Admin account is gone

[JR Lee]

I added a new admin-level account to my computer for testing openvpn,
and now I can't login to the original administrator account, which has
all my settings. What can I do to solve this?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I added a new admin-level account to my computer for testing
openvpn, and now I can't login to the original administrator
account, which has all my settings. What can I do to solve this?

When you say, "... now I can't login to the original administrator account
....", you don't actually mean that the administrator account no longer shows
on the Windows XP "Welcome" logon screen user list, do you?

If so and this is (you did not say) any Windows XP version other than
Windows XP Home Edition...

- Reboot...
- At the Welcome Screen, press CTRL+ALT+DEL twice (quickly)...
- In the classic logon prompt that appears, type "administrator" (without
the quotation marks) for the username and put in whatever password you had
assigned for the user in the password field (if you had none - leave it
blank) and logon.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I added a new admin-level account to my computer for testing openvpn,
and now I can't login to the original administrator account, which has
all my settings. What can I do to solve this?

It sounds as if you'd been using the built-in Administrator account
for daily use. This was unwise. As you've discovered, once any
additional user accounts have been created, the built-in Administrator
account will no longer be displayed on the Welcome Screen. This is a
default security feature.

The built-in Administrator account was never intended to be used
for day-to-day normal use. The standard security practice is to rename
the account, 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).

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.

A wiser course of action would be to create another user account
for your daily use (as 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:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

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safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

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The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot