Two admin accounts

How can the Compaq_Owner account be deleted if its not listed here.

http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/5766/accountsvq1.jpg

I never had an "Administrator account password",at least not to my knowledge.

I don't know why Belarc calls it different, perhaps the way Compaq records it, but I doubt you want to delete that account.

What shows up if you reboot into Safe Mode? The hidden Administrator account should show up there, and perhaps you can see what else is displayed.

Or, better still, what happens if you use Windows Explorer to navigate to C:\Documents and Settings? All of the accounts should be displayed there.

Mark

I probably created another administrator account and named it tomron and the other is probably is the default admin account.

I read it is better to have an additional admin account for security in case there's a problem.Since I have a second admin account should I create a limited account as well,if so do I have to always be forced to use a password and how about transferring from one account to the other.

I checked in windows explorer to no avail.No matter what I click on I don't see anything.I have thew home version,don't know if that makes a difference.

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/333/accountsap4.jpg

In safe mode it says.

1)ADMINISTRATOR
administrator

2)TOMRON
adminustrator

at the command prompt, which you can get there by typing cmd on the "RUN" line and then pressing ENTER, type Lusrmgr.msc and then press ENTER -- shows your accounts on a pop up screen.

If you're running XP Pro you can simply enter lusrmgr.msc in the run dialog box.

Tried "Lusrmgr.msc' in cmd prompt.

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/9812/cmdte6.jpg

Your Windows Explorer shows Compaq_User but Safe Mode shows Tomron. I wonder why.

Just as a check Tom, can you right click your My Computer icon on your Desktop. If you don't have one there, try on the Start menu, then click Properties. Does it say "Registered to:", then your name?

I don't pretend to know why there is this difference.

As to your other point about a 2nd Admin account and a limited User account; I also have a 2nd Admin account, and so I have 2 self-made Admin accounts, plus the hidden Administrator account. 3 Admin accounts in all. That may be overkill.

For security reasons it is said that we should only use a limited User account, one where we cannot install anything. That way, whilst surfing the internet, or opening emails, etc, viruses and spyware cannot install themselves. However, I must admit that I don't use a limited account. I still use my main Admin account. Neither do I use passwords. People will say that is risky, and I can't argue with that. But it is personal choice.

Mark

Heres what my computer says.

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/5794/123ev1.jpg

===================

"Your Windows Explorer shows Compaq_User but Safe Mode shows Tomron"
I wonder why also.I remember changing the name to tomron.

I guess it came with two admin accounts,

1)ADMINISTRATOR
2)Compaq_User

Cause theres no way I would have named it Compaq_User,so I changed the name to tomron.

would you know why no accounts are listed in explore.

It shows "Administrator", (standard), "All Users", (standard), "Default User", (standard), and "Compaq_Owner", which is your Tomron account.

I reckon Edward's Microsoft link explains why it is listed in certain places as Compaq_Owner, and in others as Tomron. I would be hesitant to try and change the name through the registry unless anyone knows exactly where to go and that it is a foolproof method, otherwise your account, (theTomron/Compaq_Owner account you use all the time), could become corrupt. Better to use Edward's link to make a copy, ensure that the copy account works exactly as the original, then delete the original, if that is what you want to do.

As an aside, I have another Microsoft link to enable you to insert your name in the Registered to field of System Properties. Again it is a registry change but it seems less likely to cause any problems. The link is here;
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310441

But the usual safety measures should be taken, eg create a System Restore point first, (this copies the registry).

Mark

When I click on a administrator,and only administrator there is an image.It is an image of a piece of film on which you can see the outline.Of course the screenshot doesn't do it justice since the light and the angle one is viewing has to be just right.

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/3598/adminta9.jpg

I have XP Home, also.

A while back I went to the control panel, user accounts and changed the name of the one account. It shows up on the login screen correctly nut the folders still have the old name on them.

The way to fix this would be to create a new account and transfer the files from the old account to the new account. After you're satisified that all the information is there and not lost, then you can safely delete the account.


Rick

you can't delete the 'owner' account. It's created by Windows XP setup and has some special status. The Microsoft default is Owner (unless you specify another), but apparently Compaq choose to name it Compaq-owner (ugly!). All you can do is to rename it, but - as pointed out above - the folder name in Documents and Settings stays what it is. And - apparently - Belarc uses the original name also.

I hope for Tom that I remember it wrong. Than he can create a Tom-account, transfer his data (and that's more than the contents of his My Documents folder) and delete the compaq-owner folder. It would be interesting to read if this works.

Kees