MCSA/MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-270): Installing ...

7-2 Chapter 7 Setting Up and Managing User Accounts
Lesson 1: Introduction to User Accounts
A user logs on to a computer or a network by supplying a user name and password
that identify that user’s user account. There are two types of user accounts.
■ A local user account allows you to log on to a specific computer to access
resources on that computer.
■ A domain user account allows you to log on to a domain to access network
resources.
After this lesson, you will be able to
■ Describe how a local user account works
■ Describe how a domain user account works
■ Identify the built-in local user accounts in Windows XP Professional
■ Enable or disable the built-in Guest account
Estimated lesson time: 30 minutes
Local User Accounts
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Local user accounts allow users to log on only to the computer on which the local user
account has been created and to access resources only on that computer. When you
create a local user account, Windows XP Professional creates the account only in that
computer’s security database, called the local security database, shown in Figure 7-1.
Windows XP Professional uses the local security database to authenticate the local user
account, which allows the user to log on to that computer. Windows XP Professional
does not replicate local user account information on any other computer.
Local User
Local Security
Database
Local User
Account
Local user accounts
Provide access to resources on the local computer
Are created only on computers that are not in a domain
Are created in the local security database
Figure 7-1 Local user accounts provide access to local resources only and should be used in workgroup
settings.