Administrator Interactive logon XP Home

[Guest]

Is there any way to edit the registry to allow the computer admin account to
logon interactively, when not running in safe mode. The prob I'm having is
accessing the windows catalogue to download service packs and updates for
installation on numerous machines.

 

[Malke]

Is there any way to edit the registry to allow the computer admin
account to
logon interactively, when not running in safe mode. The prob I'm
having is accessing the windows catalogue to download service packs
and updates for installation on numerous machines.

From your post, I assume that you are running XP Home and that is why
you need to go into Safe Mode to access the built-in Administrator
account. Any account with administrative privileges can download
Windows Update from the catalogue. Create an account for yourself that
is a Computer Administrator. You can call it "tech" or the like and use
if for this purpose.

Malke

 

[Guest]

Yes I am using XP Home, but have also tried on an xp pro machine, both
accounts I have been using are computer administrator accounts. On the
catalogue page all of the administrator options are greyed out. Perhaps I
was not very clear in my original post. I am looking to download updates for
Win 2k pro to burn to cd, not just run windows update for the current
machine. I was successfull in downloading SP 4, but am unable to download
the win 2k update rollup 1 for SP4.

 

[Malke]

Yes I am using XP Home, but have also tried on an xp pro machine, both
accounts I have been using are computer administrator accounts. On the
catalogue page all of the administrator options are greyed out.
Perhaps I was not very clear in my original post. I am looking to
download updates for Win 2k pro to burn to cd, not just run windows
update for the current
machine. I was successfull in downloading SP 4, but am unable to
download the win 2k update rollup 1 for SP4.

No, I understood that you want to download the updates from Windows
Update catalogue. I don't know why your options are greyed out. Are you
on a domain with group policies in force? What is the virus/malware
status of the machine?

Can you download from other sites on that box?

Malke

 

[Guest]

Thanks for hanging in there Malke.

The XP Home machine is at home directly connected to internet via broadband.
The XP Pro machine is at work connected to internet via a broadband router,
neither machines are in a domain, or connect through a proxy. I have no
problem downloading anything or installing anything from anywhere else. I'm
maybe needing to hook up a 2K machine and try that. Very frustrating though.

 

[Malke]

Thanks for hanging in there Malke.

The XP Home machine is at home directly connected to internet via
broadband. The XP Pro machine is at work connected to internet via a
broadband router,
neither machines are in a domain, or connect through a proxy. I have
no
problem downloading anything or installing anything from anywhere
else. I'm
maybe needing to hook up a 2K machine and try that. Very frustrating
though.

Let's be very clear about this - you have two computers in completely
different locations running different versions of XP and you can't go
to the Windows Update catalogue site and download updates from either
machine?

I'm still a bit unclear about how your original post relates to the
issue. Here it is:

"Is there any way to edit the registry to allow the computer admin
account to logon interactively, when not running in safe mode. The
prob I'm having is accessing the windows catalogue to download service
packs and updates for installation on numerous machines."

Are you trying to remote into one of these computers from the other one?
Please describe exactly what you are trying to do and what you are
doing.

Malke

 

[Guest]

I am trying to download from the windows catalogue. "Use administrator
options" radio button is greyed out. Message in viewing pane of web page
presented states "You must be logged on with administrator privileges to
access".

The two machines I have tried are in no way connected to each other, neither
am I attemting to network the two. I stated two machines to highlight the
problem does not appear to be caused by any configuration/setting with
firewalls, adware, spy ware virus's or such.

XP Home Sp2 = Computer administrator account.
XP Pro SP2 = Computer administrator account.

I asked about the default administrator account (XP Home) being able to log
on interactively, because, one privelege I know that is not available to
computer admin accounts on XP home, is the security tab on folder properties.
Now, if this is one privelege exclusive to the default admin account (which
is only accessible in safe mode), I'm sure there must be others. My thinking
was that this wee hiccup I'm having may well be one of them. I have not
tried using the default admin account on the XP Pro machine as I do not have
the password for that account.

 

[Malke]

I am trying to download from the windows catalogue. "Use
administrator options" radio button is greyed out. Message in viewing
pane of web page presented states "You must be logged on with
administrator privileges to access".

The two machines I have tried are in no way connected to each other,
neither am I attemting to network the two. I stated two machines to
highlight the problem does not appear to be caused by any
configuration/setting with firewalls, adware, spy ware virus's or such.

XP Home Sp2 = Computer administrator account.
XP Pro SP2 = Computer administrator account.

I asked about the default administrator account (XP Home) being able
to log on interactively, because, one privelege I know that is not
available to computer admin accounts on XP home, is the security tab
on folder properties.
Now, if this is one privelege exclusive to the default admin account
(which
is only accessible in safe mode), I'm sure there must be others. My
thinking
was that this wee hiccup I'm having may well be one of them. I have
not tried using the default admin account on the XP Pro machine as I
do not have the password for that account.

This last sentence indicates to me that the XP Pro box is a work
computer not under your control (or you would have the Administrator
password). If this is the case, contact your IT Dept. for further help
on that machine because group policies could definitely be in effect,
even though it is not a member of a domain.

Unless you've created security settings yourself, your original question
is not relevant and not a useful troubleshooting avenue.

Now that you've finally provided an error message, see this:

You receive an "Administrators only" error message when you try to visit
the Windows or Microsoft Update websites:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316524/en-us

Since this is not normal behavior, you should also examine both machines
to see if there are any third-party programs common to both. It also
never hurts to make sure your computers are virus/malware-free:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

Malke

 

[Guest]

Cheers Malke,
had to edit registry, to give myself full control on the windowsupdate key.
Although my log on username is in the administrators group, the sam has my
profile listed as the original name that came with this pre installed
machine. Does that make sense? Anyway problem solved, your patience and good
advice is much appreciated.