My Administrator account has disappeared!

[gaz1968]

Your assistance is greatly appreciated as I am at the end of my tether...

=====================================================

My wife asked me to set up an account for her and a guest on my PC, which I
duly did. Setting up Guest was easy, but when it came to setting up her
account, the only option available was to set it up as Administrator. I duly
did this, and checked that all 3 accounts were working - giving each its own
icon, checking access status and permissions, etc.

Turned off the PC. Wife turns it back on, and only two icons are there -
hers and Guest! Reboot - same result.

I no longer have access to my own files and directories!

Any suggestions and explanations of cause - sincerely appreciated.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Your assistance is greatly appreciated as I am at the end of my
tether...

=====================================================

My wife asked me to set up an account for her and a guest on my PC,
which I duly did. Setting up Guest was easy, but when it came to
setting up her account, the only option available was to set it up
as Administrator. I duly did this, and checked that all 3 accounts
were working - giving each its own icon, checking access status and
permissions, etc.

Turned off the PC. Wife turns it back on, and only two icons are
there - hers and Guest! Reboot - same result.

I no longer have access to my own files and directories!

Any suggestions and explanations of cause - sincerely appreciated.

Expected behavior. You were obviously using the built-in administrator
account on a daily basis (not a good idea) and when you created another
account (other than the built-in ones) Windows XP removed the original
administrator account from the "Welcome" logon screen. It is *not* gone -
you just cannot see it on the simplified/less typing version of logging in
that Windows XP has put there for you.

Reboot - at the "Welcome" screen, press CTRL+ALT+DEL twice (in quick
succession) and that should bring up the classic logon prompt asking for
your username and password. Enter your username and password (if you didn't
change it - "Administrator" and if you never set one - don't enter anything
in the password field.) That should get you logged on.

You really should create your own account and not use the built-in account.
You can get the administrator to appear on the "Welcome" screen logon using
(easiest method) the Windows XP Powertoy "TweakUI"...

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/Downloads/powertoys/Xppowertoys.mspx
Specifically:
http://download.microsoft.com/downl...a6-b352-839afb2a2679/TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe