Creating several user accounts on a common PC is annoying: You want to work quickly, yet at the same time keep logging on to individual accounts separately for configuring special settings. Instead, you can do all that centrally as well as be able to use an existing account as a template for other accounts. Here’s how:
With Microsoft Windows SteadyState, you can manage user accounts centrally. Go to ‘www.microsoft.com/downloads/’ for this. Search for ‘steadystate’ here and follow the link with this name. After validating your copy of Windows, you can download the setup file. Version 2.0 of the tool runs only under Windows XP with SP2. To install it, run the ‘SteadyState_Setup_ENU.exe’ file you just downloaded and follow the instructions. You will need to validate Windows again here. Then open the tool with Start | All Programs | Windows SteadyState’. On the right side of the window, all user accounts set up on the system are listed under ‘User Settings’ with the exception of the one that is currently being used. Click on the desired account. You can now access the account settings via the ‘General’, ‘Windows Restrictions’, ‘Feature Restrictions’ and ‘Block Programs’ tabs. Options that cannot be accessed directly have been explained in the English manual that can be downloaded from ‘www.microsoft.com/downloads.’ Using Windows SteadyState has another advantage: You can use existing accounts as templates. To do this, follow the ‘Export User’ link on the home page. In the following dialog, enter a name under ‘File name’ under which you want to store the account profile as a template. It has the file extension ‘.SSU’. Then select the account under ‘User name’ and click on ‘Import User’. In the next dialog, select the SSU file and click on ‘Open’. You can now define the name and also a password for the new user account. Confirm this information and click ‘OK’.
Please note that a Beta version 2.5 of the tool is also listed on the result page of the Microsoft download server, which according to Microsoft should run under Vista.
With Microsoft Windows SteadyState, you can manage user accounts centrally. Go to ‘www.microsoft.com/downloads/’ for this. Search for ‘steadystate’ here and follow the link with this name. After validating your copy of Windows, you can download the setup file. Version 2.0 of the tool runs only under Windows XP with SP2. To install it, run the ‘SteadyState_Setup_ENU.exe’ file you just downloaded and follow the instructions. You will need to validate Windows again here. Then open the tool with Start | All Programs | Windows SteadyState’. On the right side of the window, all user accounts set up on the system are listed under ‘User Settings’ with the exception of the one that is currently being used. Click on the desired account. You can now access the account settings via the ‘General’, ‘Windows Restrictions’, ‘Feature Restrictions’ and ‘Block Programs’ tabs. Options that cannot be accessed directly have been explained in the English manual that can be downloaded from ‘www.microsoft.com/downloads.’ Using Windows SteadyState has another advantage: You can use existing accounts as templates. To do this, follow the ‘Export User’ link on the home page. In the following dialog, enter a name under ‘File name’ under which you want to store the account profile as a template. It has the file extension ‘.SSU’. Then select the account under ‘User name’ and click on ‘Import User’. In the next dialog, select the SSU file and click on ‘Open’. You can now define the name and also a password for the new user account. Confirm this information and click ‘OK’.
Please note that a Beta version 2.5 of the tool is also listed on the result page of the Microsoft download server, which according to Microsoft should run under Vista.
