Duplicate Administrator user

[GaryT]

In XP Home I had to go into Safe Mode to get an update for an older software
program to install. In XP Home, Safe Mode uses the built-in user named
Administrator. However, before doing that, I hit Ctrl_Alt_Del and entered
the name Administrator, thinking I could log on that way (wrong).

Now under Documents and Settings in Windows Explorer, there are two
Administrator users (along with Owner and the other user names I had
previously created).

One is:
Administrator (it only has a sub-folder for Favorites)
The other is:
Administrator.computername (it has subfolders for Cookies, Desktop,
Favorites, etc, etc.) so I assume that to be the one I actually accessed.

Only the latter name is shown in the registry profile list with the other
user names.

So if I do the following:
1. Delete the folder names Administrator
2. Rename the folder from Administrator.computername to Administrator
2. Edit the registry to rename the profile to Administrator

Will that clean up the duplicate WITHOUT screwing up getting back into safe
mode in the future if needed?

Gary

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

In XP Home I had to go into Safe Mode to get an update for an older software
program to install. In XP Home, Safe Mode uses the built-in user named
Administrator. However, before doing that, I hit Ctrl_Alt_Del and entered
the name Administrator, thinking I could log on that way (wrong).

Now under Documents and Settings in Windows Explorer, there are two
Administrator users (along with Owner and the other user names I had
previously created).

One is:
Administrator (it only has a sub-folder for Favorites)
The other is:
Administrator.computername (it has subfolders for Cookies, Desktop,
Favorites, etc, etc.) so I assume that to be the one I actually accessed.

Only the latter name is shown in the registry profile list with the other
user names.

So if I do the following:
1. Delete the folder names Administrator
2. Rename the folder from Administrator.computername to Administrator
2. Edit the registry to rename the profile to Administrator

Will that clean up the duplicate WITHOUT screwing up getting back into safe
mode in the future if needed?

Gary

The various folders under "Documents and Settings" are called
"Profile Folders". Their names are determined by an attribute
attached to the account name. If the account "Administrator"
has a profile folder of "Administrator.xxx" then it is pointless to
delete that profile folder - it will be recreated from the Default
Profile when you next log on as Administrator. If you wish to
clean up things then you probably have to rename or delete
the "Administrator" profile file.

What actually is the purpose of the exercise? Just to clean up
a few legacy profile folders?

 

[GaryT]

The various folders under "Documents and Settings" are called
"Profile Folders". Their names are determined by an attribute
attached to the account name. If the account "Administrator"
has a profile folder of "Administrator.xxx" then it is pointless to
delete that profile folder - it will be recreated from the Default
Profile when you next log on as Administrator. If you wish to
clean up things then you probably have to rename or delete
the "Administrator" profile file.

What actually is the purpose of the exercise? Just to clean up
a few legacy profile folders?

Well, in some ways, yes. I like to keep a clean, easy to understand
system for anyone who might need to use it. When logged on as
Administrator, if files, a web site, or whatever is saved, or other work
done that might change anything in the profile, if there is only *one*
account with that name it is less confusing to try to locate it after
leaving Safe Mode and logging back on as a user in normal Windows.

Gary