Administrator Account

[Guest]

I was recently given a Windows XP Home Edition computer (DELL).

I have been trying to do various things on the computer but it says I need
to have "administrator privileges."

When I first turn the computer on, there are two accounts I may login to and
neither of them have administrator privileges.

So I tried to log into the Admininstrator account by doing this:

When the login page appears with the different user names, I click
Ctrl+Alt+Delete twice and I type in "Administrator" in the user name and I
don't enter a password. When I click Login or whatever it is, a box appears
that says: "Unable to log you on because of an account restriction."

So my question is, how can I access the Administrator account? I will
probably have to go through the programming of the computer or whatever.

Thanks you,

Drew

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Drew

You can only access the built-in Administrator account in Safe Mode with the
XP Home version.

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

 

[Nepatsfan]

"Drew Erickson" <Drew (e-mail address removed)>
wrote in message

I was recently given a Windows XP Home Edition computer
(DELL).

I have been trying to do various things on the computer but
it says I need to have "administrator privileges."

When I first turn the computer on, there are two accounts I
may login to and neither of them have administrator
privileges.

So I tried to log into the Admininstrator account by doing
this:

When the login page appears with the different user names, I
click Ctrl+Alt+Delete twice and I type in "Administrator" in
the user name and I don't enter a password. When I click
Login or whatever it is, a box appears that says: "Unable to
log you on because of an account restriction."

So my question is, how can I access the Administrator
account? I will probably have to go through the programming
of the computer or whatever.

Thanks you,

Drew

Since you're using XP Home Edition, you'll have to boot into
Safe Mode in order to access the built-in Administrator
account.

To start in Safe Mode, reboot your computer and
start tapping the F8 key as soon as you see anything displayed
on the screen. Keep hitting F8 until the Advanced Startup
Options menu appears. Use the up and down arrow keys on your
keyboard to select Safe Mode. Hit Enter.

When in Safe Mode, you can try to change the status of the
existing accounts from Limited User to Computer Administrator
but I think you may find that you're going to have to create a
whole new account that is a Computer Administrator. Something's
not right with the existing accounts. You're not supposed to be
able to run XP Home without at least one of the visible user
accounts being a Computer Administrator.

Personally, if I was given a used computer, the first thing I'd
do would be to wipe out what's on the hard drive and reinstall
XP and all the installed programs.

Good luck

Nepatsfan

 

[Ron Sommer]

Start, Run, msconfig, OK, boot.ini tab, check SAFEBOOT.
Restart.
When you want to boot to an account,
Start, Run, msconfig, OK, boot.ini tab, uncheck SAFEBOOT.
--
Ronald Sommer

:I was recently given a Windows XP Home Edition computer (DELL).
:
: I have been trying to do various things on the computer but it says I need
: to have "administrator privileges."
:
: When I first turn the computer on, there are two accounts I may login to
and
: neither of them have administrator privileges.
:
: So I tried to log into the Admininstrator account by doing this:
:
: When the login page appears with the different user names, I click
: Ctrl+Alt+Delete twice and I type in "Administrator" in the user name and I
: don't enter a password. When I click Login or whatever it is, a box
appears
: that says: "Unable to log you on because of an account restriction."
:
: So my question is, how can I access the Administrator account? I will
: probably have to go through the programming of the computer or whatever.
:
: Thanks you,
:
: Drew