Removing Password from Administrator Account

[Family IT Dept]

My brother just gave my Mom an old machine running Windows XP Professional.
My brother had given his account a password. My mother doesn't need a
password. It is hard enough to get her to use the machine in the first place!

Is there any way to remove the password from the administrator's account so
my mom doesn't have to enter it?

Thanks

Kent

 

[Steve Riley [MSFT]]

Then she most certainly shouldn't be logging on to the administrator
account. Instead, create a standard user account for her.

 

[webbwoman22]

I'm having the same problem but it's on my OWN computer. I AM the
administrator but it won't let me log in as administrator. Fortunately, I'd
set up a no password necessary account so I could still log in, but I need to
fix the issue. I type in my password, get error message "did you forget..."
and it won't let me in. I know I have the right password, how do I fix this

 

[Malke]

I'm having the same problem but it's on my OWN computer. I AM the
administrator but it won't let me log in as administrator. Fortunately,
I'd set up a no password necessary account so I could still log in, but I
need to fix the issue. I type in my password, get error message "did you
forget..." and it won't let me in. I know I have the right password, how
do I fix this

Next time please make a new post with all pertinent details instead of
hijacking someone else's post.

The simplest thing to do is to change the built-in Administrator account's
password. You forgot to tell us what version of XP you have, so here are
various ways of getting into the Administrator account. These are general
instructions so take the bits that are applicable to your situation.

If you have forgotten your password, if you have another user account with
administrative privileges you can log into that account and change your
original user account's password from the User Accounts applet in Control
Panel. If you don't have another account like this set up or don't have the
password to it, you'll need to log into the built-in Administrator account.
In XP Home, boot the computer into Safe Mode. Do this by repeatedly tapping
the F8 key as the computer is starting up. This will get you to the right
menu. Navigate using your Up arrow key; the mouse will not work here. Once
in Safe Mode, you will see the normally hidden Administrator account. The
default password is a blank.

In XP Pro, you do not need to go into Safe Mode. At the Welcome Screen, do
Ctrl-Alt-Del twice to get the classic Windows logon box. Type in
"Administrator" and whatever password you assigned when you set up Windows.

To change the built-in Administrator account in XP Pro if you can log into
another account with administrative privileges reset the password in the
Local Users and Groups snap-in in Microsoft Management Console (MMC):

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type "mmc" (without the quotation marks), and then click
OK to start MMC.
3. Start the Local Users and Groups snap-in.
4. Under Console Root, expand "Local Users and Groups", and then click
Users.
5. In the right pane, right-click Administrator, and then click Set
Password.
6. Click Proceed in the message box that appears.
7. Type and confirm the new password in the appropriate boxes, and then
click OK.

If you reset the built-in Administrator account's password in Home or have
Pro and don't remember the password, use NTpasswd to change the built-in
Administrator account's password to a blank.

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

Then go to the User Accounts applet in Control Panel and set passwords that
you will remember and make other desired changes. WRITE THE PASSWORDS DOWN
AND PUT THEM SOMEWHERE YOU WON'T LOSE THEM.

Malke

 

[Family IT Dept]

That should do it. The next time I go over there, that is what I will do.
Thanks for the post.

Kent

 

[Steve Riley [MSFT]]

Good idea. Note that she won't be able to install a lot of popular software
when using a standard account, so you might want to get her set up with
common extra bits when you're there. Typically, when I'm building machines
for people, I install the latest Silverlight, Acrobat, Flash, Java,
Quicktime, and DivX (while logged into the administrator account, of
course). This will take care of most of the various kinds of content you'll
encounter around the Web. If she's a fan of maps, Virtual Earth and/or
Google Earth might be worthwhile, too.

--
Steve Riley
(e-mail address removed)
http://blogs.technet.com/steriley
http://www.protectyourwindowsnetwork.com

 

[Family IT Dept]

Steve,

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm heading to her place on Thursday and will
get her all set up. Hope you enjoy the rest of the holiday.

Kent