Summary

Chapter 5: Fundamental Operating Systems 133TipBecause of the security risks associated with the administrator account, it is recommended that yourename the administrator account and also disable the account after creating a new account with fulladministrative privileges. Because each user account is identified with a security identifier (SID),changing the name of the administrator account does not change the SID. The SID of the administratoraccount always begins with the letters S-1-5 and ends with -500. This would allow an attacker tofigure out what account was the default administrator even if it is renamed.Figure 5-12 shows the installation screen for setting the computer name and setting the initialadministrator password.Figure 5-12Creating an Administrator AccountComplete the InstallationAfter the Windows installation copies all the necessary operating system files to the harddrive, the computer will reboot and prompt you to log in for the first time.You must register Windows XP. As shown in Figure 5-13, you must also complete the verificationthat ensures that you are using a legal copy of the OS. Doing so will enable you todownload patches and service packs. Performing this step requires a connection to theInternet.Depending on the age of the media at the time of your installation, there might be updatesto install. As shown in Figure 5-14, you can use the Microsoft Update Manager from theStart menu (choose Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > WindowsUpdate) to scan for new software and to do the following:■■Install all service packsInstall all patches