Enable Vista's hidden administrator, and password-protect its XP equivalent

You probably know about the "hidden" administrator account in Windows XP. It's the only account on XP systems on which no other accounts have been created.

Until you add a new account, you zip right to the desktop when you boot the OS, with no stop at the Welcome screen. Once you set up one or more new accounts, the default administrator disappears, though you can bring it back in both XP Home and Pro. (More on this below.)

Vista ships with this account disabled, which is not such a bad thing because every user on the PC should have his or her own custom account, even if "every" translates to "one."

Still, this back-up administrator account can come in handy if you encounter some problems logging into or otherwise using Vista. To enable it, right-click the Command Prompt on the Start menu (it is likely listed under Accessories), choose Run as administrator, type net user administrator /active:yes, and press Enter. You should see a message stating that the command completed successfully. Type exit and press Enter again to close the Command Prompt window.

Enable Windows Vista's backup administrator account from the Command Prompt.

When you restart Windows, you'll see a new account labeled simply "Administrator." The first time you log into this account, Windows will tell you that it's preparing the desktop before the system's default desktop appears. Click Start > Control Panel > User Accounts and Family Controls > Change your Windows password > Create a password for your account, enter your password twice, add a hint (if you wish), and click Create password. (If you use Control Panel's classic view, the settings to create a password are in the User Accounts applet.)

To disable this administrator account, follow the steps above to return to the Command Prompt in administrator mode, type net user administrator /active:no, press Enter, type exit, and press Enter again.

Give XP's hidden administrator account a password
This administrator account is a well-documented security risk in Windows XP because by default it doesn't have a password, which means anyone can log into your system via this account, change the passwords for all the other accounts, and perform other mischief. To give the account a password in XP Home, restart the PC, press F8 before Windows loads, select Safe Mode, and press Enter.

The only selection will likely be Microsoft Windows XP. With this option highlighted, press Enter again. You'll see a Welcome screen with an account labeled Administrator. Click this account, choose Yes at the warning, open the User Accounts applet in Control Panel, click the Administrator account again, choose Create a password, enter the new password twice, enter a hint (if you wish), and click Create Password. You may also be asked if you wish to make this account's files private. Make your selection and click Finish.

There's a much simpler way to make this administrator account visible on the Welcome screen in XP Pro: Open the Tweak UI Powertoy, click Logon in the left pane, check Show "Administrator" on Welcome screen in the Settings window on the right, and click OK. Note that you'll still have to log into this account and follow the steps above to add a password for it.

Select the Logon option and check this option to add the hidden Administrator account to the Welcome screen in XP Pro.

Tomorrow: Your options for moving Excel data to a Word document.

[Shamrulezz]

Nice info, ill sure put this to good use :)

[creek41256]

I attempted this set of commands and received the following:

System Error 5 has occurred.

Access is denied.

[doreilly]

Make sure you're running the Command Prompt as an administrator. That's the only cause I can find for this error.

[justdaven]

There is an easier way to set the admin password that works without logging in as long as you have admin privlidges. It definitely works in XP Pro, and I believe will work in all versions of Windows since Windows 2000.

NOTE: Use this only if you don't use the Administrator account. It will cause you to lose any information store in the Administrator profile, the next time you log in as Administrator.

? Right click on my computer (this works either in the desktop or start menu) and select Manage... The Computer Management Console appears.
? Click the plus sign to the left of Local Users and Groups in the left-hand pane
? Click on Users
? Right Click on Administrator in the right-hand pane, and click Set Password...
? You may be warned by Windows not to do it this way unless the password has been lost (See note above)
? Enter the password (twice) and click OK.

HTH

[bugfreezer]

The aforementioned "Manage..." also exists in Vista, just right-click on the "Computer" entry in the start menu. I am using Ultimate, so I do not know if it is disabled/hidden in the Home editions.

[jimmyd0327]

In XP you an easily access the administrator account from the welcome screen by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete twice before choosing a user account. This will bring up the classic windows login screen. Just type Administrator for the user and hit enter, unless you already set a password for the administrator account.

[PCWizKid]

Now that you have administrator access, how about tweaking XP?

Here are my tips to making it boot faster:
http://pcwizkid.blogspot.com/2007/12/make-windows-xp-boot-faster-top-tweaks.html

How to make XP look like Vista:
http://pcwizkid.blogspot.com/2008/01/customize-windows-xp-to-look-like-vista.html

Cheers
PCWizKid

[PCWizKid]

For tweaking Vista , tips and tutorials visit:

http://PCWizKid.blogspot.com

Top 10 Free utilities to increase performance is listed here:
http://pcwizkid.blogspot.com/2007/10/top-10-vista-free-downloads-to-tweak.html

[windsblow]

works very well, I have just managed to recover my system using this. The only admin account was locked up, and would not log in. Safe Mode booted , enabled the account , rebooted and fixed

[joeslivewire]

created a admin acc. and two standard acc to which i use. i downloaded installed norton 360 and now my admin password wont work and my other standard acc wont work. work i mean i cant log into them with my passwords. i am left using a standard acc and cant change or downlaod or anything. win pops up asking for admin pass. running win vista. any ideas?

[joeslivewire]

created a admin acc. and two standard acc to which i use. i downloaded installed norton 360 and now my admin password wont work and my other standard acc wont work. work i mean i cant log into them with my passwords. i am left using a standard acc and cant change or downlaod or anything. win pops up asking for admin pass. running win vista. any ideas?

[greentow]

My laptop runs on Vista. The suggestion above re Command Prompt still requires me to login as Administrator. I cannot do so as login is requesting a password and will not accept the one I have been using for months. I can only get in as a Standard User, but cannot change the Command Prompt for that access. This is confirmed on Microsoft web site. The only suggestion from them is to reload Vista.
I have tried starting in Safe Mode, no go. I do not want to download a password cracker for obvious security reasons.

Any other suggestions please.