The Administrator account is not displayed on the Welcome screen. To access it, press Ctrl-Alt-Del, release just the Del key, and press Del again. This will display the Windows 2000�style log-on, from which you can now log on as Administrator.
Logged on as Administrator, you can control and demote all accounts (including the main user account). And in corporate environments, the IT department often uses the Administrator account to log on to and manage employee systems.
The Windows XP Welcome screen provides any intruder with a list of user accounts, some of which may even offer helpful password hints. To replace the Welcome screen permanently with the more secure Windows 2000�style log-on box, launch the Control Panel's User Accounts applet, click on Change the way users log on or off, and uncheck Use the Welcome screen. (This will also disable Fast User Switching.)
For additional security, you can force users to press Ctrl-Alt-Del at log-on (to prevent Trojan horses from taking over your system) and eliminate the automatic display of the last user's name in the log-on box. Launch Regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\ Policies\System. Find or create a DWORD value named Don'tDisplayLastUserName and set its data to 1. In the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ Winlogon key, find or create a DWORD value named DisableCAD and set its data to 0 (zero). Note that you must be using the Windows 2000�style log-on, as discussed in the previous tip.
If you use NTFS, you can designate who owns a hard drive. This is useful on systems that have multiple user accounts set up. You must be in the Administrators group to perform this task.
Click Start, then go to the Control Panel. Double-click Administrative Tools and then Computer Management. In the console tree, click Disk Management. Right-click on the drive for which you want to set up ownership, click Properties, then choose the Security tab. Click Advanced, and then click on the Owner tab. Click on the new owner, then click OK.
Normally, when you add a submenu to the Start menu, it's limited to your own account; others who log on can't see it. But there's a simple way to add a Start menu subfolder visible to anyone who logs on. You must be logged on as an administrator.
Just right-click on the Start button, select Open All Users, and double-click on the folder to which you want to add a subfolder (this will usually be Programs). Right-click on any empty area within the box and select New, and then choose Folder. Type the name of the new folder and hit Enter.
Windows Media Player for XP, as well as Version 7.1, sends a globally unique identifier, or GUID, to sites when you request streamed Windows Media. In theory, the information can't be traced back to your machine, but many people dispute this. If you don't want Media Player to send a GUID, you can protect your privacy by opening Media Player, going to the Tools | Options menu, and unchecking Allow Internet sites to uniquely identify your Player.
You can further enhance your privacy by blocking cookie information to and from WindowsMedia.com. To do this, open IE 6, go to Tools | Internet Options | Privacy, click on the Edit button under Web Sites, and add WindowsMedia .com as a blocked site for cookie traffic.