Win10: Keep separate User and Admin accts?

[JEDI]

Bought a new Dell laptop (win 10) for my mom.

she had a win7 laptop.
I configured it to have a regular acct and an Admin acct so incase she gets malware, it cant do much damage. (she uses the regular acct.)

Do the same in Win10? or is Win10 safer and just let her use the Admin acct?
virus protection = Windows Defender (Win10's built in virus protection)

 

[Steltek]

I'd say if she didn't have any problems with the prior account configuration, there isn't any reason not to do it with with the new machine. It is safer, in the long run. I did something similar for both my mother's desktop and her laptop, but it was more to defend against her grandchildren installing stuff without permission that they didn't need to be.

As far as the antivirus is concerned, I'd say she isn't a risk to visit sketchy sites . So, Windows Defender ought to be just fine for her, especially since she is in a limited user account. If you decide you want to try something different, I'd recommend the free version of Bitdefender as it is decently light on resources.

 

[balloonshark]

I use a standard user account on my machine. It adds another layer of protection so I don't end up being one a low hanging fruit for the bad guys.

For her it might keep her from accidentally screwing up something important in Windows. It's also easy to delete the account if it becomes infected as long as it doesn't touch the admin account.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I put clients on limited accounts anytime I can. And I make them buy Malwarebytes; makes my life a lot easier.

 

[Kaido]

I put clients on limited accounts anytime I can. And I make them buy Malwarebytes; makes my life a lot easier.

Same:

1. Set Chrome to default browser; add "uBlock Origin" & "Privacy Badger" extensions
2. Install the paid version of Malwarebytes. The new version is also an anti-virus.
3. Create a separate admin account. Set their default non-admin account for auto-login (start > run > netplwiz) if they're not using a password.
4. Create a recurring task in Task Manager to do a nightly or weekly PC reboot so that it gets the updates & clears out the memory on a regular basis (script is "shutdown" with flags "/r /t 00" to reboot immediately at a set time) & make sure to teach them to close their stuff when not using it
5. Set their Office to auto-save every minute

Also, this is bad advice, but you can buy an Office 2019 license key from a Microsoft authorized partner via eBay for under ten bucks. So that way she gets a new OS, new Office, regular automated reboots to keep things running smooth, strong spyware/malware/malicious website blocking/antivirus, a solid browser with some good plugins, and a non-admin account that automatically boots straight in. The most I usually have to do for maintenance in cases like these is remove any junk Chrome extensions they've installed, although Malwarebytes takes care of most of those.

 

[JEDI]

Same:

1. Set Chrome to default browser; add "uBlock Origin" & "Privacy Badger" extensions
2. Install the paid version of Malwarebytes. The new version is also an anti-virus.
3. Create a separate admin account. Set their default non-admin account for auto-login (start > run > netplwiz) if they're not using a password.
4. Create a recurring task in Task Manager to do a nightly or weekly PC reboot so that it gets the updates & clears out the memory on a regular basis (script is "shutdown" with flags "/r /t 00" to reboot immediately at a set time) & make sure to teach them to close their stuff when not using it
5. Set their Office to auto-save every minute

Also, this is bad advice, but you can buy an Office 2019 license key from a Microsoft authorized partner via eBay for under ten bucks. So that way she gets a new OS, new Office, regular automated reboots to keep things running smooth, strong spyware/malware/malicious website blocking/antivirus, a solid browser with some good plugins, and a non-admin account that automatically boots straight in. The most I usually have to do for maintenance in cases like these is remove any junk Chrome extensions they've installed, although Malwarebytes takes care of most of those.

thx.
created separate acct for her as a standard user.

using adblock plus for chrome.
thx for the tip about auto-login of the non-admin acct!

tempted about office 2019 key but where do you download office 2019 from (safely)?

 

[Kaido]

thx.
created separate acct for her as a standard user.

using adblock plus for chrome.
thx for the tip about auto-login of the non-admin acct!

tempted about office 2019 key but where do you download office 2019 from (safely)?

Directly from Microsoft: (3.4 gigs)

https://officecdn.microsoft.com/pr/492350f6-3a01-4f97-b9c0-c7c6ddf67d60/media/en-us/ProPlus2019Retail.img

If you buy it on eBay from a Microsoft partner (do a search for "Office 2019 Pro Professional Plus" on eBay to start looking), the key is technically legitimate. They are typically from foreign countries, so it's a gray area, because you're not buying it from within the US, but Microsoft also doesn't prevent you from doing it. That's why I said it's bad advice lol. But, it is cheap, and it works, and you're buying from an accredited vendor, and you're using it for your mom, not a school or giant corporate network or something ridiculous. They email you a license key & you use that to license the software. Alternatively, some people just migrate to Google Docs & install the Google Drive software on their computer, which puts shortcuts on their desktop for quick access.

Note that Office 2019 is for Windows 10.

 

[JEDI]

Directly from Microsoft: (3.4 gigs)

https://officecdn.microsoft.com/pr/492350f6-3a01-4f97-b9c0-c7c6ddf67d60/media/en-us/ProPlus2019Retail.img

If you buy it on eBay from a Microsoft partner (do a search for "Office 2019 Pro Professional Plus" on eBay to start looking), the key is technically legitimate. They are typically from foreign countries, so it's a gray area, because you're not buying it from within the US, but Microsoft also doesn't prevent you from doing it. That's why I said it's bad advice lol. But, it is cheap, and it works, and you're buying from an accredited vendor, and you're using it for your mom, not a school or giant corporate network or something ridiculous. They email you a license key & you use that to license the software. Alternatively, some people just migrate to Google Docs & install the Google Drive software on their computer, which puts shortcuts on their desktop for quick access.

Note that Office 2019 is for Windows 10.

thx!
don't want google docs since you have to be connected to the internet.
I can see worse case scenario of her needing to do word/excel and the internet is out

 

[Kaido]

thx!
don't want google docs since you have to be connected to the internet.
I can see worse case scenario of her needing to do word/excel and the internet is out

Yeah. No Internet required & no recurring fees like Office/Microsoft 365.

 

[JEDI]

If you buy it on eBay from a Microsoft partner (do a search for "Office 2019 Pro Professional Plus" on eBay to start looking), the key is technically legitimate.
They are typically from foreign countries, so it's a gray area, because you're not buying it from within the US, but Microsoft also doesn't prevent you from doing it.
That's why I said it's bad advice lol.
But, it is cheap, and it works, and you're buying from an accredited vendor, and you're using it for your mom, not a school or giant corporate network or something ridiculous. They email you a license key & you use that to license the software. Alternatively, some people just migrate to Google Docs & install the Google Drive software on their computer, which puts shortcuts on their desktop for quick access.

Note that Office 2019 is for Windows 10.

so many ebay sellers with with ZERO (0) ratings selling Office 2019 keys.


they're selling it for $2 for used keys.

"You Get an used, valid product key to activate online or phone Office 2019 Professional Plus. "

only 1 person can activate with the code right?
he's not giving everyone who buys the same code?


edit:
it's not losing $2 that im worried about.
the laptop is for my mom. she lives several states away.
i want to avoid a situation where she really needs word/excel and the product key stops working.

i guess i answered my own question.
back to finding the gray area product key sellers...

 

[Arkaign]

Does she use Outlook or other non Word/Excel section of MS Office? I find that Libre Office is extremely good these days, and even a bit simpler for many people to use with straightforward layout and functionality vs the sort of monster cloud heavy setup of modern Office 365/2019 etc. Something to consider at least, if she has a decent smartphone you could send her a youtube video link to ask if that works for her. It's compatible of course with all office formats including Doc, Xls, DocX, XlsX.