Windows 7 is a better operating system than Windows Vista and much richer than the ever green Windows XP only that there are some old dangerous facilities that, if I had been Bill Gates (maybe), I would have tried to limit. In terms of security, Windows 7 has been much improved compared to previous Microsoft systems, because it contains numerous settings to block external access and malware.
The strange thing to which I refer in this article is the usual fact of having given the same default names for all computers for the administrator user and for the Guest user .
A not too experienced hacker, knowing that these accounts exist on every installation of Windows 7 and also of Windows XP, Vista and Server), can also access practically any PC from the outside.
Fortunately, it is possible to protect these predefined accounts and Microsoft has made it easy to rename them so as to make it more difficult for hackers or those who pretend to circumvent the security measures of the computer and enter it without permission.
As seen, if you are in front of a computer, you can bypass Windows access with a password on any computer by entering it as an administrator.
The same thing can be done remotely and, knowing that the Administrator account always exists, the infamous pirate already starts with a considerable advantage.
My advice is, since it is easy and painless, to rename both the administrator account and the guest account on Windows, both on Windows 7, 8, on XP and Vista and on the Windows Server versions (In Windows 10 the account Guest does not exist).
To rename the Administrator account and Guest in Windows 7 or in other versions, you can, having administrative rights, go to Start - Programs - Administrative Tools - Local Security Policy .
In the left pane, click the Local Policies folder and then click Security Options .
The right pane will change its content to show all available local security options.
In this list you can find the entry entitled Account: Rename administrator account .
By pressing on it, you can specify another name.
The same can be done for the Guest account.
The same procedure for renaming accounts can be done from another way, always going to the administration tools and then pressing on Computer Management .
In the list on the left there is the item " Local Users and Groups " from which it is possible to rename accounts and set passwords.
To protect the default account of the Windows administrator you could also adopt a series of advanced but always simple to apply strategies .
You can deactivate the account by making it invisible (from local security policies but this should be hidden by default).
You can rewrite or delete the description (From computer management).
You can create a fake user called "Administrator" disabled and without any privileges and any power to make changes.
The best thing to do to protect this special user is never to use it, except when really necessary and never to log in with this account which has full powers on the computer and which can be used by hackers, viruses or malware.
A further protection of the PC is then to remove the access to the computer from the network for the Administrators users from the local security policies - local policies - User rights assignment .
This last modification is to be made only if you are an expert and if you are in particular and delicate circumstances.
Having said that, what I wrote about how to get into other people's computers certainly becomes more difficult for anyone.
In other related articles: how to manage different user accounts on Windows and how to change permissions on files and folders.
