Delete Administrator Account in XP Pro.

It is impossible to delete an administrator account. When you first log on thre is only the administrator account, then you can add more later. And yes if you add just one account XP will assume that it is going to be the administrator.

But as far as I know it is impossible to delete the Admin account.

Happened to me already.

Thanks for your efforts,any way,listen , my funny story...The first time I set up XP I duuno much about the Administrator,so I use my nick name...when first login I put only one at the first blank with no password...1 week later,I added an account named Administrator....and go to control panel-->Administrative Tools-->Computer Management-->Local Users and Groups-->Users.....In here at the right pane,I see my nick name and the name Administrator account um...OK..."Guest" account also...but the Guest account has the red cross on it...So I tried to delete the account name "Administrator"...but the XP did not let me do that ..so I changed my mind and deleted my nick name account..and I've done it....2 or 3day later,I went to that place again with only one account and saw the Adminstrator account ,...I wondered If they could be "disabled" or not so I did it .... The Xp let me do that...But when I restarted the computer...at login page...they aked me to choose the name to login , but at the right pane ...there was no account at all....lol...NAUGHTY..is'n it?....May be my spirit was a monkey...Any Idea?.....thanks.....(XP Pro with the latest update))

Try this:

Press Ctrl-Alt-Del twice to display the Log on to Windows dialog box if you haven't got it already. Type "Administrator" (without the quotation marks) in the user name box and enter the password you created for the Administrator account during setup. After you log on as administrator you can create other accounts. If it doesn't work when you type Administrator try typing the nickname you used during setup.

Laser Eyes

Thanks again.I have done that a thousand time may be.I pressed Alt+Ctrl+Del 2 times and the window pop up,The name "Administrator was still in the first blank and the second blank was the place where I put a password...But I did not do any password at Set Up.So I press "Enter" meaning that I accepted to login as the "Administrator"....but the XP said..."Sorry the account Administrator is disabled.....bla..bla...bla...contact your system administrator......"..ha..ha..ha...lol....:jajaja:.....I want to die soon.....any Idea?...please...:dead:

Originally posted by Laser Eyes
Try this:

If it doesn't work when you type Administrator try typing the nickname you used during setup.

Laser Eyes

Click to expand...

I've done it also but XP said "No Account name ....".."....something like this sentence.....thanks.....Now I let that computer still has the problem.....and cry for help...thanks.

I have a similar problem. When booting in safe mode, he asks me to login as admin. I never made the admin acount, and never gave a password. When using the password of my personal acount (which has admin rights in normal bootmode), he doesn't accept it. (I even tried in qwerty, in case...)

Are passwords extractable as they were in win9x?

Originally posted by ToRN
I never made the admin acount, and never gave a password.

Click to expand...

Try it without typing a password.

Originally posted by DaveSylvia


Try it without typing a password.

Click to expand...

Concur. I set up a screen saver to require a password cause people sometimes like to use my computer when I'm not around. Then when it asks I just hit enter, kind of lame but you'd be suprised how many people try to type one in.

Now,I've just newly installed the XP and used the Repair mode...after that long installed,I went to enable the "Administrator" again...and then deleted the new account I've just installed.....

Any way this bug still bother me all the time as a nightmare for Microsoft...anyone can solve?...or I should ask the Microsoft?....thanks in advance.

Originally posted by ToRN
Are passwords extractable as they were in win9x?

Click to expand...

No... But there are ways in which you could choose a new password for the administrator account...
Try searching for something called "Emergency Rescue Disk Commander" or "Emergency Repair Disk Commander"... (I can never remember which it is )

It's the same ppl that create NTFS4DOS... They should've released the Xp ver by now... (And yes, it costs money, but it's well worth it!)

So,Noone knows,how to solve the problem I found?...So sad for me...or I should ask Microsoft....thanks.

Delete Administrator in XP (or AD!)

It is possible to delete the administrator account in XP and also in AD, but it involves a bit of trickery (for AD you need to use ADSIedit).

Its not a great idea, as it toasts your forest! It can't be done via a GUI you will be pleased to know!

Look here and see what you can use of it, there is some quite extensive info:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_passwords.htm

XP Pro Admin Account/Password

realblackstuff said:

Look here and see what you can use of it, there is some quite extensive info:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_passwords.htm

Click to expand...

I found this thread because I have a similar problem... so even though it's a few years old, it looked like there'd been a little activity lately!

