How can I get the administrator back on my welcome screen

[Guest]

Just today I created two user accounts. for the last 7 months I have signed
on as Administrator. I had built up data and settings during those 7 months.
I didn't realize that by creating the user accounts (one of which is
designated as "computer administrator") I would lock myself out of the
Administrator account and all my old settings for microsoft products, my
browser, the desktop, etc. I want the Administrator account back or I want
to have full and easy access to it from one of my new user accounts.

 

[JW]

if you change all the new accounts from Administrator to Limited User,
your original Admin account will reappear on the Welcome screen. it
disappears from the Welcome screen, if you create additional accounts
with Admin privileges. this is normal operation.

you can also access your original Admin account, by pressing the
Cntl-Alt-Del combination from the Welcome screen once or twice (i don't
remember now).

 

[Guest]

It seems that Windows XP will not allow you to make all of your new user
accounts limited user. One of them must always be the "computer
administrator" So it seems nearly impossible to get back to the original
Administrator account. I will try your cntrl-alt-del combination at the
welcome screen, however. Thanks a lot.

 

[Gordon]

Greg wrote:
|| It seems that Windows XP will not allow you to make all of your new
|| user accounts limited user. One of them must always be the "computer
|| administrator" So it seems nearly impossible to get back to the
|| original Administrator account. I will try your cntrl-alt-del
|| combination at the welcome screen, however. Thanks a lot.

It is BAD practice to use the built-in administrator account on a day-to-day
basis. It is your ONLY route into the machine should your User account die
on you, short of a repair install of Windows XP. Create a User account with
Admin rights and use that. Leave the built-in administrator account for
emergencies only.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Just today I created two user accounts. for the last 7 months I have
signed on as Administrator. I had built up data and settings during
those 7 months. I didn't realize that by creating the user accounts
(one of which is designated as "computer administrator") I would lock
myself out of the Administrator account and all my old settings for
microsoft products, my browser, the desktop, etc. I want the
Administrator account back or I want to have full and easy access to
it from one of my new user accounts.

if you change all the new accounts from Administrator to Limited User,
your original Admin account will reappear on the Welcome screen. it
disappears from the Welcome screen, if you create additional accounts
with Admin privileges. this is normal operation.

you can also access your original Admin account, by pressing the
Cntl-Alt-Del combination from the Welcome screen once or twice (i
don't remember now).

It seems that Windows XP will not allow you to make all of your new
user accounts limited user. One of them must always be the
"computer administrator" So it seems nearly impossible to get
back to the original Administrator account. I will try your cntrl-alt-del
combination at the welcome screen, however. Thanks
a lot.

It is BAD practice to use the built-in administrator account on a
day-to-day basis. It is your ONLY route into the machine should your
User account die on you, short of a repair install of Windows XP.
Create a User account with Admin rights and use that. Leave the
built-in administrator account for emergencies only.

I agree with the single administrator account "bad" comment for the normal
home user.
Also - if you have Windows XP Professional,as JW pointed out, you can press
CTRL+ALT+DEL twice at the welcome screen and type in "Administrator" as the
username and use your password as efore to log on.
If you insist on having all the users on the Welcome screen, get and use
TweakUI to control who is seen on the welcome screen.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Just today I created two user accounts. for the last 7 months I have signed
on as Administrator. I had built up data and settings during those 7 months.
I didn't realize that by creating the user accounts (one of which is
designated as "computer administrator") I would lock myself out of the
Administrator account and all my old settings for microsoft products, my
browser, the desktop, etc. I want the Administrator account back or I want
to have full and easy access to it from one of my new user accounts.

As you've learned, once any additional user accounts have been
created, the Administrator account will no longer be displayed on the
Welcome Screen. This is a default security feature. 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.

The built-in Administrator account really isn't intended to be
used for day-to-day normal use. The standard security practice is to
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).

A wiser course of action would be to create another user account
for your daily use, as you say 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

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You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[JW]

like i said,
"if you change all the New accounts from Administrator to Limited User ..."

notice the word "new". "New" does not include the original Admin
account that was originally created, when XP was originally installed.

no hard feelings though. i know it's easy to overlook a word, when one
is frustrated.

 

[JW]

thanks Gordon.

this is better advice than the fix i gave him.

 

[JW]

thanks Bruce.

this is better advice than the fix i gave him.