Local Users and Groups overview

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Local Users and Groups overview

Local Users and Groups is located in Computer Management, a collection of administrative tools that you can use to manage a single local or remote computer. You can use Local Users and Groups to secure and manage user accounts and groups stored locally on your computer. A local user or group account can be assigned permissions and rights on a particular computer and that computer only. Local Users and Groups is available on the following client and server operating systems:

• Client computers running Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional
  
• Member servers running a product in the Microsoft Windows 2000 Server family or the Windows Server 2003 family
  
• Stand-alone servers running a product in the Microsoft Windows 2000 Server family or the Windows Server 2003 family
  

Using Local Users and Groups you can limit the ability of users and groups to perform certain actions by assigning them rights and permissions. A right authorizes a user to perform certain actions on a computer, such as backing up files and folders or shutting down a computer. A permission is a rule associated with an object (usually a file, folder, or printer), and it regulates which users can have access to the object and in what manner.

You cannot use Local Users and Groups to view local user and group accounts once a member server has been promoted to a domain controller. However, you can use Local Users and Groups on a domain controller to target remote computers (that are not domain controllers) on the network. Use Active Directory Users and Computers to manage users and groups in Active Directory.