Changing ownership of a desktop

Arlen Holder wrote:
On Fri, 3 Jul 2020 17:14:55 -0400, Jonathan N. Little wrote:

"secret administrator account"? In Home edition where your options are
administrator, standard, and guest?

I've only done it once, so I would have to google for current details...
o https://duckduckgo.com/?q=hidden+admin+account

Here's the first hit:
o *How to enable the hidden Windows 10 administrator account*
https://www.ghacks.net/2014/11/12/how-to-enable-the-hidden-windows-10-administrator-account/

Second hit:
o *How To Enable Hidden Administrator Account In Windows 10*
https://www.intowindows.com/enable-the-hidden-administrator-account-in-windows-10/

Third hit:
o *How to Unlock the Secret Administrator Account in Windows*
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-unlock-the-secret-administrator-account-in-windows/

Tons more hits...
o *3 Ways to Enable Hidden Administrator Account in Windows 10*
https://windowsloop.com/enable-hidden-administrator-account-windows-10/


It is not hidden in Pro, just not enabled.

--
Take care,

Jonathan
-------------------
LITTLE WORKS STUDIO
http://www.LittleWorksStudio.com

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Fri, 03 Jul 2020 20:09:44 +0100, mick
wrote:

I want to give my son a desktop I have been using.
It has Windows 10 Home edition ver 2004.
Rather than reformatting the hard drive and re-installing windows, then
re-installing all the other software I thought the quickest way was to
create another user account in his name, change it to an administrator
account and then delete my user account.
Is it that easy or am I going to encounter problems?

I'm curious. I have no password to login, and no special name anywhere.
If I wanted to give my computer to someone, would I have to do anything?

The shop that sold it to me upgraded windows, and just handed it to me
after I bought it. Nothing to do with user accounts, admin accounts.

Why can't I do the same thing to give it my alleged son?

micky wrote:
In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Fri, 03 Jul 2020 20:09:44 +0100, mick
wrote:

I want to give my son a desktop I have been using.
It has Windows 10 Home edition ver 2004.
Rather than reformatting the hard drive and re-installing windows, then
re-installing all the other software I thought the quickest way was to
create another user account in his name, change it to an administrator
account and then delete my user account.
Is it that easy or am I going to encounter problems?

I'm curious. I have no password to login, and no special name anywhere.
If I wanted to give my computer to someone, would I have to do anything?

The shop that sold it to me upgraded windows, and just handed it to me
after I bought it. Nothing to do with user accounts, admin accounts.

Why can't I do the same thing to give it my alleged son?

I presume you will be giving the crashing computer to the alleged son.

To build character.

OK, so in Windows, how do we know an account doesn't have a password ?
If that information is stored somewhere, presumably the field is salted
and encrypted. You should not be able to tell by looking at it (where
ever it is stored).

Paul

On Sat, 04 Jul 2020 02:02:01 -0400, Paul wrote:

micky wrote:
In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Fri, 03 Jul 2020 20:09:44 +0100, mick
wrote:

I want to give my son a desktop I have been using.
It has Windows 10 Home edition ver 2004.
Rather than reformatting the hard drive and re-installing windows, then
re-installing all the other software I thought the quickest way was to
create another user account in his name, change it to an administrator
account and then delete my user account.
Is it that easy or am I going to encounter problems?

I'm curious. I have no password to login, and no special name anywhere.
If I wanted to give my computer to someone, would I have to do anything?

The shop that sold it to me upgraded windows, and just handed it to me
after I bought it. Nothing to do with user accounts, admin accounts.

Why can't I do the same thing to give it my alleged son?

I presume you will be giving the crashing computer to the alleged son.

To build character.

OK, so in Windows, how do we know an account doesn't have a password ?
If that information is stored somewhere, presumably the field is salted
and encrypted. You should not be able to tell by looking at it (where
ever it is stored).

One such place to see which accounts have passwords is in Control Panel,
User Accounts. When you select an account to manage, it will say "Password
protected" if it has a password, and one of the administrative options will
be "Change the password." If an account doesn't have a password, the
"Password protected" message will be missing, and if you select that
account to manage, one of the administrative options is to "Create a
password."

So that's one way to tell.

Char Jackson wrote:
On Sat, 04 Jul 2020 02:02:01 -0400, Paul wrote:

micky wrote:
In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Fri, 03 Jul 2020 20:09:44 +0100, mick
wrote:

I want to give my son a desktop I have been using.
It has Windows 10 Home edition ver 2004.
Rather than reformatting the hard drive and re-installing windows, then
re-installing all the other software I thought the quickest way was to
create another user account in his name, change it to an administrator
account and then delete my user account.
Is it that easy or am I going to encounter problems?
I'm curious. I have no password to login, and no special name anywhere.
If I wanted to give my computer to someone, would I have to do anything?

