Useful System Tools Hidden in Windows part 5

Advance User Accounts Control Panel \ Netplwiz:

Advance User Accounts Control Panel [Netplwiz] provides great alternate to Local Users and Groups MMC tool and allows Administrators to perform multiple tasks within single Console. This article will describe the tasks that can be performed by Netplwiz.

Advance User Accounts Control Panel allows Administrator to perform the following

1. Configure User Account to Log on Automatically
2. Add a User
3. Remove a User
4. Properties
5. Reset Password

1. Configure User Account to Log on Automatically:

There are different scenarios where Automatic login is desired, Windows 8 / Windows 8.1 provides the function to automatically login without user intervention. To configure the user to allow logon automatically , follow the below steps.

Step1: Launch Advance User Accounts Control Panel via Windows + R. From Run program , type Netplwiz and press Enter as shown below

  

Step2:  User Accounts Wizard displays all the users created on the Windows 8 Workgroup computer. Select the User Account to automatically login and uncheck the option  “Users must enter a User name and Password to use this computer” and click Apply.

In our example below, I have selected an StandardWorker1 to automatically login to the PC.

Note: With Multiple Users configured on the Windows 8 client, only one User can be selected for Auto Login.

 

Step3: Enter the Password and Confirm Password for the user account , as shown above.

Step4: Restart the computer for the settings to get applied and the Windows 8 / Windows 8.1 PC will automatically login with the User configured. In our example , Windows 8 will auto login with StandardWorker1

2. Add a User Account :

There are multiple ways a User can be created on Windows 8 / Windows 8.1 client OS and User accounts can be created using Advance User Accounts Control Panel ( Netplwiz) utility. Below steps assume the user to be Administrator or part of Administrator group.

Step1: Launch Advance User Accounts Control Panel via Windows + R and from Run program type Netplwiz and press Enter as shown below

 

Step2: On the User Accounts wizard, click Add button to add a User / Create new User account. Upon clicking Add, User will be prompted with the below User Creation Wizard

 

   

Administrator should fill the above details and click Next. Below screen shot would show an example of creating an User Account.

Note: To create User Account with Microsoft Account, the PC should be connected to Internet.

 

Step3: The next wizard will prompt for confirmation from Administrator. This wizard also provides Administrator to determine if the User Account is created for child \ Kids , if the account is created for child \kids ,Windows 8 / Windows 8.1 provides an option to turn on Family Safety for that account, as shown below

Step4: Click Finish to create a User Account.

3. Remove a User Account:

To remove a User Account using Netplwiz, follow the below steps. This steps should be performed by an User who has Administrator privileges.

Step1: Launch Advance User Accounts Control Panel via Windows + R and from Run program type Netplwiz and press Enter as shown below

    

Step2: On the User Accounts wizard, select the User account to be removed from Windows 8 and select Remove button. In our example StandardWorker3 User account is removed. Windows prompts with the below message while removing an user account as shown below.

  

Step3: Click Yes option to remove the user from Windows 8 workstation.

4.Properties:

Properties option allows Administrator to change the User accounts General Information and manage Local Group Membership respectively. Administrators can change the User Account type from Standard User to Administrator or Vice Versa and add the User accounts to different Local Groups. To manage the User Group Membership, follow the below steps and these steps should be performed by the User account with Administrator access.

Step1: Launch Advance User Accounts Control Panel via Windows + R and from Run program  type Netplwiz and press Enter as shown below

  

Step2: From the User Accounts wizard, select an User account and click Properties. In the below example, Standardworker2 is selected as shown below

   

Step3: On the General tab, Administrator can change User Name, Full Name and Description information for specific User Account. On the Group Membership tab , Administrator has the option to change the User account from Standard User to Administrator and vice versa or add the User account to different Local Groups , as shown below

   

Step4: After selecting desired Group for which User account will be part of , click Apply and OK to complete the process.

5.Reset Password:

Administrator or User who is the part of Administrator group can reset the password of the Local User accounts as described in the below steps.

Step1: Launch Advance User Accounts Control Panel via Windows + R and from Run program type Netplwiz and press Enter as shown below

  

Step2: From the User Accounts wizard, select an User Account for Password Reset and click Reset Password. On the Reset Password wizard, enter the password and click OK, as shown below

  

Photo credit to : Microsoft Web

Thanks,In next tutorial i will write about another hidden tool in widows  Disk Cleanup