" in Chapter 4.

Always save your work before putting your computer on standby. Standby saves your session in memory (not on hard disk), so a power interruption will trash your session.

Hibernate saves everything in memory on your hard disk. If you have a lot of RAM, you need a lot of free disk space to hibernate.

Hibernates faster startup speed might tempt you to use it instead of Turn Off all the time. But use Turn Off occasionally to allow Windows to perform its background maintenance operations that require a clean startup. Also, Windows sometimes needs a clean startup to detect newly installed hardware.

If the desktop is active, you can press Alt+F4 to show the Turn Off Computer dialog box.

Tweak UI" sidebar in "Using the Start Menu" in Chapter 2.

Emergency Shutdown

If the file-sharing police are pounding on your door and you need to shut down quickly, Windows lets you do so without scrambling under your desk to yank the plug: Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager; hold down the Ctrl key; then choose Shut Down > Turn Off. (Alternatively, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to open the Windows Security dialog box; then hold down Ctrl and click Shut Down.) The computer shuts down in a heartbeat, without saving any unsaved data. In some cases, Windows shows a last-resort warning to confirm shutdown.

This method also works if a frozen (hung ) program prevents normal shutdown. See "Killing Unresponsive Programs" in Chapter 6.