Re: Why are there 2 Administrator accounts on the Welcome page?

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance

pc nerd wrote:

See comments inline:

It's an Alienware desktop. I don't recall seeing "Owner" when I first got the PC. I got it in June 2005. One of the options that I paid for was what Alienware calls "Alien Respawn". It's an imaging program. They used Norton Ghost. After they installed XP, they created an image of my hard drive. That's why I was kind of startled when I saw "Owner" after I ran Alien Respawn. I hadn't seen "Owner" since June of 2005.

Owner is the generic user account and it appeared because the "Alien Respawn" is apparently an image created at the factory. Naturally they don't know who is going to purchase the computer so they create the generic Owner account.

In XP books I've read about a hidden Administrator account. Is that what "Owner" is? How do I see the hidden Administrator account?

The Owner account is not the built-in Administrator account. If you have XP Home, you can only access/see the built-in Administrator account in Safe Mode. If you have XP Pro, at th Welcome Screen do Ctrl-Alt-Del twice to get the classic logon box. Type in "Administrator" without the quotes. If you didn't assign a password, the default is a blank.


So, you say that it is perfectly safe to delete "Owner"?

If you are not using the Owner account, you don't need to keep it.

I'm the only user. Is it possible to skip the Welcome screen & go directly to the Desktop? I believe that I read that somewhere.

Yes. This link explains how:

Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) - http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

Is the "Owner" a "super-administrator"?

No. See above for what the Owner account is. There is no "super-administrator" in XP. All user accounts with administrative privileges are equal, including the built-in Administrator account. This is different in Vista.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Your super-smarts much needed!
    ... > owner set up different accounts, including an Administrator account. ... > must log in as Administrator with a password in order to install the program. ... a legitimate license (which would have included the OS installation CD), ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.general)
  • Re: User Account
    ... unless you have renamed the Administrator account to "Owner" you ... outlined in the previous post is that Windows will not let you rename the ... "Owner" folder in Windows Explorer while you're logged in as that user. ... >> careful editing the registry. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment)
  • Re: Administrator
    ... The default password for XP Home's Administrator account is a blank password. ... XP Pro will propmt during setup for a password, ... you'll have to contact the previous owner. ... MS-MVP Windows XP/ Windows Smart Display ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin)
  • Re: Hack Attempt on Windows 2003 AD Native
    ... > other Admin accounts and disabling the Administrator account. ... You might also want to do a WHOIS against ... > owned by that owner to stop them from picking a different source address. ... > seeing is not a reply from those IPs. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.active_directory)
  • Re: Hack Attempt on Windows 2003 AD Native
    ... > other Admin accounts and disabling the Administrator account. ... You might also want to do a WHOIS against ... > owned by that owner to stop them from picking a different source address. ... > seeing is not a reply from those IPs. ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.active_directory)