Create a second account for safer Web surfing

This tip was submitted to the SearchWin2000.com tip exchange by member Brian Reardon. Please let other users know how useful it is by rating it below.

Most of us surf the Web using full local administrative rights. I learned my lesson the hard way. Even though I have up-to-date virus protection and add awareness software installed on my PC, I still come across new vulnerabilities that are created daily on the Web. If my virus and ad-awareness software is not updated in time, my PC becomes a new victim. Take a few minutes and create a second account used for surfing. This will keep your PC healthy from viruses, ad pop-up installers and spyware.

Create a local account and call it something like Surfsafe. Give this new account the least amount of rights possible by making it a member of the "Guests" group. (Never use Guest as an account name.) If you're not connected to a domain, you can enable "Fast User Switching" to leave your existing applications open while you log in to surf safely using your new Surfsafe account. You can set up Fast User Switching in the Control Panel under User Accounts.

This was first published in November 2004

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