I deleted the administrator account

[ml]

I changed the administrator account to a standard user by accident, so now I
ended up without an administrator account. How can I set up an administrator
account again?

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Ml

If there are no administrator accounts configured on the system, you can
boot to Safe Mode and the Built-in Administrator account will be available
to log on. You can use this account to create another administrator account
or change the Standard account back to an administrator.

Restart the computer and start pressing the F8 key as soon as it starts to
initialize. You will get a black screen menu. Use the Arrow keys to select
Safe Mode and press Enter. The account 'Administrator' should appear at the
login screen. Select this account. There is no password associated with this
account, by default.

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience


"ml" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]

>I changed the administrator account to a standard user by accident, so now
>I
> ended up without an administrator account. How can I set up an
> administrator
> account again?

 

[Daymarr]

But what if the administrator account is disabled?

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Daymarr

Do you mean the Built-in Administrator account? If so, it is supposed to be
disabled, by default. It will still show up in Safe Mode, but only if there
are no other administrator account on the system.

If you meant that if there is another normal administrator account on the
system that has been disabled or hidden by the user, then no, the built-in
administrator account will not show up in safe mode.

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience


"Daymarr" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]

> But what if the administrator account is disabled?

 

[ml]

Hi. thanks for the response.

I can't get to Safe mode by pressing F8. I am using a Mac, pre-installed w/
Mac OS, and running Windows on top of Parallel.

Is there any other way to get to safe mode..?

thanks,

Michelle

"Ronnie Vernon MVP" wrote:

> Ml
>
> If there are no administrator accounts configured on the system, you can
> boot to Safe Mode and the Built-in Administrator account will be available
> to log on. You can use this account to create another administrator account
> or change the Standard account back to an administrator.
>
> Restart the computer and start pressing the F8 key as soon as it starts to
> initialize. You will get a black screen menu. Use the Arrow keys to select
> Safe Mode and press Enter. The account 'Administrator' should appear at the
> login screen. Select this account. There is no password associated with this
> account, by default.
>
> --
>
> Ronnie Vernon
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Desktop Experience
>
>
> "ml" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]

> >I changed the administrator account to a standard user by accident, so now
> >I
> > ended up without an administrator account. How can I set up an
> > administrator
> > account again?

>

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Hi Michelle

Sorry, I'm clueless when it comes to the MAC?

Someone else here may be able to help.

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience


"ml" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]

> Hi. thanks for the response.
>
> I can't get to Safe mode by pressing F8. I am using a Mac, pre-installed
> w/
> Mac OS, and running Windows on top of Parallel.
>
> Is there any other way to get to safe mode..?
>
> thanks,
>
> Michelle
>
> "Ronnie Vernon MVP" wrote:
>

>> Ml
>>
>> If there are no administrator accounts configured on the system, you can
>> boot to Safe Mode and the Built-in Administrator account will be
>> available
>> to log on. You can use this account to create another administrator
>> account
>> or change the Standard account back to an administrator.
>>
>> Restart the computer and start pressing the F8 key as soon as it starts
>> to
>> initialize. You will get a black screen menu. Use the Arrow keys to
>> select
>> Safe Mode and press Enter. The account 'Administrator' should appear at
>> the
>> login screen. Select this account. There is no password associated with
>> this
>> account, by default.
>>
>> --
>>
>> Ronnie Vernon
>> Microsoft MVP
>> Windows Desktop Experience
>>
>>
>> "ml" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]

>> >I changed the administrator account to a standard user by accident, so
>> >now
>> >I
>> > ended up without an administrator account. How can I set up an
>> > administrator
>> > account again?

>>

 

[HDJ80]

I did the same and even Safe Mode did not display the Hidden Admin account.... which made me think that there was still a hidden Admin Account somewhere in there as apparently the Hidden Admin account will only become apparent after all others are gone???? Anyway I checked the Special Accounts in the Registry and ther was a logmein account created when we trialed logmein at logmein.com It downloads and installs an Admin account with remote login and password that you set...
So I Logged in remotely using RDP to the Vista box using the logmein Admin account created a couple Admin accounts and all fixed :-)
Try and install logmein... Hopefully you will be able to without being a administrator????
I was very lucky.......