I think what the original poster was experiencing was actually the Admin account was "disabled", not really deleted. My son's computer had multiple accounts and on a Domain (somehow he enabled this, and is not REALLY on a Domain)... He then (not intentionally, but a 13 year old playing with settings... *sigh*) disabled the Admin account. It let him because he had one other user with Admin priviliges... then he inadvertantly deleted that profile! Now, he has one profile, with no Admin priviliges, and a disabled Admin account... when you try to do anything in his normal user account (cmd, regedit, ping, Manage Accounts, anything!) it says "<program> has been disabled by your administrator". Safe mode does the same thing... I can't log in to the Administrator Account at boot up (via ctrl+alt+del x 2) because it's disabled...

I've tried everything I can think... XP won't let me just "enable" the Admin account because I don't have any "privliges"... and I can't add Administrators ablities to his profile because he doesn't have any "privliges"...
Any ideas (before the obvious of reinstalling XP Pro)?

Thanks!

There are a number of ways to access the Admin account involving resetting the password.Some are free , if you have a little patience and some dos experience.Try here;
http://sniptools.com/vault/lost-my-windows-xp-password-how-to-recover.htm

Disabled Admin Recovery Soultion

I recently had the same problem, where I accidentally disabled my admin account. I had to install a patch to run Nero giving it access to the burners, and to cut a long story short I ended up with my admin account disabled and no way of logging back into my machine. Since the last few posts did not resolve this problem, and I am sure there are going to be others who will find themselves in the same predicament, I decided to share my experience and solution.
There are numerous hacks that can be used, and I would advise people against them. Instead, stick with XP and work through the problem. To restate the problem, if the admin account has been disabled (to the best of my knowledge there is no way to delete it completely!) you will come to the windows login without a login name. You can press ctrl+alt+delete twice to pull-up a log-in screen and when you type in “administrator” and enter your password (if you have one!) it will say “Your account has been disabled. Please contact your systems administrator.” Obviously you can’t go much further with this. Instead, re-start your machine and keep hitting F8 and enter safe mode with command prompt. You should be able to hit ctrl+alt+delete twice to pull up a log-in screen again and re-enter administrator and whatever password you may have. That will take you to a command prompt “C:\ documents and settings/administrator.” Now you are in business. Simply type “control” at the prompt and press enter. This should bring up a message that allows you to enter Windows recovery function, and it will also open the control panel. Click on Administrative Tools and then Local Security Policies to bring up the settings. On the left side bar you can select Local Policies and then Security Options and Enable the Administrator Account the same way you may have disabled it. Of course another possibility and perhaps simpler option is to revert back to an earlier setting using the recovery utility. I actually enabled my admin account, so I am not sure if recovery will fix the problem. I think it should.
Well, hope this helps anyone else who finds him/herself in this precarious position!
~Cavinda

Thank you for sharing that with us!

It's always nice to get a solution for such a problem, as I'm sure we'll have others who'll encounter it in the future.

CAVINDA is a wizzard

Cavinda ....

Your solution was THE ONE to fix then problem of "Desabled XP Administator",

I was in huge trouble with that bloody problem... nearly ready to make the ultimate sacrifice of my valuable data - by reinstalling XP - when I found your magic process - saving me of attempting suicide .... avoiding cry and tears !

Great job !

In my case < F5 > was necessary to get a Safe Mode with Command Prompt (F8 did not offer it, Why ?)

Also I noticed that "Administrator" was the only profil allowing to continue the process. An another profil - desabled admisnitrator as well - was not accepted.

I don't know from who CAVINDA learned that solution but GREEAAAAT ! :grinthumb

Hi,

I'm facing a similar problem. When I start up my PC it goes until the login screen but I don't have any accounts to choose from?!
I can't restart or press ctrl+alt+del or do anything else?!
So the first thing that got to mind was that I deleted somehow all the accounts. But reading some of the threads here I think they could also be disabled. I've tried the idea of cavinda but as I already mentioned I can't press ctrl+alt+del!

Can anyone help me?!?!?

Are you sure your keyboard is working properly? It sounds like a dumb question, but we need to make sure, because you should still be able to do that.

BTW
:wave:Welcome to TechSpot:wave:

Thank you cavinda! Your solution worked for me as I had disabled the administrator account and didn't want to rebuild the machine!

Thks very very much i solve the problem, :wave: for u all