Is there any way to have ONLY the Administrator?

[ps24eva]

Is there a way to have ONLY the Administrator account?

whenever I install XP pro, it forces me to pick a username. Granted this username has aministrator privelages, but I want only the TRUE 'Administrator' account.

[Cartoonite]

Is there a way to have ONLY the Administrator account?

This can be done quite easily using the unattended installation process. I'm not sure about manual installs. If nothing else, can always go back and delete the account that gets created once the installation is complete.

[chilifrei64]

either manually remove it after you create it or if you join it to a domain it will not prompt you for another user.

[pawan]

Is there a way to have ONLY the Administrator account?

whenever I install XP pro, it forces me to pick a username.  Granted this username has aministrator privelages, but I want only the TRUE 'Administrator' account.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Login to Administrator account, go run->compmgmt.msc->Local User & Groups->users->right click the user you want to delete and select delete.

Restart and it will automatically login you as adminstrator.

Pawan

[ringfinger]

My 2 cents... if you're logging in as the actual administrator account, change the name of the account to something else and set a strong password to avoid attack.

Edited August 11, 2005 by ringfinger

[JOhnCro13]

If you're already running XP, ( not trying to install) simply go to "RUN" and type "control userpasswords2" Again, that's the word "control" (no quotes), followed by a space, then "userpasswords2" (no quotes). Here, you will see "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer. Make sure that's unchecked. NOW, click apply!

Here, you can type "Administrator" for the automatic user, then enter your password, if you have one (and you should).

When you restart your computer, you'll automatically log on as Administrator! How neat is that?!

Here's the fun part. Open your control panel, and go to the users section. Since you're the Administrator, you can delete everyone else! I love it!

And if you're trying to do an install so you don't have to do this.... well....

that should be in your winnt.sif file, right? I mean... I forgot how I did it, but I don't need to add a user at all. Ever. Here's what mine looks like:

;SetupMgrTag

[Data]

AutoPartition=1

MsDosInitiated="0"

UnattendedInstall="Yes"

[unattended]

UnattendMode=FullUnattended

OemSkipEula=Yes

OemPreinstall=Yes

TargetPath=\WINDOWS

FileSystem=*

UnattendSwitch="Yes"

