Windows 8 : Managing User Access and Security - Managing Local User Accounts and Groups (part 2) - Creating Local Groups for Workstations

2. Creating Local Groups for Workstations

You create local groups with Local Users And Groups or with Group Policy. You can access Local Users And Groups and create a local group by completing the following steps:

1. Open Computer Management. Press and hold or right-click the Computer Management entry in the console tree, and then tap or click Connect To Another Computer on the shortcut menu. You can now select the workstation running Windows 8 whose local accounts you want to manage. (Domain controllers do not have local users or groups.)

2. Under the System Tools node, double-tap or double-click the Local Users And Groups node to expand it, and then select Groups. In the details pane, you should see a list of the currently defined group accounts.

3. Press and hold or right-click Groups, and then select New Group. This opens the New Group dialog box, as shown in Figure 3.

   

   Figure 3. The New Group dialog box enables you to add a new local group to a workstation running Windows 8.

4. After you type a name and description for the group, tap or click Add to open the Select Users dialog box and add names to the group.

5. In the Select Users dialog box, tap or click Locations to select the computer or domain in which the user accounts you want to work with are located.

6. Type the name of a user you want to use in the Enter The Object Names To Select text box, and then tap or click Check Names. If matches are found, select the account you want to use, and then tap or click OK. If no matches are found, update the name you entered and try searching again. Repeat this step as necessary, and then tap or click OK when you have finished.

7. The New Group dialog box is updated to reflect your selections. If you made a mistake, select a name and remove it by tapping or clicking Remove.

8. Tap or click Create when you have finished adding or removing group members. Tap or click Close to close the New Group dialog box.

You can access Group Policy and use a preference item to create a local group by completing the following steps:

1. Open a Group Policy Object for editing in the Group Policy Management Editor. To configure preferences for computers, expand Computer Configuration\Preferences\Control Panel Settings, and then select Local Users And Groups. To configure preferences for users, expand User Configuration\Preferences\Control Panel Settings, and then select Local Users And Groups.

2. Press and hold or right-click the Local Users And Groups node, point to New, and then select Local Group. This opens the New Local Group Properties dialog box, as shown in Figure 4.

   

   Figure 4. Configure new local group accounts in Group Policy.

3. In the Action list, select Create. Enter a name and description for the group.

4. To add members to the group, tap or click Add. In the Local Group Member dialog box, tap or click the browse button (the one with the three dots). Use the Select User, Computer, Or Group dialog box to select a user or group to add to the local group, and then tap or click OK twice. Repeat this step as necessary.

5. Use the options on the Common tab to control how the preference is applied. In most cases, you should create the new account only once. If so, select Apply Once And Do Not Reapply.

6. Tap or click OK. The next time Group Policy is refreshed, the preference item will be applied as appropriate for the Group Policy Object in which you defined the preference item.