Jim --
Thx. I followed your suggestion and found that I am, indeed, apparently
registered as the system administrator for this machine. Although I don't
remember registering as the administrator, I do remember picking out the
"security icon" (or whatever it's called) that shows up on that control panel
page.
However, leaving the dialog box completely blank when it appears and just
clicking "OK" still works; I forgot to mention that in my post.
BTW, at least in my version of Control Panel, with the default XP display
instead of the "Classic" display, there is no "administrative tools" option
per se, but there is a "User Accounts" icon and link, followed by a 2nd page
that has yet another "User Accounts" link, which apparently leads to the
information you referred to.
BTW # 2 -- oddly, when I clicked on the link to your reply in the
notification email I received, it led to a blank page. Cutting and pasting
the URL into the address box yielded the same result.
Thanks again.
"Jim" wrote:
>
> "Econ Col" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:BC0EFC19-F5C0-4471-BEC2-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >I occasionally get a dialog box asking for the administrator's name and
> > password when I'm installing new software and under some other
> > circumstances.
> > I'm the only person who uses this computer, and, at least as far as I
> > know,
> > I was never asked to establish an administrator's account or password
> > while
> > doing the initial computer set-up when the PC was new. (I specifically
> > watched for this question *very* alertly, so I'm almost certain it was
> > never
> > asked.) I *do* have my user name and system name.
> >
> > (I checked the relevant entries in this Discussion Group and didn't find
> > anything that addressed my specific question, and I apologize if someone
> > has
> > already addressed this matter elsewhere.)
> >
> > The reason for my question is that I'm about to have to edit my registry
> > because a recent software installation apparently caused an incorrect
> > registry setting, and editing the registry is the fix for the software
> > error
> > that is recommended by the manufacturer's FAQs. I'm aware of the dangers
> > of
> > registry editing and will follow the MS Knowledge Base article's
> > instructions
> > in detail, but I'm very inexperienced with such OS problems.
> >
> > Several entries in the XP Help resource concerning registry editing and
> > using restore points specifically mentioned that it might be necessary to
> > be
> > logged on as the administrator, hence my question.
> >
> > (FYI, the faulty software in question is DocumentsToGo by DataViz and is a
> > *required* download by the Palm Pilot folks in order to enable certain
> > important functions on Palm Treos. It's not some piece of junk I
> > downloaded
> > from an unknown source. Unfortunately, both Palm and DataViz tech support
> > specifically refuse to assist in making the required fix, even though this
> > is
> > a known issue!)
> >
> > I'm running Windows XP Professional (Media Edition), ver. 5.1.2600 with SP
> > 2
> > (Build 2600), with McAfee's firewall and anti-virus suite. I have a few
> > other pieces of software installed on the PC, but not much, and nothing
> > exotic as far as I know.
> >
> > Thanks for your assistance.
> >
> >
> More than likely, the account that you created is not a member of the
> administrators group.
> However, when the install software asks you for the administrator account
> name and password, they mean the built in account. You created this account
> when you installed XP.
> Furthermore, it cannot be removed.
> By default, the account is called "administrator" and the password is blank.
> Evidently, this is your current situation. What you have then is a highly
> vulnerable system.
>
> The quickest way to find out how you setup your accounts is to go to the
> control panel. Click on "Administrative Tools". In there you will find the
> task which shows the users and groups.
> I am posting from an unprivileged account and do not have the privileges
> needed to continue listing the exact path to the information.
> Jim
>
>
>
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