XP logs in as Administrator

  • Thread starter Thread starter Barry_M
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Barry_M

I recently reinstalled Windows XP Professional SP2, but something went awry
in configuring the startup procedure. No one else uses my machine, but now,
whenever I startup the computer, it logs in as Administrator. I must wait
until it finishes its startup routine and then click Start -> Log Off -> Log
Off . This brings up the Welcome screen with my account name, which I need to
click to login to my account and load my settings and applications. As a
result, starting and restarting takes a lot longer than it should. I opened
User Accounts and deleted the Administrator account, but nothing changed. How
can I fix this problem without reinstalling Windows, please?
 
Barry_M said:
I recently reinstalled Windows XP Professional SP2, but something
went awry in configuring the startup procedure. No one else uses my
machine, but now, whenever I startup the computer, it logs in as
Administrator. I must wait until it finishes its startup routine
and then click Start -> Log Off -> Log Off . This brings up the
Welcome screen with my account name, which I need to click to login
to my account and load my settings and applications. As a result,
starting and restarting takes a lot longer than it should. I opened
User Accounts and deleted the Administrator account, but nothing
changed. How can I fix this problem without reinstalling Windows,
please?
Click to expand...

You cannot delete the built-in administrator account.
Download and install TweakUI. Use it to see if you have AutoLogon setup for
the Administrator user.
 
Thank you Shenan. I downloaded TweakUI and found that AutoLogon was activated
for some reason, so I switched it off and the problem has gone. I would be
surprised, however, if this setting was not accessible within Windows XP
Professional, without having to download a separate, albeit Microsoft,
application.

If the Administrator account cannot be deleted, then it must now be hidden,
because I selected "Delete this account" in User Accounts and now it is not
shown in the interface.
 
Why is deleting the Administrator account was a bad idea? The option was
presented in User Accounts without any warning. I do not need it as I have
administrator rights in my personal account. It certainly still boots, and as
I said in my original post, nothing at all appeared to change afterwards. So,
as I said to Shenan, perhaps the Administrator account is now hidden in the
User Accounts interface, if he is correct that it cannot be deleted.
 
Barry_M said:
I recently reinstalled Windows XP Professional SP2, but something
went awry in configuring the startup procedure. No one else uses my
machine, but now, whenever I startup the computer, it logs in as
Administrator. I must wait until it finishes its startup routine
and then click Start -> Log Off -> Log Off . This brings up the
Welcome screen with my account name, which I need to click to login
to my account and load my settings and applications. As a result,
starting and restarting takes a lot longer than it should. I opened
User Accounts and deleted the Administrator account, but nothing
changed. How can I fix this problem without reinstalling Windows,
please?
Click to expand...
You cannot delete the built-in administrator account.
Download and install TweakUI. Use it to see if you have AutoLogon
setup for the Administrator user.
Click to expand...

Barry_M said:
Thank you Shenan. I downloaded TweakUI and found that AutoLogon was
activated for some reason, so I switched it off and the problem has
gone. I would be surprised, however, if this setting was not
accessible within Windows XP Professional, without having to
download a separate, albeit Microsoft, application.

If the Administrator account cannot be deleted, then it must now be
hidden, because I selected "Delete this account" in User Accounts
and now it is not shown in the interface.
Click to expand...

By default - the user account "administrator" is hidden on the welcome
screen and depending on the version of Windows XP (Home or other) only
accessible from Safe Mode or by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL twice at the 'welcome'
screen. TweakUI also has an option to choose what users are visible on the
Welcome screen that works well for Windows XP Professional and superset
OSes - so you could have the "Administrator" user visible on the welcome
screen if you desire.

You could have edited a registry value, ran a script or assorted other ways
to change the autologon setting. The TweakUI was the easiest solution that
also gave you a ton of other options to look through for speeding up your
PC.
 
Click on Start>Run and enter lusrmgr.msc in the box and press <Enter>.
Click on "Users", now you see the built-in Administrator account. Try
and delete it and report your findings back to the group, don't be
afraid, try it! Believe me, sooner or later you will need that account,
luckily for you it can't be deleted so it will still be there when you
need it.

John
 
Thank you John. I followed your instructions and received the following error
message:
"The following error occurred while attempting to delete the user
Administrator:
Cannot perform this operation on built-in accounts".
Evidently, the Administrator account cannot be deleted. Whether or not I
have need of it in future is yet to be seen. I have not needed it so far in
installing and reinstalling Windows XP Professional and previously Windows
98, over several years (for a standalone computer rather than a network) and
do not understand the need for it when I have Administrator privelages on my
own account. The Administrator account previously appeared in User Accounts
along with my own account and the Guest account, which is off. I took the
"Delete this account" option; it disappeared and stayed that way. It appears,
as I speculated, that the Administrator account is now hidden from the User
Accounts interface, rather than being deleted.
 
Barry_M said:
Evidently, the Administrator account cannot be deleted. Whether or not I
have need of it in future is yet to be seen. I have not needed it so far | and
do not understand the need for it when I have Administrator privelages on my
own account.
Click to expand...

Have you ever had a flat? No, then throw the spare tire out of your
vehicle, you don't need that.

John
 
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