Kcpirana

Thank you so much for the information! I'm sorry I neglected to identify my
OS - It's Vista Home Premium 32-bit.

As of this morning (and my husband got up before me, so chances are he just
booted it up because he didn't know anything about this), I can log on to my
account as normal, access the control panel, internet options, etc, with
absolutely no problems. Under USERS in the CP, I see now two accounts with
my name - both identified as adminstrators. Since it's in the CP Users
(accessible even to us Idiots), I imagine I can delete it without concern,
as my now-working account is easily identifiable.

So, barring anymore difficulties, I think I'm reading that you don't *think
the Administrator account was activated, correct? If so, should I activate
it?

You have been great! Thanks so far and TIA!

Kristy

"jimmuh" <jimmuh@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2673849C-21DF-40B7-8E28-6D6F27A3A503@microsoft.com...
> Okay. You've pretty much confirmed my suspicions. It is almost certainly
> true
> that you have NOT done anything to the Administrator account. You have
> still
> not told me what version of Vista you are running, but your observation
> that
> there is no Local users and groups in the Computer Management console
> seems
> to indicate that you have one of the versions of Vista that is devoid of a
> policy editor. (I'm not familiar with these versions. I avoid them like
> the
> plague, but only because they just wouldn't work for me. My computers all
> have to be members of domains, and you can't do that with computers
> running
> Windows versions that don't have policy editors.)
>
> If you boot into Safe Mode (hit F8 key repeatedly after passing the BIOS
> screen at startup time, you may be able to log in as Administrator (no
> password) and fix the system. I say "may" because it's possible that the
> system doesn't think your "Owner" account has been damaged sufficiently to
> warrant allowing the automatic logon to the built-in Administrator
> account.
> The problem is that you have done some damage (from what I can tell) to
> your
> profile, but it may not be totally disabled. In that case you may have to
> straighten things out from within the farkled Owner account.
>
> In the future please remember the first rule of holes: When you are in
> over
> your head, stop digging! You really must learn something about the way
> Vista
> handles its user accounts and the way ntfs permissions work before trying
> to
> do the sort of invasive manipulations you've been doing. Were you not
> seeing
> warnings from User Account Control as you made these various changes? UAC
> wasn't turned off, was it?
>
> You see, each user account has its own location for storing its profile.
> You
> started off, apparently, with an "Owner" account. That was probably set up
> by
> the OEM that installed the OS on your computer. Once you log on to any
> account in Windows a profile location with that name on the directory
> structure is created, and that may have been done effectively even before
> you
> ever got the computer by the unattended install method used by the OEM.
> Now,
> you could have changed name of the Owner account to one that suited you
> through the Windows Control Panel | User Accounts interface, but the name
> of
> the DIRECTORY where the profile for that account is stored would not (and
> should not) be changed at that point. If you do change the name of that
> directory the account won't be able to find its profile at boot time, and
> it
> will create another one, usually with an extension added to the name.
>
> I don't know what to tell you now. You might just be better off saving any
> data to an external drive or to another system and then doing a fresh
> re-installation of the OS -- assuming the OEM has provided recovery media
> or
> a recovery partition. You might also learn quite a bit by trying to fix
> this.
> It doesn't sound as though the system is really messed up badly, but it
> could
> be pretty difficult for someone who isn't familiar with the way user
> accounts
> and the file system work to fix.
>
> BTW, if you do a fresh re-installation, maybe you'll be happiest if you
> create a new account for yourself with your own name. Its profile will be
> stored under the name you choose for the account. That user account could
> be
> a non-admin user, and you would reserve the use of the Owner account for
> administrative purposes. The neat thing about Vista is that, when you are
> logged in as a non-admin and try to do something that requires admin
> privileges, UAC will prompt you for credentials instead of just refusing
> to
> do the task. You would then enter "Owner" as the admin name and the
> password
> for the "Owner" account in order to be able to proceed with the task. It's
> a
> recommended way of using Vista. When you're logged in as an admin and try
> to
> do something that requires admin credentials UAC will simply ask you if
> you
> wish to proceed. If you choose yes it assumes you know what you're doing
> and
> activates the admin credentials to perform the task. (That's the default
> setting, anyway.)
>
> I hope you get it figured out. I can imagine that this situation is very
> annoying.
>
> "Kcpirana" wrote:
>
>> To clarify, I succeeded in changing "owner" to my name on the folder that
>> shows up on the desktop and in the start menu, but not "Owner" in the
>> actual
>> Users file, which is what I tried.
>>
>> Kristy
>> "Kcpirana" <kcpirana@aol.com> wrote in message
>> news:OqcxfuBmHHA.4032@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>> > OK, I used "compmgmt.msc" and I don't see "local users and groups"
>> > anywhere.
>> >
>> > Let's see - I booted up the computer and started working and using the
>> > account that was there when I booted up. When looking for the
>> > administrator account, I did try to rename the Owner folder with my
