Create a new administrator account?

[A.J.]

I'm the only person who uses my computer. I only have one user account, and
it is an administrator account (of course).
Is it possible for me to create a new administrator user account (and copy
all of my files to that new account), and then delete the old user account?
Or does the old user account always have to remain there?

 

[Pentium]

How about keeping all that is "old" but change the name of your existing
admin account? Control Panel > User Accounts >Change an Account > Pick
Account > Change My Name (also change passwords etc.)

 

[Charlie Tame]

Can you elaborate on what you'd like to achieve by doing this? Is it
something you could achieve just by renaming the Admin account?

Is this XP home or Pro?

The first admin account is a system created one and should remain and should
be renamed for maximum security.

Charlie

 

[Doug Sherman [MVP]]

Yes, but there is a difference between AN administrator account and THE
administrator account. You do not want to delete THE administrator account.
You can create a new user account, make it a member of the administrators
group, copy the old user account's profile to the new account, then delete
the old account and profile.

Doug Sherman
MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

 

[A.J.]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I'm using XP Home SP2.
I want to create a new user account (an admin account) because I have alot
of clutter, junk, folders, etc on my current user account. It would take me
hours (days?) to sort through all the stuff. I prefer to just start over
from scratch (and just save my really important files), and create a new
user account.

 

[A.J.]

What you described is pretty much what I want to do. But I don't want to
copy everything that's on my current user account. I just want to copy my
really important files. And then get rid of the current user account.

In other words, I don't want to delete the "Administrator" account that
appears in Safe Mode. I just want to delete the user account that has my
name on it, and create a new user account (with administrator privileges).

 

[Charlie Tame]

That's fine, that was why I (we?) asked why. If that is the admin created
when the system was installed my suggestion then would be just rename it and
give it a decent password that you can keep somewhere. Admin accounts that
you create can be treated the same as any other within reason

Charlie

 

[Guest]

Sir, definitely you can create a new user account (Administrator) in Windows
XP, but thats not possible to exactly create a copy of an existing user
account by traditional methods. Yes, you can copy your account in case you
are moving to a new system, and all your files are on an old system.

Otherwise, you can rename or create a new Administrator account from User
Accounts option in Control Panel. For your convenience, you can save your
display settings as a theme, and then use the same theme in the new user
account to get the exact look you have in your existing user account.

To save a theme:
1) Right-click on the desktop and click on Properties.
2) Under the "Themes" tab, click on the "Save As" button and type a file name.
3) Your display settings would be saved in the specified file.

Now, under the new user account, follow the following steps:

1) Right-click on the desktop and click on Properties.
2) Open the Themes selection menu, and click on Browse from the list.
3) Select the saved theme.
4) The display properties would be loaded according to the theme.

GOOD-LUCK...
I LOVE MY INDIA !!
Ankit

 

[Kelly]

Yes.

--

All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP/DTS&XP)

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com

 

[Ron Sommer]

Two questions and one yes.
The yes is for which question?

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I'm the only person who uses my computer. I only have one user account, and
it is an administrator account (of course).
Is it possible for me to create a new administrator user account (and copy
all of my files to that new account), and then delete the old user account?
Or does the old user account always have to remain there?

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

The 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

Help us help you:



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

 

[Kelly]

I'm the only person who uses my computer. I only have one user account,

and it is an administrator account (of course). Is it possible for me to
create a new administrator user account (and copy all of my files to that
new account), and then delete the old user account?

Create a new admin account, yes.
If it is the default system admin account, no.
Copy all of your files, yes.
Delete the other one, if you created it, yes.

Or does the old user account always have to remain there?

If it is the default system admin, yes.
If you created it, no.

How to Copy or Remove a User Profile
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_logon.htm#usercopy


--

All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP/DTS&XP)

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com