The shop that sold it to me upgraded windows, and just handed it to me
after I bought it. Nothing to do with user accounts, admin accounts.

Why can't I do the same thing to give it my alleged son?
I presume you will be giving the crashing computer to the alleged son.

To build character.

OK, so in Windows, how do we know an account doesn't have a password ?
If that information is stored somewhere, presumably the field is salted
and encrypted. You should not be able to tell by looking at it (where
ever it is stored).

One such place to see which accounts have passwords is in Control Panel,
User Accounts. When you select an account to manage, it will say "Password
protected" if it has a password, and one of the administrative options will
be "Change the password." If an account doesn't have a password, the
"Password protected" message will be missing, and if you select that
account to manage, one of the administrative options is to "Create a
password."

So that's one way to tell.


Hey, thanks. That sounds like a good method.
I'm surprised an interface would admit to that :-)

I don't think I have any accounts here without a password.
It just never seems to happen that way.

Paul

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Sat, 04 Jul 2020 01:16:39 -0500, Char
Jackson wrote:

On Sat, 04 Jul 2020 02:02:01 -0400, Paul wrote:

micky wrote:
In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Fri, 03 Jul 2020 20:09:44 +0100, mick
wrote:

I want to give my son a desktop I have been using.
It has Windows 10 Home edition ver 2004.
Rather than reformatting the hard drive and re-installing windows, then
re-installing all the other software I thought the quickest way was to
create another user account in his name, change it to an administrator
account and then delete my user account.
Is it that easy or am I going to encounter problems?

I'm curious. I have no password to login, and no special name anywhere.
If I wanted to give my computer to someone, would I have to do anything?

The shop that sold it to me upgraded windows, and just handed it to me
after I bought it. Nothing to do with user accounts, admin accounts.

Why can't I do the same thing to give it my alleged son?

I presume you will be giving the crashing computer to the alleged son.

Absolutely.

To build character.

It's built my character sufficiently. Now it's time to build his.

But lets assume the computer has been fixed and works fine, or it's the
laptop that does work fine.

OK, so in Windows, how do we know an account doesn't have a password ?

I've never entered one.

If that information is stored somewhere, presumably the field is salted
and encrypted. You should not be able to tell by looking at it (where
ever it is stored).

One such place to see which accounts have passwords is in Control Panel,
User Accounts.

I once messed with UAC. I regret it, it let something get installed
(malware?) and it took me an hour or two to get rid of it (3 years ago)
, but I didn't use any passwords.

When you select an account to manage, it will say "Password
protected" if it has a password, and one of the administrative options will
be "Change the password." If an account doesn't have a password, the
"Password protected" message will be missing, and if you select that
account to manage, one of the administrative options is to "Create a
password."

So that's one way to tell.

So I have no password, so can I just give it to my son, or Mick's son?
Without having to change ownership? -

micky wrote:

So I have no password, so can I just give it to my son, or Mick's son?
Without having to change ownership? -

There are cosmetic details.

Do you care about cosmetics ?

If not, you just hand the computer to the individual
and say "Here".

Changing the name on the home directory, would personalize it.

Changing the string "This OS is registered to:" would personalize it.

If you use an MSA, the day the individual attempts to move
the OS to some replacement hardware, maybe some message is
sent to the MSA account (which would be one of your email
accounts).

There are all sorts of tiny corner cases, things you might
regret a bit.

Doing a clean install, takes care of most of those.

When people receive used/refurb computers, doing a reinstall
is what we recommend here. If a machine is not in OOBE state
when you get it, it could be hacked, by just about any one.
For example, the Optiplex I got as a refurb from the shop
downtown, had a piece of multimedia software on it which
"did not pass a scan". And that's why you reinstall
a computer, when you recognize signs like that. The computer
might well have been sitting in the shop window, or close to the
window where they advertise products. It was only moved out
of the window, when I phoned to say I'd be driving in to
buy it. (There was a similar one, still in the window.)

Paul

On Sat, 4 Jul 2020 00:58:52 -0400, Jonathan N. Little wrote:

It is not hidden in Pro, just not enabled.

Hi Jonathan,

As I said, I only used it once, long ago, very long ago in fact, when I set
up a PC that I bought as a gift for a neighbor whose kid was going off to
college.

She wanted to be able to get in without the kid knowing it, so, at that
time I googled for how to set up the hidden admin account, and then I set
it up for her and haven't ever used this mechanism myself after that.

Note that this account is in _addition_ to the "normal" administrator
account (which is not hidden, I think).