>> > name
>> > and I succeeded in the regular user accounts area, but not in changing
>> > the
>> > name "Owner". I tried to correct that, and that's when two Owner
>> > accounts
>> > showed up and I have no access to the Control Panel, etc. I can't
>> > perform
>> > a system restore, as the "there was an error detected in the Volume
>> > Shadow
>> > Copy Service." I'm afraid to log off, as I've never set any passwords
>> > and
>> > my account is somehow lost or changed, even though I'm on it right now.
>> >
>> > Kristy
>> >
>> > "jimmuh" <jimmuh@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> > news:9A644E8D-B130-45B1-831C-3BEFC6E8F933@microsoft.com...
>> >> You'd have to provide quite a bit more information for me to be sure,
>> >> but
>> >> I'm
>> >> guessing that Owner is your regular account. And it is an
>> >> administrative
>> >> account. (You can check in User Accounts in the Control Panel to be
>> >> sure.)
>> >> Guest is, of course, the default Guest account, and it normally
>> >> shouldn't
>> >> be
>> >> enabled. Administrator isn't showing up because you never (I hope)
>> >> activated
>> >> it and logged into it. You don't have to enter a password because you
>> >> never
>> >> created one. And you can't create an account called "Administrator"
>> >> because
>> >> there already IS an account with that name -- the built-in
>> >> Administrator
>> >> account.
>> >>
>> >> I can't really know this, because, as I said, you haven't given us
>> >> enough
>> >> information. But if you didn't take special steps to activate the
>> >> built-in
>> >> Administrator account, then I'm betting my guess is accurate. The only
>> >> way
>> >> you could accidentally wander into using the Administrator account in
>> >> Vista
>> >> is if the original installation of the OS was botched -- badly. So, if
>> >> neither you nor anyone else deliberately activated that Administrator
>> >> account
>> >> (It's not something you do by making a couple of moves with the
>> >> mouse.),
>> >> I'm
>> >> thinking you're safe.
>> >>
>> >> In order to activate the built-in admin account you would have had to
>> >> issue
>> >> a command from an Administrator-run CLI, or you would have had to use
>> >> the
>> >> compmgmt.msc console, or you would have had to use a special feature
>> >> of
>> >> the
>> >> unattended install process. If you didn't do those, then you're
>> >> probably
>> >> okay.
>> >>
>> >> BTW, I just realized that you could just go to Start | Run, enter
>> >> "compmgmt.msc", and hit the Enter key. If you expand Local Users and
>> >> Groups
>> >> in the left pane of the console and select Users, in the right pane of
>> >> the
>> >> window you should see ALL of your user accounts -- including the
>> >> built-in
>> >> Administrator account. I should have thought of that before. The only
>> >> thing
>> >> is that I don't know whether or not you're using one of the "crippled"
>> >> versions of Vista. I've never looked at those, the ones that don't
>> >> have
>> >> policy editors. I don't know if they also don't have some version of
>> >> the
>> >> computer management console.
>> >>
>> >> Please check it out and let us know either way. If you don't find what
>> >> you're looking for please post back with information about your Vista
>> >> version
>> >> and the exact steps you took in configuring this system.
>> >>
>> >> "Kcpirana" wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> Guest & Owner are the only two accounts listed. In addition, the box
>> >>> for
>> >>> requiring user name and password is checked, but I don't enter a
>> >>> password.
>> >>> I don't think I even set one up.
>> >>>
>> >>> Kristy
>> >>>
>> >>> "jimmuh" <jimmuh@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >>> news:C4668D47-4B6C-4451-8DB7-F8C4FBA8F4A3@microsoft.com...
>> >>> > I'm thinking you may not be in as much of a predicament as you
>> >>> > think
>> >>> > you
>> >>> > are.
>> >>> >
>> >>> > We need a little information. Go to Start | Run. type "control
>> >>> > userpasswords2" in the Open field, and hit the Enter key. Make a
>> >>> > list
>> >>> > of
>> >>> > the
>> >>> > accounts that are listed there, and come back to tell us what they
>> >>> > are.
>> >>> >
>> >>> > i'm thinking that your "renamed" Administrator account is really a
>> >>> > different
>> >>> > administrative account that you gave a name to when it was
>> >>> > automatically
>> >>> > created for you. And your original built-in Administrator account
>> >>> > is
>> >>> > probably
>> >>> > okay. It isn't active by default, so you would have had to do
>> >>> > something to
>> >>> > activate it deliberately to be able to be logging on to it as your
>> >>> > regular
>> >>> > user account. It couldn't have happened by accident. Well, not
>> >>> > likely,
>> >>> > anyway.
>> >>> >
>> >>> >
>> >>> >
>> >>> > "Kcpirana" wrote:
>> >>> >
>> >>> >> I'm not sure if I've really messed something up or not. When I
>> >>> >> was
>> >>> >> setting
>> >>> >> up my computer, I forgot to set up a new account for myself and
>> >>> >> I've
>> >>> >> completely customized, installed to, and am using the
>> >>> >> Administrator
>> >>> >> account
>> >>> >> as my primary account. Is there anyway to duplicate this account
>> >>> >> (so
>> >>> >> I
>> >>> >> don't have to start from scratch) and then how would I restore
>> >>> >> this
>> >>> >> one
>> >>> >> to
>> >>> >> the use for which it was intended? Or can I create a new
>> >>> >> administrator
>> >>> >> account? I tried to do that, but it wouldn't let me name an
>> >>> >> account
>> >>> >> "Administrator" as it was already in use. When I logged off and
>> >>> >> back
>> >>> >> on,
>> >>> >> however, it only showed the account that I renamed with my name.
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> Kristy
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >
>>
>>