Windows XP

[jf-08]

I didn't have user accounts before on the computer.

So tonight I created one for kids & 1 for parents.

When I dd this, for some reason I cannot access any of te old documents we used to hve before accunts & stuff like favorites, etc.

I deleted the kids account & now only have the parents.

I can't find the default "Administrator" account that had all of the info before.

How do I get this back & use that as the defaul account?



i hate computers

 

[Ryanwb]

Everytime you create a new user the computer write a new profile for them. You can find the old documents by going to c:\documents and settings

Now click on the user you want to look at.... only a user with administrative access can do this by the way.

Why can't you get back into the administrator's account? Is it saying you have an incorrect password? You can't delete it the system won't let you.

 

[jf-08]

Everytime you create a new user the computer write a new profile for them. You can find the old documents by going to c:\documents and settings

Now click on the user you want to look at.... only a user with administrative access can do this by the way.

Why can't you get back into the administrator's account? Is it saying you have an incorrect password? You can't delete it the system won't let you.

it doesn't show up as a user group.

i see the folder containing all of the info thoug.

 

[Ryanwb]

Right click on my computer and go to "manage" and select "Local users and groups"


If you click on users it will show you every user that has access. To change or assign a password right click on the user and select "set password" this should allow you to log back in

 

[jf-08]

when i hit switch users - it only shows the 1 choice - not administrator

 

[jf-08]

Right click on my computer and go to "manage" and select "Local users and groups"


If you click on users it will show you every user that has access. To change or assign a password right click on the user and select "set password" this should allow you to log back in

ok i'll try this

 

[jf-08]

ugh - still won't let me access it

Ryan - give me a call at home - I'll PM my phone number

 

[jf-08]

I changed the password setting as you had suggested, but I can't find anywhere where I can "Log On" as "Administrator" . The only options are "Parents" and "Guest."

Parents is a totally separate User from Administrator.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

Ryan's first suggestion should work to at least find your documents:

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents or somehting here.

Now, can't you LOG OFF, and then put a new username in the box?

Hmmm, maybe you can't now that I think of it.

But you should be able to go get those documents.

Mike

 

[jf-08]

Ryan's first suggestion should work to at least find your documents:

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents or somehting here.

Now, can't you LOG OFF, and then put a new username in the box?

Hmmm, maybe you can't now that I think of it.

But you should be able to go get those documents.

Mike

I can get to the documents - but everytime I try to open up something new, the program has to re-install - ie, Excel has to install for each user, etc.

We use alot of programs so it's a real pain in the ass to re-install/load every one.

When I log off there is only one User option to log in to - I can't log in as "Administrator" even though the profile exists and is shown when I do what Ryan said to do above.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

Maybe you need to make your login different...like make it login to a domain so you can get the CTL-ALT-DEL box?

Not sure, I'd have to come over to fix it probably, OR, I could remote access into your box later tonight if you want.

Mike

 

[SweetD]

Change your Parents login to admin rights. You might have limited your access when you were setting up the account.

 

[Djaughe]

lol...poor jkf296...I bet yer getting alot of "advice" from the wifey on this....

 

[Djaughe]

 

[SweetD]

Don't worry Joel your wife will be home soon.

You must be registered for see images

 

[jf-08]

Change your Parents login to admin rights. You might have limited your access when you were setting up the account.

i don't know how I set it up - i'll check it later tonight.

 

[Chaz]

i don't know how I set it up - i'll check it later tonight.

It sounds like you had autologon from the start, the first account you made when you set up the computer is your admin or main account. The files and such are under that account name under documents and settings. It may be the Administrator account? If the files are there you can login as that account. You also may be able to copy the old profile to your new account or you could just copy the files, shortcuts, e-mails to the new account and still have the account for the kids.


Good plan by the way, separate accounts in XP can be nice. My son is always turning on pointer trails or some other such thing.

 

[jf-08]

It sounds like you had autologon from the start, the first account you made when you set up the computer is your admin or main account. The files and such are under that account name under documents and settings. It may be the Administrator account?

Yes - I can find the documents and settings in the appropriate folder.

If the files are there you can login as that account.

For some reason, I cannot. When I go to "Log Off" and then Log back in, it will not give me "Administrator" as an option.

Administrator is the "user profile" that we have been using for the past 3 months before we created "Parents" and "Kids" profiles.

We used to just turn the system on and not log in but I wanted to change the settings.

You also may be able to copy the old profile to your new account or you could just copy the files, shortcuts, e-mails to the new account and still have the account for the kids.

Yes, I can do that. However, every time we access a file, the program used to create that file has to be installed on that profile. We have MS Word, Excel, Power Point, Works, Quicken, Autocad, Media Player, and a bunch of others that would be a real pain for everything to install and tweak the nuances / user settings that we have on the other profile.

Good plan by the way, separate accounts in XP can be nice. My son is always turning on pointer trails or some other such thing.

LOL! Our daughter was real excited because her wall paper is Barbie and screen saver "Bratz". She also has her own "Favorites" list with her Nick Jr., Sesame St, My Little Pony, et al, sites.

It's nice but it seems to be real hassle in fine tuning if you didn't create user profiles from the beginning. We should have done this, but oh well.

Thanks again for the input, Chaz.

 

[Chaz]

Yea, you can jack with it and try to copy the profile but the best bet maybe to bite the bullet and just set it all up again.

Favorites and documents should not be a problem to copy over.

If you right click on My Computer and choose properties there is a tab for User profiles. (EDIT: it is under advanced tab there is a button for user profile management) You can copy one profile to another but you cannot be logged in as either of those profiles. I have had mixed results doing this.

If I get a chance I will do a couple of tests and get back to you.

 

[Ryanwb]

Go to settings -> Control Panel -> User Accounts

Uncheck the box that says, "use the welcome screen" reboot.

It will now come up with the CLT+ATL+DEL sign on. Type in "administrator" as the user ID and use the password you set

 

[jw7]

Has this been resolved?

 

[Chaz]

I work with this stuff and profiles are generally a mess. I find them to be a pain because microsoft is not consistant in what is system wide (on all profiles) and what is user specific.

It used to be you could just overwrite the files and you had that profile that you copied there. Now XP has a file protection that prevents this. They put a GUID (like a serial number) to the profile and attempts to overwrite really screw stuff up.

 

[jf-08]

RyanWB said:

Go to settings -> Control Panel -> User Accounts

Uncheck the box that says, "use the welcome screen" reboot.

It will now come up with the CLT+ATL+DEL sign on. Type in "administrator" as the user ID and use the password you set

ok - thanks ryan
that worked to get me into the Administrator User ID.

When I logged in under it this is what it states under it:

"The administrator account is only visible on the Welcome screen when no other user accounts exist (except for the guest account), or when your computer is started in Safe mode."

Now - I am trying to change the name of the account and set up another account as the administrator account so all of the toilsome tasks can be eliminated. Does anyone know how to do this?

 

[jf-08]

Now - I am trying to change the name of the account and set up another account as the administrator account so all of the toilsome tasks can be eliminated. Does anyone know how to do this?

ugh - i don't think you can do this.

 

[bratwurst]

Make a new account with the name you want. Then give it local administrator rights.

Now log in as new user account.

Then copy your documents and favorites from the admin account at
(you can also copy your cookies if need be)

c:\documents and settings\administrator\
to
c:\documents and settings\%new username%

At this point since you are using a different account then administrator and have given yourself admin rights, you can turn back on the welcome screen and create more accounts for whoever else you want.