Windows thinks there's an administrator--there isn't

[Guest]

OK, Diane. I'll have a closer look at these,
the System one seems OK but I'll need to parse
the other two.

In the mean time, try this:

Start>>Run>>appwiz.cpl

Vance, thank you for that, and for the link to the article. I was wondering
why I hadn't been notified of any more activity on this thread. I must have
forgotten to click on the link asking to be notified of replies.

So I just saw this response a few minutes ago. I tried that and it worked.

I don't know where to go from here. I'm in way over my head when it comes to
this kind of stuff. Additionally, I don't like it, so I don't enjoy asking
for help. It's a lose/lose for me all around.

If you figure it out, I'd love to know about it.

Thanks again for your courtesy and assistance.

diane

 

[V Green]

Interesting. You can't get into Control Panel aggregate,
but you can run the CP applets from a command line.
Something weird is going on.

Now that you can get into add/remove programs,
look around in there and see if there's anything
that doesn't belong.

And look for IE7 and Windows Media Player 11.
Both of those are relatively new, big updates that
have caused lots of problems. If they are there,
consider removing them (one at a time to see results).
From what I understand, you will just get rolled back
to your previous version.

 

[V Green]

Diane:

Do this:

Start>>Run>>nusrmgr.cpl

What users do you have listed there?

 

[Guest]

Vance, it's interesting you'd mention that. After I got into the A/R programs
area, the first thing I removed was Windows Media 11. I think I was having
problems before I downloaded and installed it, but I really hate it. I want
my old version back, but when I try to install it, I get a message telling me
it won't work with this version of Windows. Well, it did before. Why not now?

That's an issue I'll take up on the WMP communities.

There are a few things there I don't know anything about.

Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1
Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1. Hotfix KB886903
Microsoft Compression Pack... etc.
Microsoft User-Mode Driver Framework...etc.
MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB927978)
Windows Installer 3.1 (KB893803)
Windows Media Format 11 runtime (I uninstalled this but it came back)

I recognize all the other programs here.

I stopped using IE a long time ago. I use Mozilla Firefox, so no IE to deal
with.

I wish the Windows Media Player HAD actually just rolled back. The message I
got said that it would. But it didn't.

That's all I got.

diane

 

[V Green]

Diane, try posting your prob. with WMP 11 to

microsoft.public.windowsmedia.player

there have been lots of other folks with similar
problems and workarounds have been posted.

I haven't installed the miserable POS as it seems
to be...well, a POS.

..NET has had problems in the past creating a hidden local
user account for itself, but I thought that had been fixed...

Details here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827072/en-us

Seem familiar?

 

[Guest]

Diane:

What users do you have listed there?

There are two users:

"Diane
Computer administrator"

and

"Guest
Guest account is off"

diane

 

[V Green]

Can you log into the Diane account when it comes up
or is it the account that you have never created and
just showed up one day?

 

[Guest]

Can you log into the Diane account when it comes up
or is it the account that you have never created and
just showed up one day?

It is the default account, as near as I know. I've never logged in or out of
it. I do believe it's always been there. I can't swear to that, but I've
never had occasion to log anyone else in and have never used this feature.

I do remember knowing that I was the administrator, which is why being told
I was not the administrator seemed so frustrating.

It's far more administration than I need, since I'm the only user on this
computer and there is no network.

Does that help?

diane

 

[V Green]

Hokay.

It is possible, in the User Accounts applet that
you can get into, to do the following:

Create a NEW account with Administrator privileges.
(you won't be able to call it Diane since that already exists)

Log in under your new account and delete the "old" Diane
account which is giving your trouble.

Rename the new account to Diane.

Set the new account to not need password protection
("Remove my password" under "pick an account
to change")

AFAIK, there MUST be an Administrator account under
XP - this has been the case all the way back to Windows
NT 3.1. The system "needs" it. But it IS possible to not
need to login to use it. Your Administrator account has somehow
gotten screwed up - following the above procedure should
create a new one - hopefully NOT screwed up.

Unfortunately, there may be some side effects. If you installed
any programs with the option "Make available to this user
only", these programs may not show up under your new account
because they weren't installed from there. There might be others -
perhaps someone else can chime in here with other stuff I have
forgotten.

There's some Help in the User Accounts applet with info that
explains this a little further. Be sure you are completely comfortable
(if that's possible) before trying any of this.

 

[Guest]

in hi v green i read your post and typed
the appwiz.cpl like you told diane in your reply to her problem on 1/7/07
regarding hijacked admin privleges any suggestions or thoughts would be
appreciated as im having the same problems thanks--
bill