Recovering Built-In Administrator Account Password

On 12/09/2019 16:54, Bill Bradshaw wrote:
When I try to open the built-in administrator account Windows will not
longer accept my password. The prompt is correct and I have the password
saved in my password manager so I know I am entering the right password. Is
there anyway to reset this password? Windows can drive me nuts.

Running Windows 10 Pro 1809; 17763.615.

Did you enable the Administrator account in the first place? It is NOT
enabled by default and users have to go through extensive procedure to
enable it but because of your limited intelligence, I doubt you ever did
this!!!.



--
With over 999 million devices now running Windows 10, customer
satisfaction is higher than any previous version of windows.

On 12/09/2019 16:54, Bill Bradshaw wrote:
When I try to open the built-in administrator account Windows will not
longer accept my password. The prompt is correct and I have the password
saved in my password manager so I know I am entering the right password. Is
there anyway to reset this password? Windows can drive me nuts.

Running Windows 10 Pro 1809; 17763.615.

Did you enable the Administrator account in the first place? It is NOT
enabled by default and users have to go through extensive procedure to
enable it but because of your limited intelligence, I doubt you ever did
this!!!.



--
With over 1,000,000 million devices now running Windows 10, customer
satisfaction is higher than any previous version of windows.

Bill Bradshaw wrote:

At some point I must of used net user to activate the administor
account and then I forgot to deactivate it. So I deactivated and the
administrator account disappeared. So the question is when you use
"net user administrator /activate:yes" is that activating the
built-in administrator? So if you activate this account it shows up
in the "Switch user" list. If you select it from the user list it
asks for a password. Why would it want a password if you have
already activated it using "net user?" My main account is setup as
local and does not prompt for a password and is also an adimistrator
account.

No, /active:yes just makes it visible. For example, even after using
/active:no, you can still use the Administrator account under which to
run a scheduled event in Task Scheduler. Perhaps it would've been more
clear if the command-line switch had been called /visibleyes|no).

The account list login screen got added in Windows 7. Back in Windows
XP and 2000, all you got was a simple login screen where YOU had to
enter the username. Microsoft figured their users are too stupid to
remember both a username and a password, or they were catering to a
shared workstation scenario by multiple users (versus you, one person,
using multiple accounts).

Windows XP login screen:
https://static.makeuseof.com/wp-cont...gin-Screen.png
(no user list)

Windows 7 login screen (with multiple user accounts defined):
https://i2.wp.com/www.nextofwindows....12/image47.png
(shows customizable icons for each account)

After using "net user Administrator /active:no", see what happens when
you load an elevated command shell and use runas but specify using a
different account thatn the one under which you are currently logged
into.

runas /user:Administrator notepad.exe

You'll get prompted for the account's password, and Notepad loads (under
that account's privilege tokens). While Notepad is still loaded, and to
verify under which account it is running, open Task Manager, go to its
Details tab, scroll down to find the notepad.exe process, and look at
its User Name column to see under which account it is running.

Bill Bradshaw wrote:

VanguardLH wrote:
VanguardLH wrote:

Since you ARE able to login to your own admin-level Windows account
(i.e., your Windows account is in the Administrators security group),
have you even tried to use that account to change the password on the
Administrator account?

Don't bother trying to use the crappy Settings app for user account
management. It sucks. Either run "control.exe userpasswords2" or run
"control.exe" and navigate to User Accounts - User Accounts - Manage
another account, select Administrator, and create a password.

Note: You must've already ran "net user administrator /active:yes" in
an elevated command shell to have Administrator listed.

I did and when I was done I shoud have run it with "/active:no" and I would
not have had all this confusion.

Bill

All that does is re-hide the Administrator account. Nothing to do with
changing its login password. Visibility and password are separate
issues.