lost administrator account

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Guest

We have Windows XP Professional on our computer. I have one account on my
computer. It is titled administrator and all my work is there. Another
family member tried to set up another account and accidentally designated it
as an administrator type account. Now when my computer boots up, this other
account is the only one there. I found my files and internet settings in a
folder so I could "recreate" those things. However, I cannot find all my
emails, address book, or Outlook settings. Does anyone know how to either
restore my computer to its previous configuration, or find my email
information.
I tried system restore to an earlier day this week and it said no major
event had happened and there was nothing to restore. I know I should use my
own non-administrator account for daily use and will do that once I fix this
problem. Thank you.
 
In
ML said:
We have Windows XP Professional on our computer. I have one
account on my
computer. It is titled administrator and all my work is
there. Another
family member tried to set up another account and
accidentally designated it
as an administrator type account. Now when my computer boots
up, this other
account is the only one there. I found my files and internet
settings in a
folder so I could "recreate" those things. However, I cannot
find all my
emails, address book, or Outlook settings. Does anyone know
how to either
restore my computer to its previous configuration, or find my
email
information.
I tried system restore to an earlier day this week and it
said no major
event had happened and there was nothing to restore. I know
I should use my
own non-administrator account for daily use and will do that
once I fix this
problem. Thank you.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you were using the built-in Administrator
account. Once you create another user that is a member of the
administrators group, the Administrator account will become
hidden. It can be accessed by booting into Safe Mode. To log on
to the Administrator account in normal mode, do the following;

On the Start Menu, click Log Off.
This should bring you to the Welcome Screen.
Hit the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys at the same time twice.
This should bring up the Log on to Windows dialog.
In the User Name box, enter Administrator.
Enter the password if you set one for this account.
Click OK.

There are a number of methods you can use to retrieve your
files. One approach is to create a new user account and copy
the files from the Administrator account into the new account.
Keep in mind that you will have to be logged in with another
administrative level account in order to copy the files.

Take a look at the following articles for the procedure.

How do I copy a user profile in Windows XP?
http://www.petri.co.il/copy_user_profiles_in_windows_xp.htm

To copy a user profile
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...cs/en-us/sysdm_userprofile_copy.mspx?mfr=true

How to copy data from a corrupted user profile to a new profile
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/811151

Good luck

Nepatsfan
 
For XP Pro, you do not need to boot into Safe Mode. At the Welcome Screen
with no other users logged in use CTRL-ALT-DEL twice to get the old style
logon and enter Administrator and any password you have for that account.

--
Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows Media Center\Windows Powered Smart
Display\Security
Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com
 
I tried the CTRL-ALT-DEL method to get into the Administrator account, but it
will not let me in. The message says to make sure the account name, domain,
and password are correct. I don't know if it is not accepting my password,
or if I am missing the domain, or if I am just not going to get in. Does
anything else get typed in the User Name box except "Administrator"?
Anything that would specify the domain?
The original problem seems to stem from using an account named
Administrator. If I make myself a new account named anything else, I should
not lose my information or account if someone else adds a new account that
also has administrator rights. Is that correct?
If I have to make a new account (and it is looking like that) my main
concern is finding my email files. The advice from Nepatsfan included
articles that discuss transferring files from Outlook Express. I will try
and see if it works for Outlook too.
Thank you.
 
Answered inline.

In
ML said:
I tried the CTRL-ALT-DEL method to get into the Administrator
account, but it
will not let me in. The message says to make sure the
account name, domain,
and password are correct. I don't know if it is not
accepting my password,
or if I am missing the domain, or if I am just not going to
get in. Does
anything else get typed in the User Name box except
"Administrator"?
Anything that would specify the domain?
Click to expand...

Odds are the problem is with the password. While logged on with
another administrative level account, you can reset the
password for the Administrator account by doing the following;

Go to Start -> Run and enter cmd.exe in the Open box.
Enter the following command at the prompt.

net user administrator *

Hit Enter.
When asked to type a password, hit the Enter key.
Hit the Enter key again to confirm the blank password.
See if you can log on to the Administrator account leaving the
password box blank.

Note: Using the above procedure will make any files that you
may have encrypted unreadable.

The original problem seems to stem from using an account
named
Administrator. If I make myself a new account named anything
else, I should
not lose my information or account if someone else adds a new
account that
also has administrator rights. Is that correct?
If I have to make a new account (and it is looking like that)
my main
concern is finding my email files. The advice from Nepatsfan
included
articles that discuss transferring files from Outlook
Express. I will try
and see if it works for Outlook too.
Thank you.
Click to expand...

As long as the Outlook file you created while using the
Administrator account was stored in its default location, it
should be included when you copy the Administrator profile into
the new account's folder in C:\Documents and Settings. What
won't be transferred is the password for any email accounts you
have in Outlook. You'll have to enter the proper credentials
when you open Outlook in your new account. Keep in mind that
you have to log on to your new account at least once before you
attempt to copy your old profile.

If you find that your Outlook information is not transferred,
search for any .pst files that are stored on your hard drive.
Once you identify the one that's associated with the
Administrator account, you can import it into Outlook in your
new account.

Good luck

Nepatsfan
 
ML said:
We have Windows XP Professional on our computer. I have one account on my
computer. It is titled administrator and all my work is there. Another
family member tried to set up another account and accidentally designated it
as an administrator type account. Now when my computer boots up, this other
account is the only one there. I found my files and internet settings in a
folder so I could "recreate" those things. However, I cannot find all my
emails, address book, or Outlook settings. Does anyone know how to either
restore my computer to its previous configuration, or find my email
information.
I tried system restore to an earlier day this week and it said no major
event had happened and there was nothing to restore. I know I should use my
own non-administrator account for daily use and will do that once I fix this
problem. Thank you.
Click to expand...


As you've discovered, once any additional user accounts have been
created, the built-in Administrator account will no longer be displayed
on the Welcome Screen. This is a default security feature.

The built-in Administrator account really was never 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).

By design, the only way to log into the Administrator account of
WinXP Home is to reboot into Safe Mode. For WinXP Pro, pressing
CTRL+ALT+DEL twice at the Welcome Screen will produce the standard login
dialog box.

A wiser course of action would be to create another user account
for your daily use (as 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

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killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
 
I'm trying to resurrect my son's PC. I took your advice and got to the
Administrator account. That is good. However, even when signed on as that I
have no access to Control Panel (so I can fix Users and remove unwanted
software). It is not on any menu and even when I type CONTROL.EXE on teh Run
command, I get a Restrictions error "This operation has been cancelled due to
restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system
administrator"

Any ideas?
 
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