User accounts in windows pro.?

Question

Hi, I have a problem, I had used my computer with just one account in the name of Administrator, I have my itunes with the ipod and the rest of my programs. My wife got an ipod for herself so I created another account for her so she can have heer itunes in her own account, the problem is that when I tried to switch to my account Administrator, it does not appear, just my wife account is in there, so I restarted the pc and now it boots in my wife account all the time, and the Administrator account does not appear in the switch user window. Can some one help me?

Answer 1

You setup your wife's account as an Administrator account which, for some wierd reason in Windows XP, makes the default Administrator account "disappear". If you login with your wife's account and change her to a "Limited User", you should get the old Administrator's login back.

Alternatively, you can change the way you login to the computer. Here is a description I found:

"If you're running XP Professional Edition, you can easily gain access to the Administrator account if you give up XP's Fast User Switching capability and use the classic Win2K-style logon screen, which isn't available while Fast User Switching is activated. To access the classic logon screen, go to the User Accounts application in the Control Panel. From the "Pick a task" list, click "Change the way users log on or off." Clear the "Use the Welcome screen" check box (this action automatically disables Fast User Switching as well) and click the Apply Options button. Then, log on to the system using the classic logon screen, and you'll be able to enter any account name you want to. When you open the User Accounts applet in the Control Panel, you'll see that the Administrator account is now visible."

Answer 2

Windows XP hides the default Administrator account when another account with Administrator privileges is created.

An easy way to log in as Administrator is to press the Ctrl-Alt-Del key combination twice at the Welcome screen. This will switch to the older style login box, where you can type in Administrator as the user name.

I strongly recommend that:

1. You create your own account rather than using the Administrator account.

2. All other accounts you create should be Limited Users rather than Administrators. This helps protect your computer against malware infections by limiting the degree to which it can infect your computer. [Caveat: Some software may not run correctly as a Limited User if it is not properly designed.]

If you have problems running as a Limited User, there is an intermediate level called Power User, and there are also other things you can do to make those poorly-designed programs run for Limited Users.

Answer 3

First off never do anything with the Administrator Account on Microsoft Windows (ANY VERSION) because if anything ever happens to your system (Virus, hacker, crash, hard drive failure, or anything) that is your only access to your computer through safe mode, do nothing. Now when creating user accounts, you can always create as many accounts as you want and make them Administrators on the computer if you want, all that means is they are able to install, uninstall, delete and modify, rename, and move files. Now with what it sounds like has happened, could be one or two things a paging file in your user account could be damanged (which takes time but can be fixed) or someone has locked you out of your account (virus) which again depending on the severity of the damage it can be fixed also. # 1 cause of this problem is downloading music. Let me know if you want help be glad to help.

Jeremy R McCoy
IT Administrator
Ultimate Gaming Systems, Inc.

Answer 4

i had the same problem
now the adim. is only avilable in safe mode
i made another account for myself
then go to c:\documents and settings
and move/copy the contents of Desktop, Documents, Favorites,Recent and Start menu from the Adim. to your new name

or delete the wife (i mean her account)

Hey "serve" why doesn't MS print that in BIG LETTERS on the front page of the manual !!!

Answer 5

recreate both accounts, some programs have to be installed in both accounts in order to work

Answer 6

did your wife log off after her last session?