WinXP Administrator Gone

[Guest]

I've used my PC with WinXP Pro as "Administrator" for >12 months.

This past week I set up accounts for my kids on this PC. I rebooted it
today, and now my Administrator account no longer comes up as an option in
the logon screen. I have another username that I've assigned admin authority
to, but now I have to dig about in Documents and Settings & Program Files to
find documents and programs formerly available on my (former) admin desktop
and such.

It won't let me delete all the new users I created. I don't see a way to go
back to having "Administrator" be my username, with all the accumulated
settings & such.

Is there a way?

 

[Gordon]

I've used my PC with WinXP Pro as "Administrator" for >12 months.

Well that's VERY bad practice. If the Administrator account had got
corrupted, you would have had NO way to access your machine except by a
repair install of XP

This past week I set up accounts for my kids on this PC. I rebooted it
today, and now my Administrator account no longer comes up as an option in
the logon screen.

At the welcome Screen, press Ctl-Alt-Del twice. The W2K style log-on box
should appear. Type in "administrator" (without the quotes) as the User and
use whatever password you set up.

 

[Guest]

OK. So I've got 2 issues. You've resolved one of them for me.

Can I migrate the settings for my administrator user to another user, so I'm
no longer using the 'VERY bad practice' you speak of?

Thank you,
Ron

 

[Mike Kolitz]

Hi Ron,

Yes, you can use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard to save all of your
documents and settings and transfer them to another account.

FAST is located at Start / [All] Programs / Accessories / System Tools

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I've used my PC with WinXP Pro as "Administrator" for >12 months.

This past week I set up accounts for my kids on this PC. I rebooted it
today, and now my Administrator account no longer comes up as an option in
the logon screen. I have another username that I've assigned admin authority
to, but now I have to dig about in Documents and Settings & Program Files to
find documents and programs formerly available on my (former) admin desktop
and such.

It won't let me delete all the new users I created. I don't see a way to go
back to having "Administrator" be my username, with all the accumulated
settings & such.

Is there a way?

As you've learned, once any additional user accounts have been
created, the Administrator account will no longer be displayed on the
Welcome Screen. This is a default security feature. 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.

The built-in Administrator account really isn't intended to be
used for day-to-day normal use. The standard security practice is to
set a strong password on it and use it only to create another account
for regular use, reserving the Administrator account as a "back door"
in case something corrupts your regular account(s).

A wiser course of action would be to create another user account
for your daily use, as you say you've done, and copy desired the files
and settings from the Administrator account to this newly created user
profile.

HOW TO Create and Configure User Accounts in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;279783

How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811151


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Andrew Murray]

I've used my PC with WinXP Pro as "Administrator" for >12 months.

This past week I set up accounts for my kids on this PC. I rebooted it
today, and now my Administrator account no longer comes up as an option in
the logon screen. I have another username that I've assigned admin
authority
to, but now I have to dig about in Documents and Settings & Program Files
to
find documents and programs formerly available on my (former) admin
desktop
and such.

It won't let me delete all the new users I created. I don't see a way to
go
back to having "Administrator" be my username, with all the accumulated
settings & such.

Is there a way?

That adminstrator (the default account) should only be used in emergencies.
You need to have created a user account with admin priviledges to use on a
day to day basis.