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Supporting Local Users andGroups

Lesson Three

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Objectives

• Configure the user environment

• Configure and troubleshoot local user and group accounts

• Troubleshoot system startup and user logon problems

• Troubleshoot security settings and local security policy

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Supporting Local User Accounts and Groups

• Understanding Logon• On a Local Computer

– To gain initial access to the computer

– To control access to local computer resources

– To control access to network resources in a workgroup environment

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Supporting Local User Accounts and Groups

• Creating Users and Groups– User Accounts tool– Local Users And Groups tool

• Default User Accounts– Administrator– Guest– HelpAssistant– SUPPORT_xxxxx

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Creating User Accounts

• From Computer Management

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Creating User Accounts cont.

• From Control Panel

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Creating Strong Passwords

• Bad Password Practice:– Using no password – Using a real name, user name, or company

name makes for an easy-to-guess password

– Using a common dictionary word– Using any password that you write down or

that you share

• Passwords should be:– At least eight characters– A combination of lowercase and uppercase

letters, numbers, and symbols– Passwords should be changed regularly.

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Managing User Accounts

• Local User Properties:

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Supporting Groups

• Groups simplify the assignment of permissions and user rights to user accounts.

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Default Group Accounts

• Administrators• Backup Operators• Guests• Network Configuration Operators• Power Users• Remote Desktop Users• Replicator• Users• HelpServices

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Special Groups

• Everyone• Authenticated Users• Interactive• Network

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Creating Groups

• Select “New Group”

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Security Identifiers (SIDs)

• User accounts and groups are considered security principals, meaning that you can grant them access to resources on a computer. Windows

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Limitations of Windows XP Home Edition

• Windows XP Home Edition, limitations:– does not support the creation of local

groups.– The Local Users And Groups tool is not

available– must create and manage users through the

User Accounts tool in Control Panel.– only two types of accounts:

• Computer Administrator,• Limited

– Windows XP Home Edition does not have an account named Administrator.

– Windows XP Home Edition cannot join a domain.

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User Profiles

• Windows XP supports the following types of user profiles:– Local– Roaming– Mandatory

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Local Profile Storage

Within each user profile, several files and folders contain configuration information and data, including the following:

Application Data

Cookies

Desktop

Favorites

Local Setting

My Documents

My Recent Documents

NetHood

PrintHood

Send To

Start Menu

Templates

NTUSER.DAT

NTUSER.DAT.LOG

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Built-In User Profiles

• Default User profile• All Users profile

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Using Multiple Profiles for the Same User Account

• Same Name Two different accounts:– Local– Domain

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Fast User Switching

• allows multiple local user accounts to log on to a computer simultaneously

• Practice: Work with Local User Accounts and Groups– Page 3-22

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Troubleshooting User Logon

• Troubleshooting Password Problems

• Resolving Lost Passwords for Local User Accounts

• Using Administrator Local account to reset a password will result in the loss of:– E-mail that is encrypted with the user’s

public key– Internet passwords that are saved on

the computer– Files that the user has encrypted

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Two ways to reset the password

• Use CTRL + ALT + DEL choose reset password or

• Create a Password Reset Disk– Allows a user to reset their own

password without loss of information

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Troubleshooting Domain Logon Problems

• Make sure the user is logging into the correct domain and not locally

• Cached Credentials– Must have SP1 or later

• Troubleshooting Missing Domain Controller Issues

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Supporting Security Settings and Local Security Policy

• Understanding Local Security Policy– As the name suggests, Local Security

Policy applies only to the local computer. Using Local Security Policy, you can control the following:

• Who accesses the computer• Which resources users are

authorized to use on their computers

• Whether a user’s or group’s actions are audited (recorded in the Windows Event Log)

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Order of Policy Application

1. Local Security Policy

2. Active Directory site

3. Active Directory domain

4. Active Directory OU

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Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP)

• Policy settings are cumulative, so all settings contribute to effective policy.

• The effective policy is called the Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP).

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GPRESULT

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Configuring Local Security Policy

• Local Security Policy

• Group Policy Object

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Local Security Policy

• Password Policy• Account Lockout Policy• Audit Policy

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Audit Policy

• Logs are created in the Security Log file in Computer management Events or

• In Administrative Tools under Events

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Summary

• Case Scenario Exercises– Page 3-44

• Troubleshooting Lab– Page 3-44

• Chapter Summery– Page 3-45

• Key Points– Page 3-46

• Key Terms– Page 3-47