How to identify the true admin account?

[Mike]

I am familiar with XP home but have just been asked to have a look at a
computer running XP Pro. The previous user has moved and nobody has too much
knowledge how the computer is set up. When I go to Control Panel/User
Accounts there are 3 accounts listed. One is the Guest account and the other
2 are Computer Administrator accounts. However, neither are named
Administrator.
How can I determine which of these accounts is the true Administrator
account? Or is it possible there is another account I'm not even seeing?
Thanks for any help.
Mike

 

[GreenieLeBrun]

I am familiar with XP home but have just been asked to have a look at a
computer running XP Pro. The previous user has moved and nobody has too
much knowledge how the computer is set up. When I go to Control Panel/User
Accounts there are 3 accounts listed. One is the Guest account and the
other 2 are Computer Administrator accounts. However, neither are named
Administrator.
How can I determine which of these accounts is the true Administrator
account? Or is it possible there is another account I'm not even seeing?
Thanks for any help.
Mike

When another Administrator account is created the default or systems
Administrator account is hidden, just log in as Administrator and enter the
password if one was set (the password may be blank so just try Enter).

If the Administrator password is password protected then go to
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/ . There you will find
zip files that will let you create boot floppy disks or bootable CDs
that will enable you to reset any system password on an NT class
operating system (XP is an NT class operating system).

 

[Patrick Keenan]

I am familiar with XP home but have just been asked to have a look at a
computer running XP Pro. The previous user has moved and nobody has too
much knowledge how the computer is set up. When I go to Control Panel/User
Accounts there are 3 accounts listed. One is the Guest account and the
other 2 are Computer Administrator accounts. However, neither are named
Administrator.
How can I determine which of these accounts is the true Administrator
account? Or is it possible there is another account I'm not even seeing?
Thanks for any help.
Mike

You're just not seeing the Administrator account. At the Welcome screen,
try pressing control-alt-delete and type Administrator in the login dialog.
Or, use TweakUI and set it to display the Administrator account.

You may need to reset the password for it if it's protected, which you can
do from any other administrator account.

However, it's worth knowing that if any files associated with that account
are encrypted, resetting the password in this way will permanently prevent
you from accessing those files. This does not ever apply in XP Home.

You can browse in Explorer to c:\documents and settings\administrator and
see if you can access these files. There may be ownership issues but once
you get past those, if you can access files you're OK.

HTH
-pk

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Mike,

The built-in administrator account ("Administrator") hides automatically when an admin user account is created. If you want to use the built-in administrator account (this account should not be used for routine usage) for any troubleshooting, you can invoke the classic logon box by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL twice at the Welcome Screen. Type in the "Administrator" account credentials to login to that account.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I am familiar with XP home but have just been asked to have a look at a
computer running XP Pro. The previous user has moved and nobody has too much
knowledge how the computer is set up. When I go to Control Panel/User
Accounts there are 3 accounts listed. One is the Guest account and the other
2 are Computer Administrator accounts. However, neither are named
Administrator.
How can I determine which of these accounts is the true Administrator
account? Or is it possible there is another account I'm not even seeing?
Thanks for any help.
Mike

 

[Mike]

Thankyou for the reply posts.
This computer is at our church so I can't try things too quickly. I did try
the CTL+ALT+DEL then login as Administrator but the account is either
password protected. When I look under 'Documents and User Settings' I don't
see any for an 'Administrator' account. Is it possible that it has been
renamed and is actually being used as one of the two privileged working
accounts? If so how can I identify which of the two it is?
Thanks,
Mike

Mike,

The built-in administrator account ("Administrator") hides automatically
when an admin user account is created. If you want to use the built-in
administrator account (this account should not be used for routine usage)
for any troubleshooting, you can invoke the classic logon box by pressing
CTRL+ALT+DEL twice at the Welcome Screen. Type in the "Administrator"
account credentials to login to that account.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I am familiar with XP home but have just been asked to have a look at a
computer running XP Pro. The previous user has moved and nobody has too much
knowledge how the computer is set up. When I go to Control Panel/User
Accounts there are 3 accounts listed. One is the Guest account and the other
2 are Computer Administrator accounts. However, neither are named
Administrator.
How can I determine which of these accounts is the true Administrator
account? Or is it possible there is another account I'm not even seeing?
Thanks for any help.
Mike

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Type LUSRMGR.MSC in Start, Run dialog.
Select "users" and see if administrator is listed.
It usually has the following description:

"Built-in account for administering the computer/domain"

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Thankyou for the reply posts.
This computer is at our church so I can't try things too quickly. I did try
the CTL+ALT+DEL then login as Administrator but the account is either
password protected. When I look under 'Documents and User Settings' I don't
see any for an 'Administrator' account. Is it possible that it has been
renamed and is actually being used as one of the two privileged working
accounts? If so how can I identify which of the two it is?
Thanks,
Mike

Mike,

The built-in administrator account ("Administrator") hides automatically
when an admin user account is created. If you want to use the built-in
administrator account (this account should not be used for routine usage)
for any troubleshooting, you can invoke the classic logon box by pressing
CTRL+ALT+DEL twice at the Welcome Screen. Type in the "Administrator"
account credentials to login to that account.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I am familiar with XP home but have just been asked to have a look at a
computer running XP Pro. The previous user has moved and nobody has too much
knowledge how the computer is set up. When I go to Control Panel/User
Accounts there are 3 accounts listed. One is the Guest account and the other
2 are Computer Administrator accounts. However, neither are named
Administrator.
How can I determine which of these accounts is the true Administrator
account? Or is it possible there is another account I'm not even seeing?
Thanks for any help.
Mike

 

[Mike]

Thanks Ramesh and others that replied to my posts. I confirmed that there is
indeed an administrator account. One more unknown password to deal with!
Mike

Type LUSRMGR.MSC in Start, Run dialog.
Select "users" and see if administrator is listed.
It usually has the following description:

"Built-in account for administering the computer/domain"

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Thankyou for the reply posts.
This computer is at our church so I can't try things too quickly. I did try
the CTL+ALT+DEL then login as Administrator but the account is either
password protected. When I look under 'Documents and User Settings' I don't
see any for an 'Administrator' account. Is it possible that it has been
renamed and is actually being used as one of the two privileged working
accounts? If so how can I identify which of the two it is?
Thanks,
Mike

Mike,

The built-in administrator account ("Administrator") hides automatically
when an admin user account is created. If you want to use the built-in
administrator account (this account should not be used for routine usage)
for any troubleshooting, you can invoke the classic logon box by pressing
CTRL+ALT+DEL twice at the Welcome Screen. Type in the "Administrator"
account credentials to login to that account.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I am familiar with XP home but have just been asked to have a look at a
computer running XP Pro. The previous user has moved and nobody has too much
knowledge how the computer is set up. When I go to Control Panel/User
Accounts there are 3 accounts listed. One is the Guest account and the other
2 are Computer Administrator accounts. However, neither are named
Administrator.
How can I determine which of these accounts is the true Administrator
account? Or is it possible there is another account I'm not even seeing?
Thanks for any help.
Mike

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

You're welcome Mike.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Thanks Ramesh and others that replied to my posts. I confirmed that there is
indeed an administrator account. One more unknown password to deal with!
Mike

Type LUSRMGR.MSC in Start, Run dialog.
Select "users" and see if administrator is listed.
It usually has the following description:

"Built-in account for administering the computer/domain"