login as Administrator on Vista Home Premium?

[Don Powell]

One of my users changed / forgot their login password. Is there a way that I
can login as Administrator to change their password? The login screen only
shows their profile and I can't figure out how to get to a classic login
prompt to try the admin account.

 

[t-4-2]

There had been situations where teenagers ( users ) were locked out by their
parents ( administrators ). They would post question about how to log in,
giving faked reasons.
You, obviously, are not the administrator.
Ask your administrator for help.
t-4-2

 

[Malke]

One of my users changed / forgot their login password. Is there a way that
I can login as Administrator to change their password? The login screen
only shows their profile and I can't figure out how to get to a classic
login prompt to try the admin account.

Standard forgotten password answer; take the bits that are applicable to
your situation.

You can change your password to something you will remember from another
administrative user's account. If you only had one administrative user
account and you've forgotten the password, you can use one of the methods
below instead. You might then want to follow the general recommendations for
setting up user accounts in Vista that I'll give you at the end of this
post.

Doing all this requires a certain level of computer skills. You know
yourself best and whether taking the machine to a competent local computer
tech (not a BigComputerStore/GeekSquad type of place) is the better solution
for you.

Method 1 - If you have a Vista installation DVD (not a recovery DVD) you can
boot the system with it. Select the default language, then choose "Repair
your computer". Then select "Command Prompt". At the command prompt type:

net user administrator /active:yes
net user [insert your user account's name here] [insert new user password
like 1234 here]

[Note: Do not type the brackets!]

Now you will be able to log into your user account using the password you
set; i.e., 1234. If you don't have a Vista installation DVD you can either
make a bootable Vista Repair DVD from the file at this link:

http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/

Method 2 - Or you can use NTpassword to change your user account's password
to a blank. In both cases you will need third-party burning software such as
Nero, Roxio, or the free ImgBurn (http://www.imgburn.com) to burn the .iso
as an image, not as data.

http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

3. Log into your administrative user account (not the Built-in
Administrator) which will either require no password or something simple
like "1234".

If you used Method 1, after you have logged into your administrative user
account you should disable the built-in Administrator again for security
purposes:

Start Orb>Search box>type: cmd
When cmd appears in Results above, right-click it and choose "Run as
administrator" [OK]. Now you will get the command prompt. At the command
prompt type:

net user administrator /active:no [enter]

Exit the command prompt.

General Recommendations For Setting Up Users In Vista:

You absolutely do not want to have only one user account. Like XP and all
other modern operating systems, Vista is a multi-user operating system with
built-in system accounts such as Administrator, Default, All Users, and
Guest. These accounts should be left alone as they are part of the operating
system structure.

You particularly don't want only one user account with administrative
privileges on Vista because the built-in Administrator account (normally
only used in emergencies) is disabled by default. If you're running as
Administrator for your daily work and that account gets corrupted, things
will be Difficult. It isn't impossible to activate the built-in Administrator
to rescue things, but it will require third-party tools and working outside
the operating system.

The user account that is for your daily work should be a Standard user, with
the extra administrative user (call it something like "CompAdmin" or "Tech"
or the like) only there for elevation purposes. After you create
"CompAdmin", log into it and change your regular user account to Standard.
Then log back into your regular account.

Malke

 

[Don Powell]

Thank you Malke. I used your option 2 and changed the password. Thanks for
your help.

One of my users changed / forgot their login password. Is there a way that
I can login as Administrator to change their password? The login screen
only shows their profile and I can't figure out how to get to a classic
login prompt to try the admin account.

Standard forgotten password answer; take the bits that are applicable to
your situation.

You can change your password to something you will remember from another
administrative user's account. If you only had one administrative user
account and you've forgotten the password, you can use one of the methods
below instead. You might then want to follow the general recommendations for
setting up user accounts in Vista that I'll give you at the end of this
post.

Doing all this requires a certain level of computer skills. You know
yourself best and whether taking the machine to a competent local computer
tech (not a BigComputerStore/GeekSquad type of place) is the better solution
for you.

Method 1 - If you have a Vista installation DVD (not a recovery DVD) you can
boot the system with it. Select the default language, then choose "Repair
your computer". Then select "Command Prompt". At the command prompt type:

net user administrator /active:yes
net user [insert your user account's name here] [insert new user password
like 1234 here]

[Note: Do not type the brackets!]

Now you will be able to log into your user account using the password you
set; i.e., 1234. If you don't have a Vista installation DVD you can either
make a bootable Vista Repair DVD from the file at this link:

http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/

Method 2 - Or you can use NTpassword to change your user account's password
to a blank. In both cases you will need third-party burning software such as
Nero, Roxio, or the free ImgBurn (http://www.imgburn.com) to burn the .iso
as an image, not as data.

http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

3. Log into your administrative user account (not the Built-in
Administrator) which will either require no password or something simple
like "1234".

If you used Method 1, after you have logged into your administrative user
account you should disable the built-in Administrator again for security
purposes:

Start Orb>Search box>type: cmd
When cmd appears in Results above, right-click it and choose "Run as
administrator" [OK]. Now you will get the command prompt. At the command
prompt type:

net user administrator /active:no [enter]

Exit the command prompt.

General Recommendations For Setting Up Users In Vista:

You absolutely do not want to have only one user account. Like XP and all
other modern operating systems, Vista is a multi-user operating system with
built-in system accounts such as Administrator, Default, All Users, and
Guest. These accounts should be left alone as they are part of the operating
system structure.

You particularly don't want only one user account with administrative
privileges on Vista because the built-in Administrator account (normally
only used in emergencies) is disabled by default. If you're running as
Administrator for your daily work and that account gets corrupted, things
will be Difficult. It isn't impossible to activate the built-in Administrator
to rescue things, but it will require third-party tools and working outside
the operating system.

The user account that is for your daily work should be a Standard user, with
the extra administrative user (call it something like "CompAdmin" or "Tech"
or the like) only there for elevation purposes. After you create
"CompAdmin", log into it and change your regular user account to Standard.
Then log back into your regular account.

Malke

 

[Malke]

Thank you Malke. I used your option 2 and changed the password. Thanks for
your help.

Glad that sorted it for you. Thanks for taking the time to let me know.

Malke