Question

How do I create a limited user without creating an admin user first?

Asked by: bataviacomputer

I have a fresh Windows XP SP2 load, which was performed via an unattended installation.  I have an Administrator account which is fine, and I have installed all apps, printers, etc.

I wanted to copy the administrator to  the default profile, and then create the user account which would become the only account showing on the welcome page, and the administrator account would be accessible through ctrl-alt-del ctrl-alt-del (which brings up the alternate authentication dialogue box).

However, when I try to copy the administrator profile it won't let me - grayed out.  When I try to  create a User (Limited) Account, it will not let me make the new account anything other than administrator, and I can't change the account type afterwards.   So,  I created another administrator account, and after that I can then create a limited user account (but haven't yet).  This would leave me with three accounts, and of course the original ADMINISTRATOR would (I think) be hidden on the welcome page, so only two would show.

Can anyone clarify this for me?

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2009-02-24 at 08:25:37ID24172526
Topic

Windows XP Operating System

Participating Experts
2
Points
500
Comments
5

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Unattended install for WIN 95/98
    How can you do a unattended installation of windows 95 or 98? (yes I know you can for NT)
  2. "User name" Field in Change Password dialogue
    Is there a way to clear (set to a blank value) the "User name" field on the "Change Password" dialogue window? Specifically, when a user presses Ctrl-Alt-Del and clicks "Change Password", the "User name" field is populated with the nam...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: venom96737Posted on 2009-02-24 at 08:47:16ID: 23723387

The admin account you are refering to is created by default and no it wont be on the welcome screen this is true but it also can not be logged into in normal boot mode.  The only way to access this account is through safe mode it is really used as a fail safe.  The normal mode will also require a usable admin so thats why you have to create the admin account first and then you are able to create the guest account.  This is by design and really cant be changed if you dont want the account names to show you should switch the log in to windows 2000 mode.  Goto start control panel click user accounts (if your in classic view) change the way users log on and off then uncheck welcome screen and apply settings.  Then they will have to type in the username and pass thats about the best you can do.

 

by: bataviacomputerPosted on 2009-02-24 at 10:07:13ID: 23724364

Ok, so if I understand this correctly, in order to get one admin account and one user account that are share the same settings, I have to copy the original ADMINISTRATOR account to the default user profile, then create another admin account which will NOT inherit my settings because I haven't copied them yet and then log in as this new admin account and copy the administrator to default user and then create another administrator account so that I can delete the admin that did not inherit the administrator settings and then I will have two accounts which are both administrator accounts but one of which can't be used and then and only then I can create a  USER limited account which will inherit the default user settings that I copied from the original but now unusable administrator account and I will end up with three accounts that look and feel the same but one of which can't be used and another of which can't be deleted unless I create a third admin account to be the new admin account placeholder so I can delete the previous (second) admin account or I could have made the user account an admin account and then changed it to guest but only if I had not deleted the second useable administrator account.  Is that correct?

....long pause....

Is it permissible to ask why Microsoft products suck so bad but still make so much money?

 

by: venom96737Posted on 2009-02-24 at 10:56:41ID: 23724927

You cant copy the original administrator to the default acount it wont work you have to first create your new admin account and then you can do the rest.

 

by: KCTSPosted on 2009-02-25 at 01:25:41ID: 23731658

You cannot copy a profile that is in use, so you must create the profile while using one account and then copy it using another.

Set up a dummy user account, log on using this account and set up the desktop, menus shortcuts, screen savers, map drives etc and all the other stuff that you want to standardize for new users. When all is to your liking, log off from the dummy account.

You can then copy the profile you have just created so that it becomes the default for all new users. To do this you need to log on as an administrator, You will first need to go to the Control Panel, and in Administrative tools, Folder Options, on the View Option make sure that the option to Show Hidden Files and Folders is selected. It is also a good idea to make sure that the Hide Extensions for known file types is NOT selected so you can identify files more easily later on. Then exit the control panel. Right click on My Computer and select Properties, Advanced, and click on SETTINGS under User profiles. Select the dummy profile and then COPY TO another user option. Copy the dummy profile to C:\Documents and Settings\Default User making sure that you change the 'Permitted to use' option to 'Everyone' so that the new users will have the necessary permissions on the profile. Confirm the action replacing the existing default profile when prompted.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...