HOME EDITION: can't log on as administrator after setting up new account

[Joe]

A friend has a 3-4 year old Dell with the XP Home Edition OS. She recently
decided to set up a new account for any visitors to her house. After setting
up "Visitor"- she couldn't get back to being Administrator. She'll log off
to Visitor- then up comes the Welcom Screen dialog box to enter another
account name and password- that box was always coming up before she set up
Visitor- as she wanted a password to access her computer. But this time when
it came up it no longer had in the User ID field- which was always in there
before. She remembers her password but not the name of the User ID. She
thinks she knows it- but keeps trying it and variations with no luck.

So, I checked in my "Microsoft Windows XP Inside Out" resource book. On pg.
118 in a topic called "Logging On as Administrator" it points out that with
XP Pro, it's OK and possible to log on as the Administrator from the Welcome
screen, but it's not possible to do so with the Home Edition- for which you
must go into Safe Mode. So, we did that - got into Safe Mode- but didn't
know what to do from there- the book doesn't say.

Any help would be appreciated. By the way, why should MS make this
distinction? If that really is the only way to log on to Admin. from within
Home Edition, it sure is cumbersome- there must be a better way.

 

[Sharon F]

A friend has a 3-4 year old Dell with the XP Home Edition OS. She recently
decided to set up a new account for any visitors to her house. After setting
up "Visitor"- she couldn't get back to being Administrator. She'll log off
to Visitor- then up comes the Welcom Screen dialog box to enter another
account name and password- that box was always coming up before she set up
Visitor- as she wanted a password to access her computer. But this time when
it came up it no longer had in the User ID field- which was always in there
before. She remembers her password but not the name of the User ID. She
thinks she knows it- but keeps trying it and variations with no luck.

So, I checked in my "Microsoft Windows XP Inside Out" resource book. On pg.
118 in a topic called "Logging On as Administrator" it points out that with
XP Pro, it's OK and possible to log on as the Administrator from the Welcome
screen, but it's not possible to do so with the Home Edition- for which you
must go into Safe Mode. So, we did that - got into Safe Mode- but didn't
know what to do from there- the book doesn't say.

Any help would be appreciated. By the way, why should MS make this
distinction? If that really is the only way to log on to Admin. from within
Home Edition, it sure is cumbersome- there must be a better way.

Your friend was using the default administrator account. Normally this
account is kept in reserve - one that can be used if the everyday admin
account becomes corrupt. When another account within the administrator
group is created, the default account "disappears" and can only be accessed
using steps specific to the version of XP (home or pro).

Also in XP Home, this account is not normally visible at all. XP Home setup
usually creates the first user account within the administrator group and
never even mentions the default hidden account named Administrator (a shame
since one might want to password the account). I wonder how your friend
managed to be using the only administrator account on the system since
there should have already been two - their account and the default account.

Anyhow, your friend needs to create a new account within the administrator
group. They can then copy their user data over to that account using the
steps in the following article:

"How to copy data from a corrupted user profile to a new profile"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811151

 

[Joe]

Your friend was using the default administrator account. Normally this
account is kept in reserve - one that can be used if the everyday admin
account becomes corrupt. When another account within the administrator
group is created, the default account "disappears" and can only be
accessed
using steps specific to the version of XP (home or pro).

Also in XP Home, this account is not normally visible at all. XP Home
setup
usually creates the first user account within the administrator group and
never even mentions the default hidden account named Administrator (a
shame
since one might want to password the account). I wonder how your friend
managed to be using the only administrator account on the system since
there should have already been two - their account and the default
account.

Not sure- I think she wanted password protection, so somehow she set up her
daily account with a password- not sure if it was the default admin. acct.
or not. Now when she goes into control panel- user accounts- the only thing
in there is this new Visitor acct. The welcome screen only shows the visitor
account too- nothing else- if there were more, wouldn't they be listed in
drop down menus? Since her original wasn't listed- she tried changing the
User ID to what she thought it was (not having written it down), then
entered the password which she knew very well, using it every day- and got
no results- thinking the problem was that she didn't recall the proper User
ID. I did notice in the MS book that you can't get back into Admin. acct.
with Home Ed. this way- but is it only the default Admin. acct. you can't
get back to this way, or any Admin. acct.? I'm only now understanding the
basics of this acct. stuff as I've been using computers for years but never
bothered with the acct. features. If the daily acct. she had been using for
years was not the default admin. acct. but a secondary admin. acct she set
up (without understanding)- could she get back to it via the welcome screen,
or is it that you can never get to any admin. acct. via the welcome screen?

