Windows 2000,
like Windows XP and Windows 2003, relies on unique user accounts to provide
security and authentication. There are multiple ways to manage these user
accounts.

The Local Users And Groups
console lets you create and modify user accounts and local groups, set and
modify group membership, disable accounts, and set user account profile
properties. But, Local Users And Groups isn’t the only
tool available for managing user accounts and groups.

The Users And Passwords objects
in the Control Panel let you add, remove, and set properties for user accounts.
You can also specify an account for Windows to log on automatically when the
system starts up, eliminating the need to log on manually. Through the Advanced
tab of the Users And Passwords applet, you can also
manage certificates and specify whether users must press [Ctrl][Alt][Delete]
to initiate logon. If this option is not selected, Windows immediately displays
the logon dialog box at startup and after the current user logs off.

In addition to these graphical
methods for managing user accounts, console tools are also available for managing users
and groups. For example, the Cusrmgr.exe tool included in the Windows 2000
Resource Kit lets you manage accounts both locally and remotely.

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