Simple Windows 7 account question

[Edward Yee]

Is there a way to set the first account I create to be a standard user? The reason is that I want to leave the Administrator account for installations/settings changes, but I want only the one user account to appear when I get to the Welcome screen.

[Genii Lodus]

The accounts shown on the log-in screen can be changed using the registry, this link shows how to do it although they have some warnings about making things difficult to use.I think the first account has to be an admin account and this can't be changed. You could always make a subsequent account which you use for your day to day stuff and hide the original one.

I mostly hibernate/sleep my computer rather than cold booting it which takes me back to the account locked screen so I only need to type in my password. It's very rare that I have to select my account before logging in. Maybe this would help alleviate the inconvenience of having to select your regular account?

[Edward Yee]

Thanks for that link. I'd hate to have to do yet another* re-install of Windows from scratch... what I'm looking for is to use a standard user account and have that be the only account that appears on the Welcome screen (complete with big picture), without having to use a "dummy" first account that I'd have to use the registry editor to hide. I would only be logging into the (official, hidden) Administrator account for installs and updates that need it.

After using the command line activation of the Administrator account (while logged into the first account), going to User Accounts from it now gives me the option of changing my first account to a standard user account. Is this safe to do from within said first account, considering my end goal, or should I log into the Administrator account and do it from there? Or should I just avoid that altogether?

[Ryan Thunder]

A word of advice; don't leave the Administrator account named "administrator" or anything like that. Give it a unique name. It means one more thing for hackers to figure out.

[Edward Yee]

Don't leave it named Administrator, you mean? I assume you mean the hidden one. Right now on my latest install I'm leaving it disabled. (Going with the admin-first, standard-second accounts at the moment.)

[Ryan Thunder]

Don't leave it named Administrator, you mean? I assume you mean the hidden one.

Yeah. Isn't that what I just said?

[phongn]

A word of advice; don't leave the Administrator account named "administrator" or anything like that. Give it a unique name. It means one more thing for hackers to figure out.

That doesn't buy you much security.

[Ryan Thunder]

A word of advice; don't leave the Administrator account named "administrator" or anything like that. Give it a unique name. It means one more thing for hackers to figure out.

That doesn't buy you much security.

Well it's not meant as a substitute for anything, but rather just another layer of security.

Think of it as a barbed wire fence in addition to your fortress walls or something. I know that's not the best analogy but hopefully it gets the point across.