Lynne said:
I'm the only user of my laptop. I tried to run msconfig and was denied
access, not logged on as administrator, although my user account reflects
Administrator,password protected.
After hours with HP tech support, I was instructed to ctr+alt then delete
which I did It brought up another Administrator account, no password and a
different desktop with limited ICONS.
What can I do to resolve this issue and have only (1) adm account?
First of all, unless you could not run the System Configuration Utility
at all, the issue with msconfig is probably caused by HP printer
software. Your post is ambiguous, but if you were able to run msconfig
and make changes but then get the error message, then that is the common
HP printer software effect. The changes are made anyway. If you go to
Start>Run and type "msconfig" (without the quotes) and the System
Configuration Utility fails to even start, your computer may be infected
with a virus or other malware. You will have to be more specific in your
next post, including the exact text of any error message.
Second of all, you never want to have only one administrator account.
What happened was that HP tech support had you log into the built-in
Administrator account. Since you were able to do this with Ctrl-Alt-Del,
you apparently have XP Pro and not Home Edition. See below for an
explanation of the user accounts in XP:
*****
XP is a multi-user operating system, no matter if only one person is
using it. In all multi-user operating systems - NT, Win2k, XP, Unix,
Linux, Mac OSX - there is the one built-in account that is "god" on the
system. In Windows terminology, that is "Administrator". In the *nix
world, it is "root". This is a necessary account and is not normally
used in everyday work. You cannot delete the built-in Administrator
account nor would you ever want to.
Here is the explanation of what you really have:
My Computer - represents your entire computer, showing drives and shared
folders. Shared Folders are folders where you can put files you wish to
share with other users on the system. You don't need to use these
folders if you don't want to, but leave them alone!
[some name] C:\ - your first hard drive, usually the system drive.
Document and Settings - The "container" for all user settings. Each user
will have [username] Documents, Music, Videos, My Pictures.
Administrator - Built-in account - Leave alone! Do not use! Do not worry
about it!
All Users - Section where items common to all users go. In a multi-user
operating system, users have separate accounts. This is the place where
if you want to share files with all the other users on the system you
would put those files. You don't ever have to use those folders but they
need to be there. This is where programs you install that are meant to
be installed for all users put settings. All the "Shared Documents" type
of folders you see at the root of C:\ are shortcuts to the shared
folders in here. Leave them alone!
Default Users - This is the template from which new user accounts are
made. You will never put anything in any of those folders but they are
needed to create new users. In Linux we use "skel" ("skeleton" - get
it?). In Windows, the less-colorful term "Default User" is used. Leave
it alone!
[OEM] Administrator or Owner - This is the generic user created by the
OEM when installing the operating system. After all, the OEM doesn't
know who is going to buy the computer. If you aren't using this OEM user
account, you can delete it from the User Accounts applet in Control
Panel. It is not the same account as "Administrator".
*****
Malke
