Windows Vista Security basics - Understanding security and safe computing - Use a standard user account

When you log on to your computer, Windows grants you a certain level of rights and privileges depending on what kind of user account you have. There are three different types of user accounts: standard, administrator, and guest.

Although an administrator account provides complete control over a computer, using a standard account can help make your computer more secure. That way, if other people (or hackers) gain access to your computer while you are logged on, they can't tamper with the computer's security settings or change other user accounts.

To determine your account type
• Open User Accounts by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking User Accounts and Family Safety (or clicking User Accounts, if you are connected to a network domain), and then clicking User Accounts.

The account type appears under your name.
If you are currently using an administrator account, see Change a user's account type to learn how to change it to a standard account.