And, I don't understand, as I mention above, why when going into control
panel- User accounts- all she sees is the brand new Visitor acct.'s name.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[Sharon F]

Not sure- I think she wanted password protection, so somehow she set up her
daily account with a password- not sure if it was the default admin. acct.
or not. Now when she goes into control panel- user accounts- the only thing
in there is this new Visitor acct. The welcome screen only shows the visitor
account too- nothing else- if there were more, wouldn't they be listed in
drop down menus? Since her original wasn't listed- she tried changing the
User ID to what she thought it was (not having written it down), then
entered the password which she knew very well, using it every day- and got
no results- thinking the problem was that she didn't recall the proper User
ID. I did notice in the MS book that you can't get back into Admin. acct.
with Home Ed. this way- but is it only the default Admin. acct. you can't
get back to this way, or any Admin. acct.? I'm only now understanding the
basics of this acct. stuff as I've been using computers for years but never
bothered with the acct. features. If the daily acct. she had been using for
years was not the default admin. acct. but a secondary admin. acct she set
up (without understanding)- could she get back to it via the welcome screen,
or is it that you can never get to any admin. acct. via the welcome screen?

And, I don't understand, as I mention above, why when going into control
panel- User accounts- all she sees is the brand new Visitor acct.'s name.

Thanks,
Joe

Joe, I'm not sure why it happened on your friend's computer. The whole
story doesn't jive with how XP Home works. XP Pro, yes; but not XP Home.
::shrugs::

Since you can get logged on in Safe Mode, do that. Create a new user
account for your friend within the admin group. When the computer is
restarted using "normal mode," she should have no problem logging on with
that new account.

The trick will be getting the personal files and settings from the old
account into the new account. When she logs on to the new admin account,
what can she see of the old account that she was using? If yes, she can use
the steps in the article referred to before.

"How to copy data from a corrupted user profile to a new profile"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811151

If not, she might try using Files and Settings Transfer wizard. The tool is
designed to transfer from an old computer to a new one, but can be used to
transfer from one account to another. Helpful article about that tool here:
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/fast.htm

If that doesn't work or if it is too intimidating, she can always copy over
data files only and manually recreate her preferences and settings.

Also.. Even though she's the same person in both accounts, XP doesn't know
that. She may run into access issues while trying to move files from one
account to the other. She can overcome those by "taking ownership" of the
files and folders as described here:

How To Take Ownership of a File or Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

 

[Sharon F]

Not sure- I think she wanted password protection, so somehow she set up her
daily account with a password- not sure if it was the default admin. acct.
or not. Now when she goes into control panel- user accounts- the only thing
in there is this new Visitor acct. The welcome screen only shows the visitor
account too- nothing else- if there were more, wouldn't they be listed in
drop down menus?

Are you sure she doesn't have Pro? What you're describing is right in line
with how XP Pro can work and behave. It's not common (maybe not even
possible) with XP Home...

As far as the drop down list, she can try typing in the name/password if it
isn't listed.

 

[Larry Samuels]

Also if it is XP Pro you can force the Administrator account to appear on
the logon screen.

1. Click Start>>Run
2. In the box, enter "regedit" (without the quotes). Click OK
3. In the Registry Editor, navigate down to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList
4. Right-click on the empty area in the right panel
5. Click New>>DWORD Value. In the box, type the word Administrator
6. Double-click Administrator
7. In the Edit DWORD Value Window, under Value Data:, change the
number 0 to 1
8. Click OK
9. Close the Registry Editor
10. Reboot


--
Larry Samuels Associate Expert
MS-MVP (2001-2005)
Unofficial FAQ for Windows Server 2003 at
http://pelos.us/SERVER.htm
Expert Zone-

 

[Sharon F]

Also if it is XP Pro you can force the Administrator account to appear on
the logon screen.

1. Click Start>>Run
2. In the box, enter "regedit" (without the quotes). Click OK
3. In the Registry Editor, navigate down to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList
4. Right-click on the empty area in the right panel
5. Click New>>DWORD Value. In the box, type the word Administrator
6. Double-click Administrator
7. In the Edit DWORD Value Window, under Value Data:, change the
number 0 to 1
8. Click OK
9. Close the Registry Editor
10. Reboot

Thanks for adding that, Larry. Thought about it later in the day but
decided to wait until the version of XP was confirmed. By posting the
information now, you may have saved the OP (and me!) some time.

PS: Have enjoyed seeing you in the groups lately -- WB!