Default User accounts or Built-in accounts are accounts that are created at the time you install the Windows 7 operating system. Windows 7, when installed into a workgroup environment, has four user accounts.

• Administrator: The Administrator account is the most powerful local user account possible. This account has unlimited access and unrestricted privileges to every aspect of Windows. The Administrator account can manage all security settings, other users, groups, the operating system, printers, shares, and storage devices. Because of these far-reaching privileges, the Adminstrator account must be protected from misuse.

Some of the characteristics of the Administrator account include:

• It is not visible on the logon screen
• It has a blank password by default
• It cannot be deleted
• It cannot be locked out due to incorrect logon attempts
• It cannot be removed from the local administrators group
• It can be disabled
• It can be renamed

The Administrator account is disabled by default in Windows 7. The password for the Administrator account is blank by default.

To protect the Administrator account from misuse, it is disabled by default in Windows 7. However, the Administrator account is automatically enabled when you enter Safe Mode so that you can use it for troubleshooting. Safe Mode is a boot option you can use when troubleshooting Windows.

The Administrator account cannot be deleted or locked out after too many incorrect logon attempts.

Read how to access the Administrator account in Windows 7 at:
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/ht/windows-7-administrator-password.htm.

• Guest: The Guest account allows users to access the computer even if they do not have a unique username and password. It is one of the least privileged user accounts in Windows. It has extremely limited access to resources and computer activities and it is intended for occasional use by low-security users.

Some of the characteristics of the Guest account include:

• It cannot be deleted
• It cannot be locked out
• It is disabled by default
• It has a blank password by default
• It can be renamed
• It is a member of the Guests group by default
• It is a member of the Everyone group

The Guest account is disabled by default.

• Initial User: The initial user account is created during the installation. It uses the name of the registered user. By default, the initial user is a member of the Administrators group. These users are considered local users and their permissions are contained within the Windows 7 operating system. You can also have users logging into the Windows 7 computer who are considered domain users.

Some of the differences between the Administrator account and the initial user account include:

• The initial account is visible on the logon screen
• The initial account does not have a blank password by default
• The initial account can be deleted
• The initial account can be locked out due to incorrect logon attempts
• The initial account can be removed from the Administrators group

Despite having the same privileges as the Administrator account, the initial account is treated very differently by Windows 7, which does not protect the initial account in the way that the Administrator account is protected. As a consequence, the initial account is visible on the logon screen, has a password that is conf gured during installation, can be deleted, can be locked out, and can be removed from the Administrators group. Removing the initial account from the Ad- ministrators group reduces the privileges normally assigned to the initial account.

• HomeGroup User: The HomeGroup user is created by default to allow this machine to connect to other machines within the same HomeGroup network. This account is enabled by default.