Every year, after the holidays, I get a few phone calls that sound something like this:
"Mr. Seidel, please help me. My (fill in the blank with a relative or friend) stayed at my house over the holidays and wanted to use my computer to (surf or read his email or ???) and now I can't (fill in the blank) any more!"
Extending the courtesy of letting your guest use your computer is a nice thing to do, and I don't think it is out of line for your guest to ask to do that. After all, you would probably appreciate the same courtesy if you were visiting. But you would of course expect the PC to be returned to your use just the way you left it. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. So here is some help in handling these situations.
If you have Windows XP, there is a very good solution. XP allows you to add users to your computer, and each user is completely separate. Each user will have his own desktop, his own email, and will not have access to documents in you're "My Documents" (he gets his own). Adding a new user is very simple - just go to Start / Control Panel and select "User Accounts". Follow the directions to create an account.
Note that when the "Pick an account type" window comes up, you might want to select "Limited" as opposed to "Computer Administrator". This will limit the new user's ability to modify your computer, but should still allow him enough leeway to do normal tasks.
Once you have added the new user, you can easily switch between users. When you are ready to switch, click Start / Log Off and you will be presented with two choices. If you log off, your current activity will be concluded (just as if you shut down the computer), but then the log on screen will be presented allowing you or your guest to now log on.
But a real neat feature of XP is that you can switch users WITHOUT logging off. This means that your current work will still be running, even if you switch to the other account. So, for example, if you are working on a spreadsheet and your guest wants to read his email, you can just switch and return to your ID later. This type of feature differentiates XP from earlier DOS based systems such as Windows 98.
OK - what do you do if you don't have Windows XP? The first thing to do would be to very strongly communicate to your guest that he or she doesn't have free rein and should only do certain things, such as browse the 'net or read email. If you are using Outlook Express for your email, there is a similar function to the XP user switch - its called "Identities".
To use Identities in Outlook Express, pull down File and you will see menu items to switch or manage identities. Under "manage", you can add a new identity. Each identity has its own email accounts, pop-server, etc. Let you guest configure his email in a different identity and it will not affect yours at all.
When your guest has left, you can choose to leave the new accounts or identities for later visits, or delete them as you choose.
(Bob Seidel is a local computer consultant in the Southport / Oak Island area. You can visit his website at www.bobseidel.com or e-mail him at bsc@bobseidel.com).