Can't find my administrator.

[Gary Burton]

I have been advised to log on as adminstrator to make some corrections
to my profile that I can't make when I am also logged on as a user.

I am the only user on this machine, so I don't have multiple user
accounts, and I have another machine just like it. I normally don't see a
logon screen on either machine. I should be able to boot into safe mode,
and select "Administrator". I can do it on my other machine, but not on
this machine. Neither machine has an "ASP.NET" account. I believe I
deleted them a long time ago to get automatic logon. That may have been a
mistake, but I don't think it is affecting this because one machine gives me
access to the administrator account in spite of it.

If I boot into safe mode on this machine, it goes right to the desktop.
Both machines are set to use the welcome screen and to use
fast user switching.

I was given the following advice and I'm sure it's valid. However
it sounds scary to me. I'm not comfortable with editing privileges and I
would like to find an easier, safer solution if possible:

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

I have been advised to log on as adminstrator to make some
corrections to my profile that I can't make when I am also logged on
as a user.

Are you using Home, or Pro? If the latter, press CTRL+ALT+DEL twice at the
login screen to access the classic login screen, and use the credentials
(password) you provided when setting up the computer. If you're using Home,
you need to boot into safe mode to log in as the administrator, and by
default the pw is blank.

I am the only user on this machine, so I don't have multiple user
accounts, and I have another machine just like it. I normally don't
see a logon screen on either machine. I should be able to boot into
safe mode, and select "Administrator". I can do it on my other
machine, but not on this machine.

What happens when you try?

Neither machine has an "ASP.NET"
account. I believe I deleted them a long time ago to get automatic
logon. That may have been a mistake, but I don't think it is
affecting this because one machine gives me access to the
administrator account in spite of it.

No, ASP.Net isn't related.

If I boot into safe mode on this machine, it goes right to the
desktop. Both machines are set to use the welcome screen and to use
fast user switching.

I was given the following advice and I'm sure it's valid. However
it sounds scary to me. I'm not comfortable with editing
privileges and I would like to find an easier, safer solution if
possible:

Nothing scary there, really...but what is wrong with your profile that
forces you to consider this? Do you make regular backups? Can you use System
Restore to render this uneccessary?

 

[Gary Burton]

I should be able to boot into

What happens when you try?

It goes right to the desktop in safe mode. I never get the screen that
gives me the option of selecting either my profile or the administrator
profile.

No, ASP.Net isn't related.

That's good to know. I'm curious as to what it is for, so that I might
know what I have done to my system. If it's too complicated, just ignore
that question.

Nothing scary there, really...but what is wrong with your profile that
forces you to consider this?

This all started because my internet explorer (IE6) is putting system
files in "C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Local Settings\Temp\".

One folder under "Temp" is called "Cookies". Another folder under
"Temp" is called "History" and contains "History.IE5". Both of the
"Cookies" and "History.ie5" that show up under "Temp" contain an
"index.dat".

There is also a "History" folder one level up (where it should be) that
also contains a "History.ie5". The "History.ie5" in my "Temp" folder seems
to be an exact duplicate of the one that is in the correct place. Both
"History.ie5" folders contain an "Index.dat" file.

There is also a "Cookies" folder two levels up (where it should be). It
seems to be an exact duplicate of the one in the "Temp" folder, including
the "Index.dat" file. At one time, I deleted all the other files in
"Cookies", but they reappeared later.

For both the "Cookies" folder and the "History.ie5" folder the time
stamp on the "index.dat" file is 10 minutes later in the "Temp" folder than
in it's
rightful folder. Also, the "History.ie5" under "Temp" contains a later
history entry than the folder that is in the right place. If I try to
delete everything in the \Temp folder, I discover that the "index.dat" files
are in use. They may also be in use in the correct folders, but I haven't
wanted to try to delete them in order to find out.

On the IE6 group, I was advised to log on with another administrator
account, delete the offending files in /TEMP, and edit the registry to
delete lingering references. I'm not an MVP, and I fear messing up my
system. I will try all of this if I have to, but I would sure like to find
an easier solution if you have one.

Do you make regular backups?

My last backup is over a month old. I would hate to go back to that. A
lot has changed since then, and I believe I have had this problem for a very
long time because I have been noticing a lot of junk that doesn't delete in
my TEMP folder. It has been going on possibly over a year, but I never took
the time to investigate it. My backup would probably have this problem too.

Can you use System Restore to render this uneccessary?

As with the backups, I have no idea how far back to go. If I make
guesses, I will probably make a mess.

 

[Derick Beckwith]

Did you try holding down the SHIFT key when Windows boots up? I think that
is supposed to override the automatic login process and allow you to provide
your login credentials explicitly. I searched the KB but only came this
close to finding anything about this topic:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/826397/en-us

HTH

 

[Gary Burton]

I appreciate your research!

I tried it, and it doesn't work for me. When I held down the shift key
during logon, it gave me a dialog that said something about holding down the
shift key puts it into a mode that changes the typematic rate.

In fact, Regedit couldn't find the"autoadminlogon" value mentioned in
the article. I tried the search on both the "good" machine and the "bad"
machine.