I have heard of the "administrator password" for a super-administrator.

But I have never "set" the "administrator password" or "super admin password".

I do, however, have a user account with admin privileges that I set a
password to.

Is that the same thing? Does my creating a user account with admin
privileges and password make the password for the super-admin the same, or
will the vista admin password still remain blank?

I'm wondering if this is the case, if a hacker tried to break into my system
to grab files, if I never set the administrator/super-admin password, does
that mean there is none, and they just walk right in,

or does it default to the password I have on my user account with admin
privileges?



Thank you again for your help!

Originally Posted by john ha

I have heard of the "administrator password" for a super-administrator.

But I have never "set" the "administrator password" or "super admin password".

I do, however, have a user account with admin privileges that I set a
password to.

Is that the same thing? Does my creating a user account with admin
privileges and password make the password for the super-admin the same, or
will the vista admin password still remain blank?

I'm wondering if this is the case, if a hacker tried to break into my system
to grab files, if I never set the administrator/super-admin password, does
that mean there is none, and they just walk right in,

or does it default to the password I have on my user account with admin
privileges?

Thank you again for your help!

Hello,

It is not the same thing. Unless you specifically set the root Administrator password (which you said you have not) then there is no password set. Therefore, a local hacker could just boot into Safe Mode and access your files.

Richard

Originally Posted by niemiro

Originally Posted by john ha

I have heard of the "administrator password" for a super-administrator.

But I have never "set" the "administrator password" or "super admin password".

I do, however, have a user account with admin privileges that I set a
password to.

Is that the same thing? Does my creating a user account with admin
privileges and password make the password for the super-admin the same, or
will the vista admin password still remain blank?

I'm wondering if this is the case, if a hacker tried to break into my system
to grab files, if I never set the administrator/super-admin password, does
that mean there is none, and they just walk right in,

or does it default to the password I have on my user account with admin
privileges?

Thank you again for your help!

Hello,

It is not the same thing. Unless you specifically set the root Administrator password (which you said you have not) then there is no password set. Therefore, a local hacker could just boot into Safe Mode and access your files.

Richard

No, safe mode will boot to the User account, not the Super-administrator.

No, safe mode will boot to the User account, not the Super-administrator.

Oh, I had no idea. So for several years I have been wandering around with that misconception in my head! Also, why is it that if you lock yourself out of your files, you can usually recovery them in Safe Mode? Is it simply because it is Safe Mode and the security is relaxed? Thanks!

"theog" <guest@newsgroup-email.com> wrote in message
news:39e7297c000640e53b3b7e90af187d85@newsgroup-gateway.com...

> No, safe mode will boot to the User account, not the
> Super-administrator.

Safe Mode *can* boot into the "Administrator" account.

If it *CAN*, then when does it? I am completely confused now!

On Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:49:03 -0700, john ha wrote:

> I have heard of the "administrator password" for a super-administrator.
>
> But I have never "set" the "administrator password" or "super admin password".

Wow, you're getting answers that are all over the map. Let me try to
clarify here.

1. There is no such thing as a "super-administrator. There is an account
named Administrator and you can add additional accounts that are members of
the Administrators group.
2. The difference between the account named Administrator and an account
that is a member of the Administrators group, is that the account named
Administrator, if used, will always have an administrative level access
token and will not be required to elevate by UAC when attempting to perform
a privileged operation.
3. Safe mode does not automatically "boot" into any particular account, be
it the Administrator account, an account that is a member of the
Administrators group, or a standard user account. Assuming you have a
password set on the account you need to logon after you've booted to Safe
mode.
4. In Vista and Windows 7, the account named Administrator is disabled by
default, so although you don't set a password on the account named
Administrator during setup, the account simply can't be used on a default
system regardless of what mode you're booting into.
5. From a security perspective there's really no reason to set a password
on the account named Administrator because of the previous point. In order
to be able to use the Administrator account, a hacker would first have to
crack the password of an existing account on your computer that is a member
of the Administrators group. If they were able to do so, they'd already
have administrative access to your computer and would have no need to use
the account named Administrator.
6. Finally, in order to take advantage of Safe mode in the first place, an
attacker would need to have physical possession of your computer, in which
case, the computer is no longer yours, and it belongs to the hacker any
way.


--
Paul Adare
MVP - Identity Lifecycle Manager
http://www.identit.ca

Thank you! What a perfect description! Now we all know what Safe Mode is! Thanks again,

Richard

"niemiro" <guest@newsgroup-email.com> wrote in message
news:76faf7a6809607554f366d657f4108a6@newsgroup-gateway.com...

>
> If it *CAN*, then when does it? I am completely confused now!

Vista (and I assume Windows 7) is designed to activate the Administrator
account in safe mode if the last administrator level account is demoted
or removed. This was done so that an accidental demotion of the only
admin account still gives the user a way back in.

If you want security for your data even when the "attacker" has physical
access to your machine, you need to encrypt and manage the key properly.
Vista has support for TPM, which can safeguard your encryption key in
hardware so that if the attacker uses an alternate boot the key is not
released.