Some of the other management tasks you may need to perform on user accounts aside from configuring account properties include deleting accounts, disabling and renaming accounts as well as resetting passwords.

Deleting a user account can be done from within the Computer Management console or through User Account and Family Safety in the Control Panel. Within User Account and Family Safety, click User Account and then Manage another account. Select the appropriate user account and click Delete the account from the list of tasks. Remember, once a user account is deleted, it cannot be restored.

If a user takes a leave of absence, you may want to disable their user account to ensure it isn’t used for a period of time with the intention that the account will be needed again in the future. For example, if Bob takes a leave of absence for a period of two-months, you can temporarily disable his account until he returns.

To disable a user account:

1. Right click Computer and select Manage.
2. Select Local Users and Groups.
3. Select Users.
4. Right click the appropriate user account and click Properties.
5. From the General tab, click the Account is disabled option.
6. Click OK.

The user account will then appear with an arrow beside it. When the individuals returns the account can be enabled by repeating the steps listed above.

Renaming an account can be done when you want to assign the user account to another individual. Instead of having to create a new user account, you can simply rename an existing one to reflect the appropriate user name. Doing so retains all the permissions, rights and group membership of the account so there is no need to configure them all again. To rename an account, complete steps one through three as described above. Right click the appropriate user account and click Rename. Type in the new user name and click OK.

If you’ve ever worked as a computer administrator, you have more than likely encountered a user that has forgotten their password (some of us probably run across this problem on a regular basis), especially when users are required to remember multiple passwords. In any case the solution to this it to reset the password. To perform the task, right click the user account and select the Set Password option. Read the warning that appears and click Proceed. Type in a new password, confirm the new password and click OK.

[tags]Diana Huggins, Microsoft, Windows, Vista, user account[/tags]