Local vs. Domain Users

When working with Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP there are different ways to handle the users and groups that use the computers. Below is a brief guide to users and groups in a Windows environment.

There are basically two types of accounts, accounts that reside on an individual machine and accounts that reside on a domain controller. Each computer can have multiple accounts that reside on one machine only.

In a domain environment users can have accounts on both individual workstations and domains, although if two accounts exist they usually are in sync with each other.

Not every local account has a corresponding domain account.

Windows 98

When a Windows 98 machine is set up to log in to the domain typically a user will have a domain account. A local account will also be created that will be in sync with the domain account. If the user cannot reach the domain (the server is down) then the local user profiles will still allow the user some functionality.

Windows 2K and XP

In Windows 2K/XP there are two different local user types: Administrator, and Guest. Both of these user types are not replicated on the domain.

The Administrator account is used to install certain types of system-wide software, configure network settings and other "admin" like functions.

Local user accounts can be created on a Windows 2K or XP computer. However if a 2K/XP machine is part of a domain then domain accounts are preferable. As long as the account is created on the server the user can simply log in to the domain.

A copy of the domain user's settings are saved on the server as well as duplicated locally. The user will have a choice of logging into the domain or logging into the local machine.

Logging into the domain will give users additional features and access to file shares.

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