Re: HOME EDITION: can't log on as administrator after setting up new account

On Sun, 21 May 2006 07:46:04 -0400, Joe wrote:
Not sure- I think she wanted password protection, so somehow she set up her
daily account with a password- not sure if it was the default admin. acct.
or not. Now when she goes into control panel- user accounts- the only thing
in there is this new Visitor acct. The welcome screen only shows the visitor
account too- nothing else- if there were more, wouldn't they be listed in
drop down menus? Since her original wasn't listed- she tried changing the
User ID to what she thought it was (not having written it down), then
entered the password which she knew very well, using it every day- and got
no results- thinking the problem was that she didn't recall the proper User
ID. I did notice in the MS book that you can't get back into Admin. acct.
with Home Ed. this way- but is it only the default Admin. acct. you can't
get back to this way, or any Admin. acct.? I'm only now understanding the
basics of this acct. stuff as I've been using computers for years but never
bothered with the acct. features. If the daily acct. she had been using for
years was not the default admin. acct. but a secondary admin. acct she set
up (without understanding)- could she get back to it via the welcome screen,
or is it that you can never get to any admin. acct. via the welcome screen?

And, I don't understand, as I mention above, why when going into control
panel- User accounts- all she sees is the brand new Visitor acct.'s name.

Thanks,
Joe


Joe, I'm not sure why it happened on your friend's computer. The whole
story doesn't jive with how XP Home works. XP Pro, yes; but not XP Home.
::shrugs::

Since you can get logged on in Safe Mode, do that. Create a new user
account for your friend within the admin group. When the computer is
restarted using "normal mode," she should have no problem logging on with
that new account.

The trick will be getting the personal files and settings from the old
account into the new account. When she logs on to the new admin account,
what can she see of the old account that she was using? If yes, she can use
the steps in the article referred to before.

"How to copy data from a corrupted user profile to a new profile"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811151

If not, she might try using Files and Settings Transfer wizard. The tool is
designed to transfer from an old computer to a new one, but can be used to
transfer from one account to another. Helpful article about that tool here:
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/fast.htm

If that doesn't work or if it is too intimidating, she can always copy over
data files only and manually recreate her preferences and settings.

Also.. Even though she's the same person in both accounts, XP doesn't know
that. She may run into access issues while trying to move files from one
account to the other. She can overcome those by "taking ownership" of the
files and folders as described here:

How To Take Ownership of a File or Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

--
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows Shell/User
.

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