Enable the (Hidden) Administrator Account on Windows Vista

It's been a while since I used Vista but can't you just right-click Computer, left-click Manage, click on Users, double click the Administrator and then remove the check that says "disable this account" ?

above-mentioned way can only be applied to Vista Home Premium. There is another way to do that. Start Vista in safe mode, open Command Promt and type the command "net user administrator /active".

 

In vista ultimate, the administrator account by default is disable. You access to Administration Tools | Computer Management | Local User and Enable Administrator Account.

Edited: Thanks Chris.

I'm trying to restore my computer to original factory settings.  It say's the Administrator is not enabled.  I looked at your instructions to get an administrator showing on my computer but am having a problem.

I purchased this from a friend and thought I removed them as a User.  They do NOT show up under Users.

 

My User is currently showing and it says "ADMINISTRATOR" under my User name.

 

But, when I go to the COMMAND PROMPT it shows the following:

 

c:\Users\MY FRIENDS NAME HERE - Not just C:\ or C:\ and a current User on my computer.

How do I get my friend off?  Are they the "Real" Administrator still on this computer?

Thanx to helmjec & c3po

 

 

 

Peace

 

 

Hi Rymark

This link is for the true hidden administrator witch Microsoft

disabled in Vista it is not very wise to enable the true administrator 

unless you know what you are doing .

Now for your questions .

You are the administrator if its under your name , 

and your friends or on a separate account you should be able to

delete there accounts and there files in the control panel then under users accounts .

 

But this has me stumped .

{I'm trying to restore my computer to original factory settings.}

 This

has nothing to do with restoring your computer back to factory settings !!

Can

you explain with more detailed information on just what you or trying to do here ? 

Do you want to go back to factory PCrestore or just get rid of your friends names on the computer ??

 

'above-mentioned way can only be applied to Vista Home Premium. "
Negative. It's also valid on Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate which are the only three I use.

I'm actually just trying to restore to factory settings because it keeps freezing/crashing a few times per day.  I was instructed to turn the computer on and hit "F8" to get the the menu.  I do get to the menu, but when I try to RESTORE, it asks for the Administrator's password.   That's when I stumbled upon these Forums, including issues regarding Administrator issues.

 

I've left the password BLANK, I've changed my password as the USER that shows us as Administrator nd tried that. 

 

I've tried "Admin" and "Administrator" as the password as well.

 

So....basically I'm stumped.  I don't really want to change Administrator things, I just want to restore to factory settings to get the junk off.

 

p.s. Regarding my friend that shows up.....she does NOT show up as a user.  Only I do, my 2 kids' user names and GUEST.  I thought I already deleted her from Users so I don't know why her name showed up as I mentioned in my first post.

 

 

 

 

Hi

When you get to the screen where it ask for the Administrator's password

Click the down arrow then just select your name and see if that

works .

Good Luck

Actually, I've done that.  The only drop down options I have are ADMINISTRATOR and my 2 kids' User accts.

That's where I tried to enter a password or leave blank.

Trying to follow this thread but I'm missing something. Did you actually enable the Admin account or not ? FYI, I personally always setup my systems with Admin enabled and a password setup. I use this account for the installation of all drivers and softwares needed on the system No software is installed via a User account.

I did not enable the Admin.  I tried, but when I went to the command, instead of showing C:\

it had C:\ and then my friends name, which I'm assuming at one point was her User Name but she does not show up as a User in the control panel.

Hi

You can right click on C:\ and change her name

in properties ,if i am reading your post irght .

Is her name above C:\ ?

 

No. Her name (Susan) follows the C: prompt as in:

 

c:\SUSAN

 

instead of just having nothing following the prompt as in:

 

c:\

 

I'll be able to right click and get properties in the COMMAND PROMPT window?

Hi

I see your point now if i just click on the command prompt

it shows my name as in C:\ user\Jerry Administrator .

So she is still the user Administrator by default !!

The only i know of around that is to do a PCRestore as in the day you

received the computer from Dell .

Good luck