Switzerland calling wrote:


Hi Malke. Sorry late reply but didn't get notification of post!

Thanks for clear explanation of Administrator.

I have Windows XP Media Centre Edition 2002 SP3.

In my original setup when pc delivered, I had an Administrator account
seperate from my own account with seperate folders under c: drive. As I
have just set up whole pc again, I never came across the issue of
Administrator account en route (the thing I had to do at c was a one-off
to fix or identify a small bug - which has subsequently gone now). i.e. I
don't "need" the Administrator account, but in my little memory I seem to
remember it was good to have and to give it a password, not a blank (which
seems to correspond with your advice below).

I guess my question is now - how do I re-establish the Administrator
account and my own account seperately please?

Since you have XP MCE the built-in Administrator is available in regular
mode. I suspect you are using the built-in Administrator for your own daily
work. Perhaps you renamed it, which doesn't change the underlying
files/folders. I'm having a hard time figuring out from your post exactly what
you did.

Go to Control PanelAdministrative ToolsComputer ManagementUsers and
Groups. Highlight Users on the left and look at the users listed on the
right. You should see Administrator as one of the users. Do you see another
user with your name?

If you only have Administrator (never mind the system accounts), then you
are using the built-in Administrator. Since you are already using it, just
leave things as they are with that account and continue to use it. But you
should create a new user account called "CompAdmin" or "Tech" or the like as
*an* administrator (not *the* Administrator). You don't ever need to log
into it but it will be good to have it for emergencies since you are using
the built-in Administrator account and that's the one normally used for this
purpose. You want at least two administrative accounts on the system in case
your daily one becomes corrupted or otherwise unusable. If you only have the
one account, you have no fallback position.

The only kicker with this is that in XP MCE/Pro when you create a second
administrative user, the built-in Administrator (the one I'm guessing you're
using now) becomes hidden from the Welcome Screen. You can handle this in
various ways:

1. If you are using the Welcome Screen, to show the Administrator icon, do
this:

Enable Administrator account on Welcome Screen -
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/scripts_desc/xp_admin_ok.htm

2. OR use the Classic Logon Box. This will require you to type
"Administrator" for the username and whatever password (or none) you
assigned.

Control PanelUser AccountsChange the way users log on - disable the
Welcome Screen.

3. OR set your computer to automatically log onto the Administrator account
(yours) so you go directly to your Desktop:

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

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