Best way to switch to single user W/O passwords??

Several posts come close to my situation so I think mine is a common
scenario. I operate a home system and there are no security issues. What I
really want is to turn my computer on, allow bootup without passwords, boot
to a default account, and work with it - so does my wife – same and not
different accounts. This used to be easy to do. Somehow when I installed XP
I was asked for users or something, and 3 accounts were formed:
Administrator, Lee, and Barbara. With help from forum(s) like this one, I
eventually was able to remove password protection for bootup and to have
administrator privileges without the continual need to enter passwords. This
worked fine for a few years. After migrating to Vista I had all kinds of
problems since "Administrator" was where all of my programs and files
resided. I installed some key programs in my “Lee� account where my bootup
was defaulting and eventually found where my old files were in the
Administrator account and copied several GB of data to “Lee.� Last night
(late) I finally got my printer working, and realized that I was working in
my “Administrator� account – not “Lee.� The printer doesn’t work in “Lee.�

My initial reaction was to get back into this newsgroup and to see if there
is some way to copy all of my settings from admin to lee. Then I realized
that all of this switching stuff around is inefficient and getting
ridiculous. What I really want is to turn the computer on and work without
passwords or switching accounts for various programs or services. Same goes
for my wife who is totally frustrated because she doesn’t know where various
programs and files reside. I figure that now with the new OS it’s best to
configure the computer the way that I really want it. I’ve already spent
many hours installing/fixing/copying to several accounts. I’m willing to
forego all of that to start doing it right. Here’s what I want to do:

1. Have a default account that the computer automatically boots into – with
administrator privileges and no password protection.
2. Have that account be something other than the Administrator account if
possible and easily done from where I am now (90% of my stuff is currently in
“Administrator).
3. Copy/dump all of my data into that one place

I was somehow able to do that in XP, though my name was “Administrator.�
That’s why Vista transferred everything including my personal files and
plethora of programs into that account.

Is there some way to rename my accounts so that administrator becomes lee,
or do I need to continue to work from the administrator account or to
reinstall all of my programs and copy all of my data to “Lee�? In the
absence of any instructions I’ll just continue along my current path and undo
everything that I did in “Lee� and redo it in “Administrator.� I’m only
thinking that now may be the time to migrate to a more logical approach like
IT has set up at work where I have my own account and there is a separate
“Administrator� account that is reserved for generic and maintenance
activities.

Thanks for your help and advice.

Hello,

My suggestion would be to use the Windows Easy Transfer Wizard to backup
your files/settings from your administrator account to a folder, as if you
were moving to a new computer.

Then, create a new user account, run the easy transfer wizard again as if
you were on your new computer, and then load the settings into your new user
account (it will allow you to select which account it gets loaded into).

As for logging in automatically,

- Click start
- Type: control userpasswords2
- Press enter
- Uncheck "Users must enter a user name..."
- Click OK
- Follow the instructions


--
- JB
Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User

Windows Vista Support Faq
http://www.jimmah.com/vista/

Yep. That worked. at least the Easy Transfer part. I didn't need to try the
'No passwords" part because I already can bypass the password logon. I was
just not wanting the creation of a new account, which I've never done, to
require password. I am keeping your procedure on file, however.

Thanks again.

"Jimmy Brush" wrote:

> Hello,
>
> My suggestion would be to use the Windows Easy Transfer Wizard to backup
> your files/settings from your administrator account to a folder, as if you
> were moving to a new computer.
>
> Then, create a new user account, run the easy transfer wizard again as if
> you were on your new computer, and then load the settings into your new user
> account (it will allow you to select which account it gets loaded into).
>
> As for logging in automatically,
>
> - Click start
> - Type: control userpasswords2
> - Press enter
> - Uncheck "Users must enter a user name..."
> - Click OK
> - Follow the instructions
>
>
> --
> - JB
> Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User
>
> Windows Vista Support Faq
> http://www.jimmah.com/vista/
>