WaitForReboot=no

DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore

NonDriverSigningPolicy=Ignore

OemPnPDriversPath="DP\L\3\1;DP\L\3\2;DP\L\3\3;DP\L\C\1;DP\L\C\2;DP\L\C\3;DP\L\B\1;DP\L\B\2;DP\L\BU\1;DP\L\BU\2;DP\L\BU\3;DP\L\D\1;DP\L\D\2;DP\L\D\3;DP\L\D\4;DP\L\D\5;DP\L\D\5;DP\L\D\6;DP\L\D\7;DP\L\D\8;DP\L\I;DP\L\L\1;DP\L\L\2;DP\L\L\3;DP\L\L\4;DP\L\LI\1;DP\L\LI\2;DP\L\LI\3;DP\L\LI\4;DP\L\LI\5;DP\L\LI\6;DP\L\LI\7;DP\L\M;DP\L\MI;DP\L\N\1;DP\L\N\1;DP\L\N\2;DP\L\N\3;DP\L\N\4;DP\L\N\5;DP\L\N\6;DP\L\N\7;DP\L\NV;DP\L\O\1;DP\L\O\2;DP\L\O\3;DP\L\O\4;DP\L\O\5;DP\L\O\6;DP\L\O\7;DP\L\O\8;DP\L\R\1;DP\L\R\2;DP\L\S;DP\L\T;DP\L\V\1;DP\L\V\2;DP\L\V\3;DP\L\V\4;DP\L\V\5;DP\L\V\6;DP\M\A\6280;DP\M\A\6290;DP\M\A\67160;DP\M\A\671x;DP\M\A\6880;DP\M\A\6890;DP\M\A\68x5;DP\M\AD\aac;DP\M\AD\aar1210;DP\M\AD\i2o;DP\M\AD\u160;DP\M\AD\u320;DP\M\AD\u320r;DP\M\AL;DP\M\AM;DP\M\H\hpt366;DP\M\H\hpt371;DP\M\H\hpt374;DP\M\H\hpt3xx;DP\M\H\rr182x;DP\M\I\u320r;DP\M\IT;DP\M\L\megaide;DP\M\L\mraid35x;DP\M\L\mylex;DP\M\L\symmpi;DP\M\N;DP\M\P\fasttrak;DP\M\P\fasttx2k;DP\M\P\sx4000;DP\M\P\sx6000;DP\M\P\ulsata;DP\M\P\ultra;DP\M\Q\12160;DP\M\S\3112;DP\M\S\3112r;DP\M\S\3114;DP\M\S\3114r;DP\M\S\3124;DP\M\S\3124r;DP\M\S\649r;DP\M\S\680;DP\M\S\680r;DP\M\SI\eide;DP\M\SI\raid;DP\M\SI\raid2;DP\M\V\eide;DP\M\V\raid;DP\S\A;DP\S\C;DP\S\CR;DP\S\CR\LS\WIN2K_XP;DP\S\N;DP\S\R;DP\S\R\HD;DP\S\S;DP\S\SM\A\1;DP\S\SM\A\2;DP\S\SM\A\3;DP\S\SM\A\4;DP\S\SM\A\5;DP\S\SM\A\6;DP\S\SM\I;DP\S\T\1;DP\S\T\2;DP\S\T\3;DP\S\T\4;DP\S\T\5;DP\S\V;DP\S\Y\1;DP\S\Y\2;DP\W\3C\1;DP\W\3C\2;DP\W\3C\3;DP\W\3C\4;DP\W\3C\5;DP\W\3C\6;DP\W\3C\7;DP\W\A;DP\W\AS;DP\W\AT;DP\W\B\1;DP\W\B\2;DP\W\B\3;DP\W\B\4;DP\W\B\5;DP\W\B\6;DP\W\B\7;DP\W\B\8;DP\W\B\9;DP\W\BL\1;DP\W\BL\2;DP\W\BL\3;DP\W\BL\4;DP\W\BL\5;DP\W\BL\6;DP\W\BL\7;DP\W\BL\8;DP\W\BL\9;DP\W\BU\1;DP\W\BU\2;DP\W\BU\3;DP\W\BU\4;DP\W\BU\5;DP\W\BU\6;DP\W\BU\7;DP\W\BU\8;DP\W\BU\9;DP\W\BU\A;DP\W\C\1;DP\W\C\2;DP\W\D\1;DP\W\D\2;DP\W\D\2\A;DP\W\D\2\B;DP\W\D\2\D;DP\W\D\2\E;DP\W\D\2\F;DP\W\D\3;DP\W\D\3\C;DP\W\D\3\D;DP\W\D\3\E;DP\W\D\4;DP\W\D\4\K;DP\W\D\4\L;DP\W\D\4\M;DP\W\D\4\P;DP\W\D\5;DP\W\D\6;DP\W\D\7;DP\W\D\8;DP\W\D\9;DP\W\D\A;DP\W\D\B;DP\W\D\C;DP\W\D\C\C;DP\W\D\D;DP\W\D\D\B;DP\W\D\E;DP\W\D\E\B;DP\W\D\E\C;DP\W\E\1;P\W\E\2;DP\W\E\3;DP\W\E\4;DP\W\E\5;DP\W\E\6;DP\W\E\7;DP\W\E\8;DP\W\E\9;DP\W\E\A;DP\W\E\B;DP\W\E\C;DP\W\E\D;DP\W\E\E;DP\W\E\F;DP\W\E\G;DP\W\E\H;DP\W\E\I;DP\W\E\J;DP\W\EN\1;DP\W\EN\2;DP\W\I\1;DP\W\I\2;DP\W\I\3;DP\W\I\4;DP\W\I\5;DP\W\I\6;DP\W\L\1;DP\W\L\2;DP\W\L\2\4;DP\W\L\3;DP\W\L\3\2;DP\W\L\4;DP\W\L\5;DP\W\L\6;DP\W\L\6\3;DP\W\L\6\A;DP\W\L\6\B;DP\W\L\7;DP\W\L\8;DP\W\L\9;DP\W\L\9\A;DP\W\L\9\2;DP\W\L\A;DP\W\L\B;DP\W\L\B\1;DP\W\L\C;DP\W\L\C\2;DP\W\L\C\3;DP\W\L\C\4;DP\W\L\C\26;DP\W\L\C\A;DP\W\L\D;DP\W\L\E;DP\W\L\E\A;DP\W\L\E\4;DP\W\L\F;DP\W\M;DP\W\MI\1;DP\W\MI\2;DP\W\N\1;DP\W\N\2;DP\W\N\3;DP\W\N\4;DP\W\N\5;DP\W\N\6;DP\W\N\7;DP\W\O\1;DP\W\O\2;DP\W\O\3;DP\W\O\4;DP\W\R\1;DP\W\R\2;DP\W\S\1;DP\W\S\2;DP\W\S\3;DP\W\S\4;DP\W\S\5;DP\W\SI\1;DP\W\SI\2;DP\W\SI\2\U;DP\W\SI\3;DP\W\SI\3\U;DP\W\SIT\1;DP\W\SIT\2;DP\W\SIT\3;DP\W\SIT\4;DP\W\SIT\5;DP\W\SIT\6;DP\W\SIT\7;DP\W\SIT\8;DP\W\SIT\9;DP\W\SIT\A;DP\W\SIT\B;DP\W\SIT\C;DP\W\SIT\D;DP\W\SU\1;DP\W\SU\2;DP\W\SU\3;DP\W\SU\4;DP\W\SU\5;DP\W\SU\6;DP\W\SU\7;DP\W\SU\8;DP\W\SU\9;DP\W\SU\A;DP\W\SU\B;DP\W\SU\C;DP\W\SU\D;DP\W\SU\E;DP\W\SU\F;DP\W\SU\G;DP\W\SU\H;DP\W\SU\I"

