Wednesday 14 May 2008

windows nt command line enable / disable accounts

problem: enabling temp admin account for app specific use (yes, sage again!)

what im not doing: going through the server management console just for this


pretty simple from the command line, but difficult to find and documentation on it

net user tempaccount /active:[yes|no]

picked up that there is also a /time switch for enabling only during certain times, but dont need this just now

Monday 12 May 2008

ubuntu desktop enviroment summary

problem: keep forgetting this stuff

what im not doing: raking through forums every time i need reference


ubuntu (gnome desktop enviroment)
login manager: gdm
window manager: metacity
file manager: nautilus

kubuntu (kde desktop enviroment)
login manager: kdm
window manager: kwin
file manager: konqueror

xubuntu
login manager: xdm
window manager: xfce(4)
file manager: thunar

can all be mixed / matched / added / removed, but this is the default setup

Thursday 1 May 2008

xp show / hide login

problem: a friend and his family have just got their pc back from re-installation and wish to have everyones login reduced to limited user

what im not doing: disabling the graphical login screen


this instance applies specifically to xphome, but can translate to pro dependent on its applied use. as you no doubt know, winxp home requires at least one user account with admin rights in addition to the existing administrator account, which can only log on in safe mode. the idea is to setup an account with admin rights, hide it from the graphical logon screen and leave all additional users as 'limited users'. this situation isnt really scalable as adding any additional users and basic admin right dependent tasks cannot be performed from user only accounts, but my friend was ok with this.

so, create your user scheme then, as a member of admin navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList

create a dword named the account name that you wish to hide, and assign the hex value '0'. if you need to log in under this account, 'ctrl-alt-del' x2 at the glogin screen and enter your credentials. easy!