Limit on number of users in Windows XP

Limit on number of users in Windows XP

Hello Eli.

I am not quite sure if you want to know the maximum number of user accounts that can be created on one installation of Windows or if you are asking how many simultaneous users can connect to a Windows computer that is connected to a network.  I assume you want to know the former.

There is no definite answer as to the limit of user accounts that you can create in one computer.  Some report that you can theoretically have 4 million user accounts.  Some have created up to 25,000 accounts on their Windows XP installation with no apparent problems.  In theory, the limit will depend on how much hard drive space is available since creating a user account will create entries in the registry as well as other profile file (not to mention the My Documents folder).  Practicality and common sense will also dictate how many users a person would want to create on one computer.

If the question is about how many concurrent users can be connected to a Windows XP computer (either a network share or remote desktop), the limit for XP Home is 5 while the limit for XP Pro is 10.  If you need to connect more simultaneous users, you will need a Server edition.

Limit on number of users in Windows XP

I’m not sure if there is a limit in the number of user accounts that can be created in Microsoft Windows XP and this also goes to Windows Vista and Windows 7 as well and later operating systems. The only limitation would have to be your hard drive space because a user account occupies a big space in the hard drive.

I’m not sure about the default size of a user account but the default “Administrator” account on my computer is around 1.04 MB and it doesn’t have anything on it because I’ve never used it to install applications. My current user account is around 601 MB and in this size I haven’t installed all my applications yet.

You can create as many user accounts as you want on your computer as long as your hard drive is big enough, there should be no problem. Also, when creating additional local user accounts, make the accounts standard to avoid problems.