Re: Adverse impact of changing administrator or user account

renegade wrote:
In working on a laptop computer with Windows XP Professional the administrator account was changed to a new administrator. It appears that in doing that all of the data files, email and email address book were deleted. My question: Would changing an administrator account or deleting a user account also delete all of the data files, etc. created by that administrator or user? If so, is there any way to recover the data?


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


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Bruce Chambers

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