I have never had different accounts on my computer nor a password: I switch on and go. Somehow my little daughter has managed to change something so she appears as Admin and we cannot get in without a password. She says she does not know what she has done (but at least she managed to guess the password to get in). How can we get rid of the log-in (and the account, or the name on it)?
📎 AI Summary:
The forum thread discusses a user whose daughter inadvertently changed system settings, causing login issues and the appearance of a "Restricted" administrator account. With guidance from another user, they explore methods to disable the built-in admin account and create a standard user account, ultimately resolving the problem by removing the password through local account settings. The overall tone is collaborative and appreciative, with the original poster successfully fixing the issue and expressing gratitude for the helpful advice.
The forum thread discusses a user whose daughter inadvertently changed system settings, causing login issues and the appearance of a "Restricted" administrator account. With guidance from another user, they explore methods to disable the built-in admin account and create a standard user account, ultimately resolving the problem by removing the password through local account settings. The overall tone is collaborative and appreciative, with the original poster successfully fixing the issue and expressing gratitude for the helpful advice.
Solution
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2015
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If you login with an administrator account
- Press Windows key + x
- Select Computer Management
- Select Local Users and Groups
- To remove or change a password select Users, right click a user and select Set Password, click Proceed enter a new password or just click OK to set it blank
- If you want to remove her account from the admin group
- Click Groups
- Double click Administrators
- Highlight her account and click Remove then OK
Somehow, she has been named "Administrator", which cannot be deleted. Her name appears at switch -on though, and her school log-in name (so she must have been logging on to some school application and started changing things locally instead of remotely. I have a mind to demand that her teacher come round and fix the thing!) Under the "Administrators" group is my name and 'Administrator' Actually I also see in "Users" my name in the right-hand column, but the 'Full name' column gives my daughter's name. (I tried deleting the password there: it did not accept that as a valid action.
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That is the built-in administrator account and no it can't be deleted. Right click on Administrator > Properties and check the Account is Disabled box > Apply > Ok
Then under Users right click in an empty space and Create her a user account. This account will be a normal user and wont be able to screw up settings like this again. Enter a password for her and leave the boxes default. Have her login with that account and have her set a password.
Then under Users right click in an empty space and Create her a user account. This account will be a normal user and wont be able to screw up settings like this again. Enter a password for her and leave the boxes default. Have her login with that account and have her set a password.
I have looked again (your guidance has been very helpful: I had no idea about the Computer Management screen). Digging further into it, I can see that actually I am logged in as me (which explains why the desktop is as I set it out), but it gives my daughter's name as "Full Name" (and when I delete that, it comes back again. I cannot see why her school computer's log-in code comes from though: that is not in "Properties" or anywhere I can see. I tried also changing the password and a severe warning came up that if I do so then the computer will block my data for security reasons (why?) and when I did it anyway, leaving the password boxes blank, it had no effect. Getting rid of the password is the main thing of concern.
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Unfortunately it's really hard to speculate what she did and what has been changed, and how the computer was originally configured through text.
- Open an elevated command prompt (Press the Windows Key type cmd, right click cmd and select Run As Adminstrator)
- type cd %userprofile%\Desktop
- Type systeminfo >> stat.txt
- Type set >> stat.txt
- Type wmic useraccount >> stat.txt
- Post that file here
Aha! I seem to have righted it, using local account settings and deleting the password that way. Goodness knows what she did, but it now lets me in with my name and without demanding a password. Thank you for your help on this - it opened up bits of the system I never knew were there, which showed where things had changed.
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