User Account -shows only 1 acct, set up 2

curious
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User Account -shows only 1 acct, set up 2

Post by curious »

Windows XP Pro, SR3

I goofed royally.
I added a 2nd User Account (I thought). I changed default from Admin to Limited . I checked to make sure both accounts were accepted. But, I did not add any Password….(As Admin, I just hit Enter key when logging in. No password.)

I wanted to adjust Date/Time of PC. Was told I didn’t have Privilege Level. So I went to User Account window and now only see one account, the Limited one. Then tried to do a Sys Restore, Don’t have the Security Privilege.

Question: How can I log in as Admin when that Account doesn’t appear in User Account.
When I check options in Shut down, I see Log Off default, nothing about switching account.

LONG story short: how can I go back to my Admin account?

Many, many thanks

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HansV
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Re: User Account -shows only 1 acct, set up 2

Post by HansV »

Try booting into safe mode (press F8 before Windows starts). You should be able to start with admin privileges and create a new admin account.
Best wishes,
Hans

curious
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Re: User Account -shows only 1 acct, set up 2

Post by curious »

Took me this while to respond because I've been working with F8-unsuccessfully. With Safe Mode opening screen I didn't see anything that explicity indicated Admin. I clicked Safe Mode Option, went to control panel, user accounts. I saw Admin account and Guest. Feeling happy. Was able to change the time.

Shut down, turned on: logon screen was 'default.' Entered Control Panel and still shows only Limited.
Can't adjust date/time now.

I recognize it's something I am not doing, but don't know what.

(In Safe Mode, the screen showed only 3 icons: Avast, Recycle, Pale Moon-which I used to get to Control Panel, etc. My default browser is FF)

Is this helpless/hopeless?

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HansV
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Re: User Account -shows only 1 acct, set up 2

Post by HansV »

I'm sure there is a not-too-hard solution, but I'll have leave this to the Windows experts.
Best wishes,
Hans

curious
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Re: User Account -shows only 1 acct, set up 2

Post by curious »

Thank you very, very much. It's me, not you....

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Rudi
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Re: User Account -shows only 1 acct, set up 2

Post by Rudi »

Below is a quote from the Windows 7 forum in response to a person that also apparently deleted or converted their Admin account to Limited.
The password advice resolved the issue in this post.
Quoted from the Win 7 Forum:
You always need at least one administrator account to be able to do elevated access. This brings me to the next question... how did you delete the admin account if the account you were logged into wasn't already an admin account? If your account is an admin account, give it a password. UAC requires an admin password.
Additional option: (No idea if this is of value or will work - just scanning for additional advice to recover Admin profile!)

Try to Enable Built-in Administrator Account
First you’ll need to open a command prompt in administrator mode by right-clicking and choosing “Run as administrator” (or use the Ctrl+Shift+Enter shortcut from the search box)
Now type the following command: net user administrator /active:yes
You should see a message that the command completed successfully.
Log out, and you’ll now see the Administrator account as a choice.
You’ll note that there’s no password for this account, so if you want to leave it enabled you should change the password.

Disable Built-in Administrator Account
Make sure you are logged on as your regular user account, and then open an administrator mode command prompt as above.
Type the following command: net user administrator /active:no
The administrator account will now be disabled, and shouldn't show up on the login screen anymore.
Regards,
Rudi

If your absence does not affect them, your presence didn't matter.

curious
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Re: User Account -shows only 1 acct, set up 2

Post by curious »

Rudi - THANK you. Looked promising, but I resorted to having a Guru (word still current?) come in to untangle the morass I created. I have saved your post in several places in case there's a next time.

Thanks again, Curious