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How do you log in as an administrator?

Windows Hidden Administrator Accounts

In recent releases of Windows operating systems - Vista and 7 - the administrative account is hidden and disabled. This is to protect your systems from accidental system changes and resulting data loss, so it’s a good idea to leave this account inoperable unless you need it for troubleshooting. A popular reason that people choose to enable this account is so they can skip the User Account Control dialog that plagues other accounts. However, this account is hidden to secure your system and should be managed carefully.

Check Active Account Statuses

You can use Windows User Accounts to check the activity of your different accounts and set the system to allow changes.

• Click Start, then choose the Control Panel, then select User Accounts
• You will see the different accounts that are currently enabled
• Click the box that says Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer then, if necessary, click the box below to change the Administrator password if you haven’t set one or don’t remember it. By default there should be no password set.

Enable your Hidden Administrator Account

Sometimes you may need to access your Windows administrator account - here’s how to do it:

• Open a command prompt in the Start Menu for the administrative mode by right clicking Command Prompt, then choosing Run as Administrator.
• At the command prompt, type net user administrator /active:yes then hit Enter
• The command screen should report that the operation was successful
• Now, log out and the log in screen should list the Administrator account option in addition to your other accounts.

Disable your Hidden Administrator Account

Once you finish the adjustments you want to make, you should disable the administrator account, here’s how:

• Log in to your regular account and follow the same instructions as above to open an administrator command prompt - you can’t change accounts that you are logged into, so make sure you are in your regular user account
• At the command prompt, type net user administrator /active:no
• When complete, the Administrator account will not display at the log in window

I bought a second hand Dell OptiPlex GX110 tower - I can use it if I log on as user but when I want to download something such as Acrobat Reader it tells me I have no administrator rights. Is there is any way that I can change the administrator to my name instead of the person that had it before me as the administrator?

Of course, the easiest way to do this is to ask the old owner for the password - if this isn’t possible, make sure that there actually is a password on the account first. Try logging in as the administrator, but leave the password blank and see if that gives you access - you’d be surprised how often that works.

Windows XP Security Hole

If you still need a password and are using Windows XP and have the CD, you can probably take advantage of a security hole in that operating system to reset the administrative password. Follow these instructions exactly:

1. Put the CD in the CD ROM drive. If your computer isn’t configured to boot from CD, you may have to get into the BIOS and reset it.
2. When you see the Welcome screen, press Enter and then press F8 to accept the licensing agreement.
3. You will be asked to select your installation (chances are, there is only one) and press R to begin the repair process.
4. Once it runs, it will reboot automatically - don’t press any key to reboot from CD.
5. You will now see a highlighted message saying Installing Windows.
6. You need to watch the lower left hand side of the screen carefully. As soon as you see “Installing Devices”, immediately press F10 - this is the loophole.
7. You will see a command console. At the prompt, type in: NUSRMGR.CPL and press Enter.
8. You should now have access to all of the accounts in the Control Panel and can change the passwords. If you don’t want a password, type in: control userpasswords2 at the prompt.
9. Exit out of the command box and let the repair run. You may need to enter the product key to complete the repair. Everything should be intact on your machine and only the password should be reset.

Recovery Software

If you still can’t access the Administrator account, you can purchase recovery software that will either wipe out the passwords completely or recover the lost admin password. Two to try are the Spotmau recovery tool or Password Reset Software. Either one should work in your situation and if there is no other way to access the admin account will probably be worth the money.

Hopefully, you will be able to quickly and easily access the administrator account now. Please let us know if we can help you further.