[GuiUnattended]

AdminPassword=*

EncryptedAdminPassword=NO

OEMSkipRegional=1

TimeZone=20

OemSkipWelcome=1

DetachedProgram="%systemdrive%\DP.exe"

Arguments="-y /q /r:n"

[userData]

ProductKey=XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX

FullName="User"

OrgName="none"

ComputerName=HAL

[Display]

Xresolution=800

YResolution=600

[TapiLocation]

CountryCode=1

Dialing=Tone

AreaCode=847

[RegionalSettings]

LanguageGroup=1

Language=00000409

[identification]

JoinWorkgroup=HOME

[Networking]

InstallDefaultComponents=Yes

[GuiRunOnce]

%systemdrive%\install\install.cmd

Works just fine for me.

Edited August 11, 2005 by JOhnCro13

[gfincher]

...change the name of the account to something else and set a strong password to avoid attack.

Actually, IF this computer is at least XP SP2, then NO password is better than a "strong" password IF the computer is connected to a network. XP SP2 blocks any account w/o a password from anything except console logons. This is becoming the standard recommendation for the admin account, but it would also be useful to create a LUA account to use for normal use. Follow the advice at Aaron Margosis Blog

blog for the how to & the current advice.

gfincher

[ps24eva]

So the only way to have the Administrator only when installing XP is to do the unattended install?

Edited August 13, 2005 by ps24eva

[ps24eva]

When you restart your computer, you'll automatically log on as Administrator!  How neat is that?!

Here's the fun part.  Open your control panel, and go to the users section.  Since you're the Administrator, you can delete everyone else!  I love it!

This never works for me. Even if I'm logged on as the Administrator, I can never delete the other account that XP forced me to make during installation.

[dirtwarrior]

I cant wait to try this out

[Cartoonite]

So the only way to have the Administrator only when installing XP is to do the unattended install?

Well, not exactly. You could design the answer file to eliminate the prompt to create additional users and still leave the installation itself an attended process. But the answer file is the only way that I know of to eliminate that prompt, yes.

[thag]

During the "mini setup" after install, when it asks for a username, just type in "local" (without the quotes) for the first user name and the only user will be the local admin.

[ps24eva]

During the "mini setup" after install, when it asks for a username, just type in "local" (without the quotes) for the first user name and the only user will be the local admin.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thats amazing, if true

Edited August 20, 2005 by ps24eva

[Cartoonite]

During the "mini setup" after install, when it asks for a username, just type in "local" (without the quotes) for the first user name and the only user will be the local admin.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thats amazing, if true

I was a bit skeptical as well. But I just tested it and it works. Never would have figured that one out on my own. Thanks for the tip, Thag. Welcome to MSFN.

[thag]

During the "mini setup" after install, when it asks for a username, just type in "local" (without the quotes) for the first user name and the only user will be the local admin.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thats amazing, if true

I was a bit skeptical as well. But I just tested it and it works. Never would have figured that one out on my own. Thanks for the tip, Thag. Welcome to MSFN.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, found that one by accident myself, but has come in pretty handy. Thanks for the welcome.

Edited August 22, 2005 by thag