Page 888 - Windows 10 May 2019 Update The Missing Manual: The Book That Should Have Been in the Box

Note

Every Windows 10 PC must keep at least one administrator account on hand, even if that account
is rarely used.

Whenever you try to make a big change, you’re asked to authenticate
yourself. As described on “Authenticate Yourself: User Account Control”,

that means supplying an administrator account’s password, even though
you, the currently-signed-in person, are a lowly standard account holder.

If you have a standard account because you’re a student, a child, or an

employee, you’re supposed to call an administrator over to your PC to
approve the change you’re making. (If you’re the PC’s owner, but you’re
using a standard account for security purposes, you know the administrator

password, so it’s no big deal.)

Now, making broad changes to a PC when you’re an administrator still
presents you with those “prove yourself worthy” authentication dialog

boxes. The only difference is that you, the administrator, can click Continue
(or tap Enter) to bypass them, rather than having to type in a password.

You’ll have to weigh this security/convenience tradeoff. But you’ve been
warned: The least vulnerable PC is one on which everyone uses a standard

account.

Adding an Account

To create a new account, open → → Accounts. The top tab, “Your

info,” represents your account information—the account Windows created
when you installed it (Figure 18-1).

Select “Family & other users.” If you see some accounts listed here, then

maybe you created them when starting up Windows 10 for the first time, or
maybe you created them in an earlier version of Windows (and Windows
imported them).