Renaming the "Administrator" Account in XP Home?

[c4p0ne]

There don't seem to be any tools like in XP Pro that allow one to rename the Administrator Account. Is there ANY way to do this task from the command-line or thru some other means? Perhaps even during the installation process somehow?

Remember this is crappy XP HOME we're talking about, not crappy XP Pro.

[Clueless]

Windows simply won't allow you to change the admin account name because the reason this account exists is to insure you can still access you're computer even if you mess up all your other accounts. It isn't even supposed to be used as your default admin account for install programs and such. I don't see how nlite could help you change this. I suggest creating a new admin account under whatever name you want to use and just ignore the default account unless you really need it.

[kagaku]

Use the attached program, and add the following to your cmdlines.txt:

[COMMANDS]
UserSetup.cmd

Then, make a file called UserSetup.cmd, and add the following inside of that:

renuser.exe Administrator kagaku

You'll want to put renuser.exe in the $OEM$\$$\system32\ directory on your CD. You can use renuser.exe after you've installed Windows, but the directory in documents and settings will stay named 'Administrator'. If you rename it via cmdlines.txt, it'll change the dir name as well.

Windows simply won't allow you to change the admin account name because the reason this account exists is to insure you can still access you're computer even if you mess up all your other accounts..

Entirely not true. :|

renuser.zip

[Clueless]

Bugger. I hate being wrong. Would this work under 2000 Pro too?

[c4p0ne]

Nice, nice! Much appreciated dude.. So you're saying that I could just as well simply use "renuser.exe" after Windows is installed to rename the Administrator account? If so then that's excellent. I don't like the "default" name of "Administrator", that's why I wanted to change it to something inconspicuous like "mom" or some crap like that.. hehe, combine that with no null sessions, other security measures and "outsiders" will have a much more difficult time determining which is the right account to attack. =)

Well, about the folder still being named Administrator, are you sure that's right because in XP Pro I've done it after the OS was installed and the folder was named properly. What I'm saying is that if one does NOT login to the main Admin account before renaming it, it should be ok right?

Anyway thanks.

[kagaku]

As far as I know, it should be alright. You'll need to create another account though, and even then I'm not certain that it'll rename the folder.

[c4p0ne]

Here's some strange news... Did an install of XP Home (Streamed SP2) on a normal system. when the first logon prompt was displayed with the default "Administrator" field already filled in for "user name", Instead of logging in with that I just changed Administrator to "Owner" and pressed enter. Ok so far no problems, logged in just fine with "Owner" account.

Now, while in the owner account I created another admin account (peon) and logged in as peon, then deleted "owner" thru the standard "user accounts" option in control panel. THEN, while under peon, I used that command-line tool (renuser.exe) to raname the default "Administrator" account to "sammy" It worked the account was apparently renamed... BUT, then when I logged off of the peon account and tried to log into the default admin account (now sammy) it gave me an error of "could not login due to a logon restriction".

WTF could that be? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

[p4cmaN]

I just have one question... where do i put UserSetup.cmd? Sorry if im dumb when it comes to computers ^_^

[kagaku]

You'll want both UserSetup.cmd and cmdlines.txt in the .\xpcd\$OEM$\ directory.

[p4cmaN]

ty!

[bassprincess]

In regards to the question "BUT, then when I logged off of the peon account and tried to log into the default admin account (now sammy) it gave me an error of "could not login due to a logon restriction".

SYMPTOMS

When you install Windows XP Home Edition, you are prompted to enter a password for the Administrator account. After the installation has completed, you can only use the Administrator account in Safe mode. When you use the Administrator account to log on to the computer in Normal mode, you may receive the following error message:

Unable to Log You on because of an Account Restriction

CAUSE

This issue occurs because the Administrator account has been set aside so that it can be used in Safe mode when the Owner account is not available.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

See Knowledge Base article KBQ290109

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...90109#appliesto

[tap52384]

what about group policy editor...If you type "gpedit.msc" in the run dialog box, you'll open up policy editor, in which some like say has the most power as far as customization. At any rate, if you go down the tree as follows:

Local Computer Policy

Windows Settings

Security Settings

Local Policies

Security Options

In the right hand panel will be a list of items, including: "Accounts: rename Administrator account".

If that doesn't work, try going to Start --> Run, and type "control userpasswords2" and see what you can do with that besides automating logon with a specific password...