User Account

What Does User Account Mean?

A user account is an established technique for connecting a user and an information service and/or computer network. User accounts determine whether or not a user can connect to a computer, network or similar networks. A user account is one of the best methods to authenticate to a system and receive the necessary access of resources of that system.

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Techopedia Explains User Account

A user account is comprised of a username, password and any information
related to the user. Most networks which need to be accessed by multiple users make use of user accounts. Email accounts are one of the most common examples of user accounts.

When it comes to personal computers, there are two main types of user accounts: standard and administrator. An administrator user account has all privileges to
perform tasks such as installation of applications, while standard users can only use the user accounts as set up by the administrator.

Certain computer systems are single-user systems, and therefore do not need to make use of user accounts. Multi-user systems, however, allow several users to identify themselves with the help of a user account and password. User accounts in a multi-user system have a public user profile that has the basic information provided by the owner of the account. The activities related to the user are stored in the home directory and are protected from access by other users except system administrators. Some systems allow “guest” user accounts such as on e-commerce websites and online games.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…