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#1
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'Administrator' in XP/Home?
By adding and validating a Key in Registry, we have been able to change
the Welcome Screen during Start-up so that it halts there, and allows one to enter a User Name. I seem to recall from years ago, with XP/Pro, that the option for an Administrator account there, but I've been unable to do so with XP/Home. Is it that it cannot be done, or that I'm not doing it right? We are aware of F8 and Safe Mode, but that leads in an entirely different direction. |
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#2
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'Administrator' in XP/Home?
"William Lurie" wrote in message
... By adding and validating a Key in Registry, we have been able to change the Welcome Screen during Start-up so that it halts there, and allows one to enter a User Name. I seem to recall from years ago, with XP/Pro, that the option for an Administrator account there, but I've been unable to do so with XP/Home. Is it that it cannot be done, or that I'm not doing it right? We are aware of F8 and Safe Mode, but that leads in an entirely different direction. Were this true (not checked) provision to add an Admin account at login seems redundant -- since the OS enables any reboot to start an Admin account (by Ctl-Alt-Del twice at login prompt we need not provide a user name for such access. -- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) |
#3
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'Administrator' in XP/Home?
Hi there William,
Just though of another item of possible interest to you. Namely Microsoft's TweakUI.exe (for XP) !! It has a section called "Logon" and under it, an option to checkmark a box called : "Show "Administrator" on Welcome screen" (At least, it shows up that way in my XP Pro but it's well worth the trouble of downloading the tiny file) You can obtain the small installation file (146kb) by clicking the link below : http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...ertoySetup.exe == Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-) "William Lurie" wrote in message ... By adding and validating a Key in Registry, we have been able to change the Welcome Screen during Start-up so that it halts there, and allows one to enter a User Name. I seem to recall from years ago, with XP/Pro, that the option for an Administrator account there, but I've been unable to do so with XP/Home. Is it that it cannot be done, or that I'm not doing it right? We are aware of F8 and Safe Mode, but that leads in an entirely different direction. |
#4
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'Administrator' in XP/Home?
Don Phillipson wrote:
"William Lurie" wrote in message ... By adding and validating a Key in Registry, we have been able to change the Welcome Screen during Start-up so that it halts there, and allows one to enter a User Name. I seem to recall from years ago, with XP/Pro, that the option for an Administrator account there, but I've been unable to do so with XP/Home. Is it that it cannot be done, or that I'm not doing it right? We are aware of F8 and Safe Mode, but that leads in an entirely different direction. Were this true (not checked) provision to add an Admin account at login seems redundant -- since the OS enables any reboot to start an Admin account (by Ctl-Alt-Del twice at login prompt we need not provide a user name for such access. What you seem to be saying is that I can *create* a new account (e.g., 'Administrator') by indicating that name in the login box. I hadn't tried that. |
#5
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'Administrator' in XP/Home?
No - certainly, a profile *must* exist before you can logon to it!
I have never heard said what Mr Phillipson mentioned, but believe he was saying that if you leave the login box blank it would then defer to the "Administrator" account - or so it seemed to me anyway.... == Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-) "William Lurie" wrote in message ... Don Phillipson wrote: "William Lurie" wrote in message ... By adding and validating a Key in Registry, we have been able to change the Welcome Screen during Start-up so that it halts there, and allows one to enter a User Name. I seem to recall from years ago, with XP/Pro, that the option for an Administrator account there, but I've been unable to do so with XP/Home. Is it that it cannot be done, or that I'm not doing it right? We are aware of F8 and Safe Mode, but that leads in an entirely different direction. Were this true (not checked) provision to add an Admin account at login seems redundant -- since the OS enables any reboot to start an Admin account (by Ctl-Alt-Del twice at login prompt we need not provide a user name for such access. What you seem to be saying is that I can *create* a new account (e.g., 'Administrator') by indicating that name in the login box. I hadn't tried that. |
#6
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'Administrator' in XP/Home?
"William Lurie" wrote in message
... Don Phillipson wrote: "William Lurie" wrote in message ... By adding and validating a Key in Registry, we have been able to change the Welcome Screen during Start-up so that it halts there, and allows one to enter a User Name. I seem to recall from years ago, with XP/Pro, that the option for an Administrator account there, but I've been unable to do so with XP/Home. Is it that it cannot be done, or that I'm not doing it right? We are aware of F8 and Safe Mode, but that leads in an entirely different direction. Were this true (not checked) provision to add an Admin account at login seems redundant -- since the OS enables any reboot to start an Admin account (by Ctl-Alt-Del twice at login prompt we need not provide a user name for such access. What you seem to be saying is that I can *create* a new account (e.g., 'Administrator') by indicating that name in the login box. I hadn't tried that. Ctl-Alt-Del twice at login prompt does not create a new account. It loads the (hidden) account for user "Administrator" created when the OS was installed; i.e. it has always been there. -- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) |
#7
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'Administrator' in XP/Home?
