Administrator Accounts

[Guest]

I have just bought a 2nd hand PC which is running XP Professional and have
found that there doesn't appear to be an account set up as "administrator"
only a limited user account With all the restrictions attached with it. Does
anyone know how I can find/set-up an adminstrator account on this PC.

 

[Malke]

I have just bought a 2nd hand PC which is running XP Professional and
have found that there doesn't appear to be an account set up as
"administrator" only a limited user account With all the restrictions
attached with it. Does anyone know how I can find/set-up an
adminstrator account on this PC.

With a second-hand computer, the smartest thing you can do is wipe the
machine and do a clean install. You have no idea what is on that box.

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#reinstall_Windows - what
you need to have on-hand

Malke

 

[Jose Gallardo]

On the welcome screen hit Ctrl+Alt+Supr+Supr. Do you see administrator
account?

 

[Gordon]

I have just bought a 2nd hand PC which is running XP Professional and have
found that there doesn't appear to be an account set up as "administrator"
only a limited user account With all the restrictions attached with it.
Does
anyone know how I can find/set-up an adminstrator account on this PC.

At the welcome screen, press Ctl-Alt-Del twice. Log in using a user name of
"administrator" (without the quotes) and unless you know different, leave
the password blank. If it needs a password, then you will either have to get
in touch with the seller, or if that's not possible, then google for one of
the free password crackers.

 

[Jose Gallardo]

Ok. Even though you see the account, you'll need its password. The best
option is what Malke said.

 

[Guest]

This is a clean install on the box, only has XP, Office 2003 etc installed,
no documents whatsoever...for some reason he's screwed up during the set-up
(DOPE & ALL THAT) and this is what he's left... I have discs for XP2002 can I
use these to set up administer user account.

 

[Malke]

This is a clean install on the box, only has XP, Office 2003 etc
installed, no documents whatsoever...for some reason he's screwed up
during the set-up (DOPE & ALL THAT) and this is what he's left... I
have discs for XP2002 can I use these to set up administer user
account.

You don't need to do anything with the XP install CD to fix the problem.
Since I'm not sure what the seller did (and I can't see your computer
from here):

If he disabled the built-in Administrator account, booting into Safe
Mode will automatically enable it again (temporarily, for that Safe
Mode session).

Boot into Safe Mode (tap F8 repeatedly as the computer is starting). If
no user logon appears in Safe Mode where you can type in the user
account name "Administrator" (or click on it), press Ctrl-Alt-Del
twice.

If he didn't disable the Administrator account, then just do
Ctrl-Alt-Del at the Welcome Screen to get the classic Windows logon
box. Or if you already have the classic logon, type in "Administrator"
without the quotes.

When the seller installed Windows, he would have needed a password for
the Administrator account. First assume it is blank and try that. If
not, then put in the password he used - surely he told you? - or use
NTpasswd to set the Administrator password to a blank.

http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

Then log into the Administrator account and go to the User Accounts
applet in Control Panel. Create accounts as desired. Leave the built-in
Administrator account alone. It will disappear from the Welcome Screen
after you create a new account with administrative privileges. This is
by design.

Malke

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

This is a clean install on the box, only has XP, Office 2003 etc
installed, no documents whatsoever...for some reason he's screwed up
during the set-up (DOPE & ALL THAT) and this is what he's left... I
have discs for XP2002 can I use these to set up administer user
account.

That's a very good example of why Malke's advice should be followed. You say
he's screwed this up, but you don't (yet) know what else he may have screwed
up.

Reinstalling cleanly is always the best thing to do with a second-hand
computer.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I have just bought a 2nd hand PC which is running XP Professional and have
found that there doesn't appear to be an account set up as "administrator"
only a limited user account With all the restrictions attached with it. Does
anyone know how I can find/set-up an adminstrator account on this PC.

With second-hand computers, especially if acquired from strangers
but perhaps even if acquired from a family member or friend, your wisest
course of action would probably be to format the hard drives and start
fresh. You don't want to get in trouble because the original owner may
have filled the hard drive with kiddie porn, or have problems because
the original owner downloaded/installed viruses or other malware.

Simply log in using the built-in Administrator account (which
cannot be deleted) and modify the desired account(s) and use Start > Run

"control userpasswords2" to modify the desired account(s). By

design, the only way to log into the Administrator account of WinXP Home
is to reboot into Safe Mode. For WinXP Pro, pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL twice
at the Welcome Screen will produce the standard login dialog box.


--

Bruce Chambers

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[Guest]

Thanks to all who sent posts - it sounds that I will be able to sort
something out to enable me to recover/copy administrator account. Can't get
to work on PC for a couple of days (pressure of work etc..) but will let you
all know how i get on. Thanks

 

[Guest]

I have just bought a 2nd hand PC which is running XP Professional and have
found that there doesn't appear to be an account set up as "administrator"
only a limited user account With all the restrictions attached with it. Does
anyone know how I can find/set-up an adminstrator account on this PC.