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8815
March 15th, 2006 12:00
Setting up XP as an administrator
I set up laptops for new users at my company and something has changed recently in the way xp comes preinstalled from Dell. In the past I was able to take the setup process up to the point where it asks for me to enter user names. In the past I would power down the machine at that point, and then power it back up where it would ask me for the admin password (to log into windows). Now when I power up the machine, it brings me back to the screen where it's asking to enter a username (the screen where you can enter the names of all the users that will be using the machine). This is not conveinient for me as most of the time as I don't know the name of the user yet (which is why I set up the machine as the administrator and add the user account later.
I know I can enter a bogus user name, log in with that name, log out, log in as the administrator, and delete the bogus account, but I was hoping there was a way I could set up the machine with the administrator account without having to enter a bogus account first.
Has something changed? Is there a way I can avoid entering a "name" like I used to do?
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jmwills
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March 15th, 2006 12:00
I know I can enter a bogus user name, log in with that name, log out, log in as the administrator, and delete the bogus account, but I was hoping there was a way I could set up the machine with the administrator account without having to enter a bogus account first.
Why would you want to delete the new user name when you are trying to create it, or am I reading this wrong. This is obviously not a Domain environment. I would create a "generic" account with the permissions you desire then copy that account as needed.
daver88
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March 15th, 2006 12:00
I am working with xp pro. I'm talking about brand spanking new machines. When they are first powered on, they take you through the xp setup process where eventually it asks you for the name or names of the person or people who will be using the machine. At this point, I would hold down the power button to power off, then power back on where the machine would boot to the welcome screen where it would have the administrator username and ask for the password. I'm not able to do this anymore. When I power back on the machine it's now just returning me to the screen that asks me to enter the name or names of the person or people that will be using the machine.
daver88
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March 15th, 2006 12:00
Flooby
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March 15th, 2006 12:00
Under normal circumstances, when the Welcome screen first appears after booting, you should be able to press Ctrl-Alt-Del twice, whereupon you'll have the opportunity to enter Administrator as the User Name along with the Administrator password, and log on via the Administrator account. At that point, you can set up other accounts as you wish. This assumes you're working with XP Pro and not XP Home, which requires logging on to the Administrator account via Safe Mode. What happens when you try to do this?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321305/en-us
jmwills
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March 15th, 2006 13:00
Flooby
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March 15th, 2006 13:00
It's been a while since I've seen this, and I don't have anything to test/verify the behavior right here, but under those circumstances, things should work like this:
At the initial new PC setup screen that you're seeing, when it comes time to set up accounts, set up only one account. Call it Administrator. Since they're shipped with the Adminstrator password as null (i.e., there is no password for the Administrator account), all you're doing at this point is assigning a password to the original Administrator account. Once you get through this process, go to User Accounts in Control Panel and select "Change the way users log on or off," and make sure "Use the welcome screen" is checked and applied. Then reboot the system, and if things work as I remember, you should have to press Ctrl-Alt-Del to log on as Administrator, whereupon you'll use the password you just created for that account, and can then set up other user accounts via your Adminstrator account.
jmwills
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March 15th, 2006 14:00
daver88
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March 15th, 2006 14:00
This is an OEM version of XP pro. We're buying Latitude D610's and D810's with xp preinstalled. I've been using the "power off at the naming screen" trick to set up machines as the administrator for months for D600's, D610's, D800's, and D810's. Something recently changed with the preinstalled versions of XP pro where I can't bypass this screen anymore. I was just wondering if anyone else has noticed this and found an easy way around it. As stated above, I can create a bogus account, log in under that account, log out, log in as administrator, then delete the account and proceed to set up the machine, but I was hoping there was an easier and quicker way around this.
daver88
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March 15th, 2006 14:00
XP will not let you use the name administrator while setting up an account in the process I described above.
Flooby
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March 15th, 2006 22:00
There is. Aside from the fact that the factory image of XP as it arrives from Dell is bloated, prone to all sorts of malfunctions and not even close to being set up the way it should be in a business environment, it's time consuming to change by picking at things a bit at a time. You'd be far better off creating an image with the proper permissions and other settings correctly configured, wiping the drive of all the "free AOL" and other unnecessary (and often unsafe, from a business environment standpoint) hooey, and just slap that on the drives. That which is safe and effective in a professional setting is a far cry from the generic installation as shipped from Dell.
jmwills
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March 16th, 2006 03:00