USER ACCOUNTS and GROUPS

 

1. What are three types of user accounts?

·        Local user accounts – when you create a local user account on a computer, the account is valid only on that computer. The rest of the network does    not recognize this account, and the account does not provide access to any network resources. Windows 2000 creates this account in the local security database of the computer and uses the same database to authenticate the user.

·        Domain user accounts – the records for these accounts exist on the domain controller. A domain user can log on the network by using any computer on the network and can access the network resources. Windows 2000 generates an access token for the user account that identifies the account whenever the user logs on to the network. The access token contains user and security settings.

·        Predefined or built-in user accounts – these accounts are created when Windows 2000 is installed. Administrator and Guest are examples of built-in user accounts. These accounts cannot be deleted from the computer. In Windows 2000 domain controller, predefined user accounts are special cases of domain user accounts.

2. What is the difference between a computer account and a user account?

The difference between a computer account and user account is that a computer account is used to authenticate and authorize a computer, but a user account is used to authenticate and authorize a user.

3. What are the various types of user profiles?

·        Roaming user profile – this profile is stored on a network server. The profile stores your settings on a particular computer that you use to log on. These settings are stored on the network. Any changes that you make to your settings are stored on the network server and are available the next time you log on.

·        A mandatory user profile – this profile is stored on the domain controller on which the user account resides. Changes made to the profile by users are not saved when the user logs off. This profile is used when the administrator requires a consistent profile for all users.

·        Local user profile – this profile is stored on the computer’s local hard disk. If the administrator has chosen to use a mandatory user profile or a roaming profile for you, it will have precedence over the local user profile.

4.  What is a User Profile?

      A user profile defines customized settings on your system. User profiles can be subdivided into three categories:

·        Roaming user profile – this profile is stored on a network server,

·        A mandatory user profile – this profile is stored on the domain controller on which the user account resides,

·        Local user profile – this profile is stored on the computer’s local hard disk.

5.  What are the built-in local groups?

Local users and domain users can be made members of built-in local groups. The built-in local groups include:

·        Administrators

·        Backup Operators

·        Guests

·        Power Users

·        Replicator

·        Users

6.  What are the common modification tasks?

·        Resetting the password

·        Disabling or enabling user accounts

·        Deleting user accounts

·        Renaming user accounts

7. What is the difference between local and domain-level groups?

 

Local Groups	Domain-level Groups
Local groups exist on all Windows 2000 computers with exception of domain controllers	Domain-level groups exist on a Windows 2000 domain controller.
The members of a local group on a computer have a set of rights and permissions that allows them to perform activities on that computer only.	The members of a domain-level group can have rights and permissions on any computer in a domain.
Local groups can be created only on the computer that is not a domain controller.	Domain-level groups are created using the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in, which allows the creation of three different categories of domain-level groups. Each of these categories differs in scope: ·        Universal group ·        Global groups ·        Domain local user groups

 

 

 

GROUP POLICIES

 

1.  What are the Group Policies?

     Group policies are a set of configuration settings that are applied to a computer at start up. Settings are divided into two classes that affects:

• User configuration
• Computer configuration

2.  What is the GPO?

     The individual settings defined in a group policy are contained in GPO (Group Policy Objects). GPO contains the individual computer and user configuration settings that comprise the group policy.

3.  What is the hierarchy of settings in a GPO?

     The top levels of the hierarchy of settings in a GPO are as follows:

• Computer configuration

* Software settings

* Windows settings

* Administrative templates

• User configuration

* Software settings

* Windows settings

* Administrative templates

4.  What the settings defined in a GPO include?

     The settings defined in a GPO include:

• Software installation management
• Scripts
• Security settings
• Internet Explorer maintenance
• Remote Installation Services (RIS – allows to remote installation of Win 2000 on computers over the network)
• Folder redirection
• Administrative templates (Start Menu and Task Bar, Control Panel, Desktop Settings)

5.  What are the various permissions assigned to a user or a group?

• Full Control – allows a user all permissions on the GPO
• Read – allows a user to read or use the GPO
• Write – allows a user to write to the GPO
• Create All Child Objects – allows a user to create objects within the policy or making any changes to the details of an object
• Delete All Child Objects – allows a user to delete an object located within the policy
• Apply Group Policy – allows a user to use the policy