It was recommended in the forums that someone create an article that explains how the computer “sees” you as an Administrator or User and also to understand how the identities influence computer access, privacy, security, personal settings, and scheduling tasks.  This article will hopefully shed some more light on those questions (in small detail) as to how a user or a group on a Windows XP Pro machine are (un)able to access certain things and are (un)able to do certain things and also provide some tips and info on how to secure your system.

Although this article does apply to Windows NT based machines (NT, 2000, XP, 2003) I chose the XP Pro version of the MS Operating System because XP is widely used now. According to w3cschools.com ~75% of web browsers were on XP. The reason for this is that although the security model for the NT based operating systems are practically the same, the way in which you deny/grant access is different. Also please note that XP Home is somewhat crippled in your ability to change a user or groups accessibility.  Let's get on with the article.