 

[Newglasgowgirl]

I don't know if this will help anyone...but when I first got confused with this administrator vusiness I was poking around everywhere trying to figure out how to gain access to use the cmd prompt. I tried a lot of things, and nothing worked. It still said I needed elevated status. If you click on all programs, assessories and then right click on command prompt when it comes up, it will give you the option to run as administrator. I was completely new to Vista, and I was trying to release and renew my IP address. I was confused b/c I was finding Run and right clicking on that and the option to run as administrator wasn't there, but if you go through all programs and assessories it is...

NGG

 

[hivon]

I created the same problem by accidentally changing my administrator account to user account. I could not do anything. I tried the command prompt as administrator to activate the hidden Admin account as discussed. I called Dell paid support and spent an hour with them. He tried to do a system restore (via the menus, via Safe Boot, etc.), but I always got this error.
System Restore ERROR:: 0x80040154. I specifically asked him if I could Restore or repair from the Vista CD. He said no.

My computer has an administrator aco**** called RA Media Services, although it does not show up as a choice at login, only on the user accounts page. I asked Dell if there was a way to use this is as a "back door". I specifically asked two different tech support people if this account had anything to do with Remote Access. They said no, it must be an account left over from previous owner (I bought this refurbished), which bothered me but that's a whole other issue. They said the only option was to reinstall Vista since system restore wasn't working. (Found out later, yes, RA Media Services does have something to do with Remote Access. Thanks.)

After giving up on them, I found this helpful site to try to reset passwords. I tried it on the RA Media Services login. It looks risky, but I had nothing to lose at this point. Offline NT Password & Registry Editor
Did not work for me, but I'm glad I know it's there in the future!

So I am screwed, right? I eventually decided to try the Vista reinstall disk and see if it had other options. Bingo. It has an option for System Restore that was able to restore me to a previous installation. No thanks to Dell support who specifically told me no. I was able to restore to the day before and voila, all is well. This took literally 4 hours or so, so I hope my experience can help others.

 

[jcosindc]

While in UAC, after creating a User Account with Administrative privileges, I deleted the UAC named "Administrator." I no longer have access to "Documents and Settings" and various other folders. I have tried booting to Safe Mode, but there is not an "Administrator" login to choose from, only the created Named Administrator appears. If I try to re-create the "Administrator" in the UAC, I get the message that the "Administrator" already exists. How do I get this User back? Do I follow the CMD instructions to "Enable" an Administrator account?

 

[Twowheeler]

I had to log into the .cmd command the other day when I did that my ADmin user account had been corrupted, and I couldn't log in under it. I did the following:
1. I went into my wifes "STANDARD USER" account and clicked on the start button them typed: "CMD" without the quotes.
2. When the .cmd command line came up in the list I right clicked on it, then clicked on "Run as ADministrator. Then hit Enter.
3. Type: net user administrator /active:yes. Hit Enter.
4. The command line will tell you if you successfully enter the Syntax. If so at the next line type: "exit" (without the quotations)
Now you can go in and create another User Administrator account using your hidden Administrator.
5 Once created don't forget to go in undr your new user Admin account and re-hide your Built in Admin Account.

 

[Twowheeler]

I had to log into the .cmd command the other day when I did that my ADmin user account had been corrupted, and I couldn't log in under it. I did the following:
1. I went into my wifes "STANDARD USER" account and clicked on the start button them typed: "CMD" without the quotes.
2. When the .cmd command line came up in the list I right clicked on it, then clicked on "Run as ADministrator. Then hit Enter.
3. Type: net user administrator /active:yes. Hit Enter.
4. The command line will tell you if you successfully enter the Syntax. If so at the next line type: "exit" (without the quotations)
Now you can go in and create another User Administrator account using your hidden Administrator.
5 Once created don't forget to go in undr your new user Admin account and re-hide your Built in Admin Account.