Create and Configure User Accounts in Windows XP

To open the User Accounts tool, open Control Panel from the Start menu, and then double click User Accounts. To create a new user account, follow these steps: 1. Click "Create a new account" in the "Pick a task" list box. 2. Type the name that you want to use for the account, and then click Next. 3. Select the desired account type, and then click Create Account. To make changes to an account, follow these steps: 1. Click "Change an account" in the "Pick a task" list box. 2. Click the account that you want to change. 3. Select the item that you would like to change: - Click "Change the name" to change the name that appears on the Welcome screen for the account. - Click "Change the picture" to change the picture that is used to represent the user account. You can use any image file on the computer for the user's picture. - Click "Change the account type" to change the account type to increase or decrease the user's rights on the computer. - Click "Create/change the password" to create or change the password for the user and create or change the password hint. - Click "Delete the account" to delete the user account from the computer. When you delete the account, you are given the option to save the user's files on the computer. Note: You can not delete the account for a user that is currently logged on to the computer.

Windows restarts without warning

Cause: This issue could be caused by any of the below possibilities. 1.Software issue or error. 2.Hardware issue or error. 3.Heat related issue. 4.Computer virus. 5.Issue with operating system. Answer: Software issue or error Errors generated by software programs can cause a computer to reboot unexpectedly or without warning. If you are running Windows XP see the below section "For Windows XP users" before continuing. If you are not running Windows XP or following the below steps still cause your computer to reboot without warning. Boot your computer into Safe Mode, and let the computer run in Safe Mode. Additional information and help with getting into Safe Mode can be found on document CHSAFE. If the computer is still rebooting in Safe Mode the issue is likely not software related but something else, skip to the next section. If the computer is not rebooting in Safe Mode it is likely you have software related issue. We would recommend you run through the basic troubleshooting section for your operating system. For Windows XP users Windows XP is designed to automatically reboot each time an error occurs such as a BSoD. Although this may be nice for errors that do not occur often, users who have a re-occurring error may wish to identify the error to troubleshoot it. Below are the steps on how this feature can be disabled and enabled in Windows XP. 1.From the desktop right-click on My Computer. 2.Click the Properties option. 3.In the System Properties window click the Advanced tab. 4.In Advanced click the Settings button under Startup and Recovery. 5.In the Startup and Recovery window uncheck the Automatically restart check box. 6.Click Ok. Now if the computer generates and error it should not automatically restart and enable you to display any errors your computer may be experiencing. Hardware issue or error Any failing hardware component in your computer could cause your computer to unexpectedly generate an error and/or reboot without warning. If you have recently attempted to add a new hardware device, remove that device to make sure it is not causing your issues. Make sure you are not encountering any hardware conflicts by viewing Device Manager for errors. Additional information about Device Manager can be found on our Device Manager page. New drivers can also cause this issue, if you have recently performed any hardware driver updates you may wish to try an earlier version of the drivers. Additional information and help with computer drivers can be found on our drivers page. If you have updated drivers and removed any hardware that could be causing this issue and continue to experience random reboots, it's possible that the memory is bad in the computer. Additional information about testing computers memory can be found on document CH000708. Finally, hardware devices that are not installed properly in the computer can also cause random reboots. Make sure all the cables and expansion cards are connected properly to the computer. The best way to determine this is to disconnect and reconnect all cables and expansion cards. Computer virus Computer viruses such as the blaster virus are written to reboot your computer without warning. Usually these viruses will make the computer reboot ever 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes after the computer has booted. If you believe your computer may be infected with a virus or are uncertain if your computer is infected with a virus make sure your virus scanner definitions are up to date. Heat related issue Many computer today are designed to turn off or automatically reboot if the computer, processor, or other device in your computer gets to hot. If you have heard any abnormal noises coming from your computer recently such as a high squealing this could indicate a fan may be failing in your computer. You can first start by verifying the fan on the power supply is working by examining the back of the computer and seeing if the fan is moving and moving smoothly. For all other fans in the computer you will need to either open the computer and make sure the fan are working (processor fan and case fan) and/or if your BIOS monitors the RPM of the fans enter BIOS and make sure the BIOS does not report any errors. Users may also be able to determine how hot their computer is by onboard thermal sensors, if your computer comes equipped with these sensors make sure your CPU is not running to hot. Issue with operating system If after following each of the above recommendations your computer still continues to reboot it is likely that you are experiencing a Microsoft Windows operating system related issue that cannot be explained. To help make sure this is the case please try the below steps. 1.Reboot the computer and enter CMOS setup as the computer is booting. If you are not familiar with how to enter CMOS please read through document CH000192. 2.After you have loaded the computer in CMOS setup let the computer sit. If the computer does not reboot while letting the computer sit in CMOS it is likely that you are in fact experiencing an issue with Microsoft Windows and it is recommend that if you have followed all of the above recommendations that you reinstall your version of Microsoft Windows.

Regaining computer hard disk drive space

Answers: Microsoft Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP and Vista users Run the Disk Cleanup option 1.Open My Computer. 2.Right-click on the hard disk drive that you wish to regain hard disk drive space. For example, right-click on the C: drive. 3.Click Properties. 4.Within the General tab, click the "Disk Cleanup" button located next to the pie chart. 5.Windows will scan the computer for all files available to clean up. 6.Once in the Disk Cleanup window check each of the boxes (except "compress old files") that are taking disk space and click Ok and then Yes if you wish to proceed. Compress? When performing a Disk Cleanup you'll have an option to compress your hard drive. We strongly recommend users do not compress their hard disk drive and/or compress their old files. Additional suggestion for Windows 2000 and Windows XP users: Window 2000 and Windows XP keeps all the necessary files needed to uninstall any of the updates ever installed on your computer. Often this is several dozen updates that can take up several hundred and sometimes over 1 gig of space on your hard disk drive. See document CH000849 for additional information about these folders, how to locate them, and delete them. Disable System Restore Windows XP users can also decrease the default space utilized by Windows System Restore and often gain several additional gigabytes of hard disk drive space. See the below steps in customizing this feature. 1.Click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and open "System Restore". 2.Within the System Restore window, click "System Restore Settings". 3.Within the "System Restore" tab you can either check the "Turn off System Restore on all drives" to completely disable this feature, or click the Settings button and decrease the space usage, which we would recommend. Disable hibernation If you turn your computer off instead of using hibernation mode you can disable this feature to free up a lot of disk space.

Why Windows programs stop responding

Additional information: A computer, operating system, software program or driver may stop responding or cause other programs to stop responding because of several possible reasons, such as a confliction of software or hardware resources between two programs, lack of system resources, or a bug in the software or drivers. Solution: To recover from a program that has stopped responding, a user can generally press the CTRL + ALT + DEL keys on his or her keyboards to open the "Close Program" window or open the "Task Manager" window and click the "End Task" button to terminate the program. If another window opens, click the "End Task" button again to confirm stopping that program. It is important to realize that when a program stops responding any work that has not been saved will more than likely be lost when end tasking a program. Unfortunately, there is no alternative.