At that time (years ago), it was "my understanding" (which could very well
be off the mark since I'm not interested enough to google further) that it
was "hidden", as the cited articles' titles noted.

By hidden, I "presume" it means a non administrator can't "see" it.

It was my understanding that even an administrator can't "see" it unless
they turn it back to being visible, but, again, I didn't delve into it
because it's not something I need to do.

In short, I'll be happy if someone who knows (and cares) can tell us that
it's _not_ hidden to the non-administrator...

But I think the entire point is to be _hidden_ from the non-admin user.
o Isn't it?
--
Usenet should be a polite public potluck of purposefully helpful advice.

Arlen Holder wrote:
On Sat, 4 Jul 2020 00:58:52 -0400, Jonathan N. Little wrote:

It is not hidden in Pro, just not enabled.

Hi Jonathan,

As I said, I only used it once, long ago, very long ago in fact, when I set
up a PC that I bought as a gift for a neighbor whose kid was going off to
college.

She wanted to be able to get in without the kid knowing it, so, at that
time I googled for how to set up the hidden admin account, and then I set
it up for her and haven't ever used this mechanism myself after that.

Note that this account is in _addition_ to the "normal" administrator
account (which is not hidden, I think).

At that time (years ago), it was "my understanding" (which could very well
be off the mark since I'm not interested enough to google further) that it
was "hidden", as the cited articles' titles noted.

By hidden, I "presume" it means a non administrator can't "see" it.

It was my understanding that even an administrator can't "see" it unless
they turn it back to being visible, but, again, I didn't delve into it
because it's not something I need to do.

In short, I'll be happy if someone who knows (and cares) can tell us that
it's _not_ hidden to the non-administrator...

But I think the entire point is to be _hidden_ from the non-admin user.
o Isn't it?


One you enable it for login will be visible on login screen for admin
and non-admin users...

--
Take care,

Jonathan
-------------------
LITTLE WORKS STUDIO
http://www.LittleWorksStudio.com

On Sat, 4 Jul 2020 11:02:36 -0400, Jonathan N. Little wrote:

One you enable it for login will be visible on login screen for admin
and non-admin users...

Of course.
o But that's not the point.

The point is that it _is_ hidden (as far as I can remember it being).
o At least it's hidden from the perspective of her kid's account.

It was years ago, but as I recall, the use model for this neighbor was for
her to check things when/if she wanted to when the kid was home from school
(so she had physical access to the computer).

The ad hoc plan we came up with, (as I recall from years ago), was...
1. She could "unhide" the hidden second admin account.
2. Then she could do whatever she needed to do.
3. And then hide it again.

I don't even know if she ever used it, but at the time, whatever plan we
came up with (based on my memory above), worked in my quick tests.

As I said, if you and the others have more information, I'm happy to hear
it, where I get that if you leave the login of that second admin account on
the login screen, then it's not hidden (but we kept it hidden, AFAICR).
--
Usenet is best as a polite public potluck of purposefully helpful advice.

On Sat, 04 Jul 2020 02:55:15 -0400, Paul wrote:

Char Jackson wrote:
On Sat, 04 Jul 2020 02:02:01 -0400, Paul wrote:

micky wrote:
In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Fri, 03 Jul 2020 20:09:44 +0100, mick
wrote:

I want to give my son a desktop I have been using.
It has Windows 10 Home edition ver 2004.
Rather than reformatting the hard drive and re-installing windows, then
re-installing all the other software I thought the quickest way was to
create another user account in his name, change it to an administrator
account and then delete my user account.
Is it that easy or am I going to encounter problems?
I'm curious. I have no password to login, and no special name anywhere.
If I wanted to give my computer to someone, would I have to do anything?

The shop that sold it to me upgraded windows, and just handed it to me
after I bought it. Nothing to do with user accounts, admin accounts.

Why can't I do the same thing to give it my alleged son?
I presume you will be giving the crashing computer to the alleged son.

To build character.

OK, so in Windows, how do we know an account doesn't have a password ?
If that information is stored somewhere, presumably the field is salted
and encrypted. You should not be able to tell by looking at it (where
ever it is stored).

One such place to see which accounts have passwords is in Control Panel,
User Accounts. When you select an account to manage, it will say "Password
protected" if it has a password, and one of the administrative options will
be "Change the password." If an account doesn't have a password, the
"Password protected" message will be missing, and if you select that
account to manage, one of the administrative options is to "Create a
password."

So that's one way to tell.


Hey, thanks. That sounds like a good method.
I'm surprised an interface would admit to that :-)

I don't think I have any accounts here without a password.
It just never seems to happen that way.

Same here, my normal accounts each has a password, but for this test I
created a new user on a throwaway VM.

