Re: hidden user account

Hi Darren,

Yes, this would probably work, but I can't swear to it. Its easy enough to make the Administrator account appear on the Welcome Screen.

Visit my web site, www.dougknox.com and go to the Windows XP Utilities section. Follow the link for Enable Administrator Account

Although its still a bad idea to use it for day to day use. You really should create another account for your normal use and save the built-in Administrator account for emergencies. If you have a lot of information in that account that you want to preserve, create a new account, then copy the Administrator account info to the new account.

Copy a User Profile:

Open System in Control Panel. On the User Profiles tab, and under Profiles stored on this computer, click the user profile you want to copy, and then click Copy To.

In the Copy To dialog box, under Copy profile to, type the location for the new profile, or click Browse to select the path.
Click Change to open the Choose User dialog box, click a new user from the Names list, and then click Add. The new user name will appear in Add Name. Click OK to add the user as a new user profile on your computer.

Note: You must be logged on as an administrator to the local computer to copy user profiles. To open a Control Panel item, click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click the appropriate icon.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811151
How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile

Note: you cannot copy to/from the account that you're logged on to. So you'll need at least one other administrator level user account to perform this operation.
--
Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows Media Center\Windows Powered Smart Display\Security
Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com
--------------------------------
Per user Group Policy Restrictions for XP Home and XP Pro
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_securityconsole.htm
--------------------------------
Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.

"Darren" <Darren@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:D46F35D2-7552-495E-85D5-5729D6948EB0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Doug,

I had a theory that I tried out a a spare PC off mine, here goes, my friends
PC was second hand, what a think the preivous owner did was to delete all of
their accounts, through Administrator Tools to leave the default admin
account, my friend then used this account because it wasn't password protect
and appeared on boot up,straight into Windows, when I added her kids account
that then became the only account visible, hidding the default admin account.
Now, what I was thinking is if I delete the kids account through
Administrator Tools, that would leave the default admin account and would
boot into that. That's my theory, it seemed to work on my spare PC, what do
you think? Is this a viable explanation and cure. Your advice is most
welcome.By the way, I've visited your website and added it to my favourites.

Cheers Darren

"Doug Knox - [MS-MVP]" wrote:

Log off the kids' account. Then with no users logged on, pressing
CTRL-ALT-DEL twice at the Welcome Screen will get you the older Windows
logon dialog. Enter Administrator and any password for that account. That
will log you on. Or, if the kids account has administrator level access,
you can use either of the methods described earlier in this thread to enable
the Administrator account on the Welcome Screen. You can also do this from
the Administrator account once you've logged in with that account.
--
Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows Media Center\Windows Powered Smart
Display\Security
Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com
--------------------------------
Per user Group Policy Restrictions for XP Home and XP Pro
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_securityconsole.htm
--------------------------------
Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.

"Darren" <Darren@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:476DB23D-4DFD-40C5-971B-9FAB979D0C7C@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Hi Doug, I can't log of their account because their's is the only > account
> visible, is there a way of recovering the hidden account from the
> documents
> saved in "Documents and Setting, Administrator Documents"
>
> "Doug Knox - [MS-MVP]" wrote:
>
>> Log of of their account, do not reboot. Then try CTRL-ALT-DEL twice >> at
>> the
>> Welcome Screen. Additionally, if you're not going to create another
>> administrator level account for your day to day use, see the rest of >> the
>> message about enabling the Administrator account on the Welcome >> Screen.
>>
>> -- >> Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows Media Center\Windows Powered Smart
>> Display\Security
>> Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
>> http://www.dougknox.com
>> --------------------------------
>> Per user Group Policy Restrictions for XP Home and XP Pro
>> http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_securityconsole.htm
>> --------------------------------
>> Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
>> Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.
>>
>> "Darren" <Darren@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:C3339131-AA07-40E9-BD6B-1A089AB96A18@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> > Hi Doug,
>> > I've tried the ctrl alt del method and got nothing, it just booted
>> > straight
>> > to the kids account, any other ideas?
>> >
>> > "Doug Knox - [MS-MVP]" wrote:
>> >
>> >> By default, the Administrator account is automatically hidden when >> >> you
>> >> create another user account. Additionally, its a bad idea to use >> >> the
>> >> built-in Administrator account for day to day use, as that may be >> >> your
>> >> only
>> >> way to get into a system that develops serious problems.
>> >>
>> >> For XP Pro: Press CTRL-ALT-DEL twice at the Welcome Screen, with >> >> no
>> >> other
>> >> users logged on. You'll get the older logon dialog. Enter
>> >> Administrator
>> >> and any password that you have set for that account.
>> >>
>> >> To enable the Administrator account on the new Windows XP logon >> >> screen
>> >> in
>> >> Windows XP Pro, visit my web site, www.dougknox.com and go to the
>> >> Windows
>> >> XP
>> >> Utilities section. Follow the link for Enable Administrator >> >> Account
>> >> ......
>> >>
>> >> This small VB application will make the registry change necessary >> >> for
>> >> the
>> >> Administrator account to be available on the Welcome Screen. If >> >> you
>> >> prefer
>> >> to do it manually, click Start, Run and enter REGEDIT Navigate to:
>> >>
>> >> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
>> >> NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList\
>> >>
>> >> Note: There is a space between Windows and NT in the above Key.
>> >>
>> >> Add the Administrator account if necessary and/or change the
>> >> Administrator
>> >> value to 1
>> >>
>> >> For XP Home, you can only log into the built in Administrator >> >> account
>> >> in
>> >> Safe Mode, so the fixes above will be of little use.
>> >>
>> >> -- >> >> Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows Media Center\Windows Powered Smart
>> >> Display\Security
>> >> Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
>> >> http://www.dougknox.com
>> >> --------------------------------
>> >> Per user Group Policy Restrictions for XP Home and XP Pro
>> >> http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_securityconsole.htm
>> >> --------------------------------
>> >> Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
>> >> Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.
>> >>
>> >> "Darren" <Darren@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> >> news:CF70327B-B395-4E75-BD32-4341DDAB1FC1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> >> > Hello, I was setting up a user account on a friends PC, one >> >> > account
>> >> > for
>> >> > her
>> >> > and one for her children, both would have amdin access, while >> >> > going
>> >> > through
>> >> > the account process I clicked on hide folders(or something to >> >> > that
>> >> > effect)
>> >> > for her account, completed the process and rebooted. When Windows
>> >> > reloaded
>> >> > her account wasn't visible but her childrens was. I've found all >> >> > of
>> >> > her
>> >> > documents in "Administrators Documents" but I need to access her
>> >> > emails.
>> >> > I've
>> >> > tried system restore to no effect, is there a way to access this
>> >> > hidden
>> >> > user
>> >> > account. The operating system is Windows Media Center Edition. >> >> > Any
>> >> > help
>> >> > or
>> >> > advise would be great.
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>>



.

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