On 11/30/2010 1:40 PM, Don Phillipson wrote:
"William wrote in message ... Don Phillipson wrote: "William wrote in message ... By adding and validating a Key in Registry, we have been able to change the Welcome Screen during Start-up so that it halts there, and allows one to enter a User Name. I seem to recall from years ago, with XP/Pro, that the option for an Administrator account there, but I've been unable to do so with XP/Home. Is it that it cannot be done, or that I'm not doing it right? We are aware of F8 and Safe Mode, but that leads in an entirely different direction. Were this true (not checked) provision to add an Admin account at login seems redundant -- since the OS enables any reboot to start an Admin account (by Ctl-Alt-Del twice at login prompt we need not provide a user name for such access. What you seem to be saying is that I can *create* a new account (e.g., 'Administrator') by indicating that name in the login box. I hadn't tried that. Ctl-Alt-Del twice at login prompt does not create a new account. It loads the (hidden) account for user "Administrator" created when the OS was installed; i.e. it has always been there. When you are at the Windows XP style Welcome screen hitting Ctrl+Alt+Delete twice brings up the classic logon screen where you can enter *any* username and password, it does not load any account as such. The name of the last user who was logged on may be showing in the username field if the option to show the last logged user on is enabled in the registry. Also note that this does not work on XP Home, to login with the Administrator account on XP Home you have to logon in Safe Mode. John |
#8
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'Administrator' in XP/Home?
"Don Phillipson" wrote:
Ctl-Alt-Del twice at login prompt does not create a new account. It loads the (hidden) account for user "Administrator" created when the OS was installed; i.e. it has always been there. On one of my PCs which I bought pre-setup because at that stage I knew nothing about Windows, the id defined for me to use is an admin one and of course I know its password. But I have no idea what the Administrator id's password is, and wouldn't like someone else to be able to use this double Ctrl-Alt-Del method to get to an Administrator login, in case the password it has is a stupid one like 'admin' or 'secret'... Can I use my own admin id to reset the Administrator's password to a value I will know? Also, does anyone know what restrictions Windows sets on password values - can they be any length and include spaces and special characters? -- Jeremy C B Nicoll - my opinions are my own. Email sent to my from-address will be deleted. Instead, please reply to replacing "aaa" by "284". |
#9
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'Administrator' in XP/Home?
This is what we are trying to determine - whether there's a workaround to
starting Administrator account normally (i.e. *not* in safe-mode). The documentation would have us believe that the Recovery Console's "set" command is unavailable in XP Home edition, but with the addition of two registry entries *is* perfectly useable. So, if the commonly understood information about the limitations of XP Home vs. XP Pro is erroneous on one occasion, why not more than once?....... == Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-) "John John - MVP" wrote in message ... On 11/30/2010 1:40 PM, Don Phillipson wrote: "William wrote in message ... Don Phillipson wrote: "William wrote in message ... By adding and validating a Key in Registry, we have been able to change the Welcome Screen during Start-up so that it halts there, and allows one to enter a User Name. I seem to recall from years ago, with XP/Pro, that the option for an Administrator account there, but I've been unable to do so with XP/Home. Is it that it cannot be done, or that I'm not doing it right? We are aware of F8 and Safe Mode, but that leads in an entirely different direction. Were this true (not checked) provision to add an Admin account at login seems redundant -- since the OS enables any reboot to start an Admin account (by Ctl-Alt-Del twice at login prompt we need not provide a user name for such access. What you seem to be saying is that I can *create* a new account (e.g., 'Administrator') by indicating that name in the login box. I hadn't tried that. Ctl-Alt-Del twice at login prompt does not create a new account. It loads the (hidden) account for user "Administrator" created when the OS was installed; i.e. it has always been there. When you are at the Windows XP style Welcome screen hitting Ctrl+Alt+Delete twice brings up the classic logon screen where you can enter *any* username and password, it does not load any account as such. The name of the last user who was logged on may be showing in the username field if the option to show the last logged user on is enabled in the registry. Also note that this does not work on XP Home, to login with the Administrator account on XP Home you have to logon in Safe Mode. John |
#10
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'Administrator' in XP/Home?
Yes indeed you can, and you're right - it is a security loophole for the home computer (company networked PCs always have their Admin accounts set up properly and with password). Type CONTROL USERPASSWORDS2 either at the Command Prompt or into the "Run" box, and you can use the "Reset Administrator password" button to set the Admin password..... == Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-) "Jeremy Nicoll - news posts" wrote in message nvalid... "Don Phillipson" wrote: Ctl-Alt-Del twice at login prompt does not create a new account. It loads the (hidden) account for user "Administrator" created when the OS was installed; i.e. it has always been there. On one of my PCs which I bought pre-setup because at that stage I knew nothing about Windows, the id defined for me to use is an admin one and of course I know its password. But I have no idea what the Administrator id's password is, and wouldn't like someone else to be able to use this double Ctrl-Alt-Del method to get to an Administrator login, in case the password it has is a stupid one like 'admin' or 'secret'... Can I use my own admin id to reset the Administrator's password to a value I will know? Also, does anyone know what restrictions Windows sets on password values - can they be any length and include spaces and special characters? -- Jeremy C B Nicoll - my opinions are my own. Email sent to my from-address will be deleted. Instead, please reply to replacing "aaa" by "284". |
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