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CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide

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CHAPTER 13

Users, Groups, and Permissions

In this chapter, you will learn how to

• Create and administer Windows users and groups

• Define and use NTFS permissions for authorization

• Share a Windows computer securely

• Secure PCs with policies and User Account Control

Your computer’s mass storage is filled with files that need protection. You

might have personal Word documents, spreadsheets, photos, and videos that

you do not want others to access. You have critical files, such as the

operating system itself, that cannot be accidentally deleted. You have browser

histories and download folders full of files that you want and need. So how

are these protected from others, even others who may use the same computer

from time to time? The answer is user accounts, groups, and permissions.

Through the combination of user accounts and groups and NTFS

permissions, Windows provides incredibly powerful file and folder security.

This user/group/NTFS combination scales from a single computer up to a

network of computers spanning the world.

When learning about users, groups, and NTFS permissions, it’s helpful to

know how NTFS works on a single PC with multiple users logging on and

off during the day. To that end, this chapter focuses on Windows security

from the point of view of a single, or standalone, machine. Chapter 19,

“Local Area Networking,” takes over where this chapter stops and will revisit

these topics in more detail and show you how the same tools scale up to help

you protect a computer in a networked environment.

This chapter begins by examining user accounts, passwords, and groups,

then turns to the high level of granular security afforded by NTFS. The third

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