On 03/07/2020 20:09:44, mick wrote:
I want to give my son a desktop I have been using.
It has Windows 10 Home edition ver 2004.
Rather than reformatting the hard drive and re-installing windows, then
re-installing all the other software I thought the quickest way was to create
another user account in his name, change it to an administrator account and
then delete my user account.
Is it that easy or am I going to encounter problems?

Well, it went plan, no clitches, no lost data, everyone's happy.
I did an image of each computer.
On the one being transferred to new ownership I started off by deleting
about 15 programs with Revo Pro that would be irrelevent.
Then I created a new user as administrator and deleted my own user
administrator account. Re-booted and the new user was up and running.

I did not change the name of the computer as I think someone mentioned
that it may cause a problem. There was no need anyway as it isn't a
personal name, just the make of the machine.

It was like a new install of windows 10, so a lot of tweaking the
settings.
Then the programs that were carried over (about 13) were run one at a
time with settings being copied over from the old machine where
appropriate, Firefox profiles, Outlook .pst files etc. Mostly it was
just a case of pointing the program where to save files to the correct
folder.
Five additional programs were installed again with settings carried
over from the old machine.

All in all it took about 5 to 6 hours, was it worth it? probably.
Certainly quicker than doing a complete OS/programs install from
scratch, although everything was like new software and needed settings
doing. It was certainly made easier by both computers being on the
same network so file transfer was quick and hassle free, no messing
with dvd's and/or pen drives.

--
mick

On 7/4/2020 6:55 PM, mick wrote:
On 03/07/2020 20:09:44, mick wrote:
I want to give my son a desktop I have been using.
It has Windows 10 Home edition ver 2004.
Rather than reformatting the hard drive and re-installing windows,
then re-installing all the other software I thought the quickest way
was to create another user account in his name, change it to an
administrator account and then delete my user account.
Is it that easy or am I going to encounter problems?

Well, it went plan, no clitches, no lost data, everyone's happy.
I did an image of each computer.
On the one being transferred to new ownership I started off by deleting
about 15 programs with Revo Pro that would be irrelevent.
Then I created a new user as administrator and deleted my own user
administrator account. Re-booted and the new user was up and running.

I did not change the name of the computer as I think someone mentioned
that it may cause a problem.Â* There was no need anyway as it isn't a
personal name, just the make of the machine.

It was like a new install of windows 10, so a lot of tweaking the settings.
Then the programs that were carried over (about 13) were run one at a
time with settings being copied over from the old machine where
appropriate, Firefox profiles, Outlook .pst files etc.Â* Mostly it was
just a case of pointing the program where to save files to the correct
folder.
Five additional programs were installed again with settings carried over
from the old machine.

All in all it took about 5 to 6 hours, was it worth it? probably.
Certainly quicker than doing a complete OS/programs install from
scratch, although everything was like new software and needed settings
doing.Â* It was certainly made easier by both computers being on the same
network so file transfer was quick and hassle free, no messing with
dvd's and/or pen drives.

To identify the computer if it is stolen there are two things you can
do. Both involve a text file.

Make a text file, with your contact information, much or as little as
you feel comfortable with.

Don't put your social Security number in it ;-).

With the text file open do a screen copy, and past it into an image
processor program. In the Settings make the image of the text file
your account picture. This will only be visible when you start your
computer.

Also save the text file to some obscure folder on your computer.

Jonathan N. Little wrote:

Yep just make sure the new account is an administrator account *before*
you delete yours! Also for Home users I suggest creating a second
administrator account as a backup rescue account just as a CYA.

Doesn't Windows check for that scenario? If not, then that's a bug. :P
--
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Ant wrote:
Jonathan N. Little wrote:

Yep just make sure the new account is an administrator account *before*
you delete yours! Also for Home users I suggest creating a second
administrator account as a backup rescue account just as a CYA.

Doesn't Windows check for that scenario? If not, then that's a bug. :P

They check for stuff, when it costs them.

If it increases tech support calls, to allow users to
box themselves in a corner, then they'll fix it.

I read something a while ago which suggested the
two easy hacks to make yourself admin at boot time,
have been mitigated. I haven't wasted time testing
this. If it means a user who got into that situation,
is phoning and asking for free support, then that's
when "it's a bug". One of those is to replace osk.exe
with cmd.exe (which magically starts as Administrator).

This is why they want to put everyone on MSA merry-go-rounds.
Your MSA breaks, all you get is web support and suggestions
to use your security questions and the like, to reset stuff.
With an MSA, you could have situations where no humans
ever respond (as if they were Google). Whereas local accounts
could require real humans to straighten out. With an MSA,
maybe the original email account has "gone away", and contact
is now lost.

Paul