Windows 10 defaulting to Administrator

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sewsable

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Master Geek

#220387 8-Aug-2017 19:26

I've just got a new to me computer and transferred all my files over from my Windows 7 computer. For some unknown reason when I boot up it's defaulting to using the Admin account which from what I've read should default to not being on. I've tried running the command prompt to turn it off, but it comes up every time I reboot. I want my Microsoft account to be the one it defaults to and for the admin account to not even come up, especially as it's not password protected and doesn't seem to want me to add one either.

Any suggestions as to how to deal with this? I'm currently preferring my Windows 7, but of course new PC means no choice on this front. I can't afford to leave it with no password, my ASD teenager would be all over it!

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#1841431 8-Aug-2017 19:56

Is your new microsoft account an admin account on the new PC?

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

sewsable

87 posts

Master Geek

#1841435 8-Aug-2017 20:04

Yes it is, I've been using it to set up all the programs I need this evening and the command prompt has an admin option on it for this log on too.

freitasm

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Geekzone

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#1841437 8-Aug-2017 20:15

Have you reset the computer before using it - as in did it have any other account before?

I'd do a Windows refresh. What I do is create a local account as Administrator and immediately add a Microsoft account as Standard. Then I switch to that Microsoft account and install my software. You will be asked for the local account for every install, but it's a lot safer.

The Administrator account is disabled by default and you have to run a command to enable it.

sewsable

87 posts

Master Geek

#1841476 8-Aug-2017 21:16

It did have a user account before I started, but I had to make some changes as I wanted my user to be on the HDD which is not where everything else was (SSD isn't big enough for my user account), this involved a fresh windows set up in order to get it to move the user over. That part worked brilliantly! I'll have to look at it tomorrow, I have at least managed to put a password on the Admin account now which will stop youngest.

freitasm

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#1841481 8-Aug-2017 21:30

If ir had a user account I would refresh it. You never know what it is installed there. Trust no one.

Athlonite

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#1841512 9-Aug-2017 01:09

I'd just make a new account and use it as the standard account after you've finished with what you are doing

right click the start button and choose control panel then select user account then simply create a new user account and make it a standard account type

freitasm

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#1841631 9-Aug-2017 09:56

My suggestion to refresh the PC is because if there was an existing account and someone went through the trouble of enabling Administrator then you have no idea if that PC is not infected with malware, keyboard loggers, etc. Nuke it all.

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sewsable

87 posts

Master Geek

#1841699 9-Aug-2017 11:10

Administrator wasn't enabled when I got the PC, it happened when I redid Windows after setting up a redirect to get the Users file on my HDD that I'd just installed. I've run Malwarebytes since then and found some PUP's which have been quarantined, but nothing worse than that. My virus scanner has also taken a look, and of course I have the back up of my users on a separate HDD. I don't think it's anything malicious, just a bit odd.

Oh, and the PC came from PCTraders.co.nz, I didn't buy it off Trademe or anything like that.

1101

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#1841835 9-Aug-2017 13:27

Admin account is not the same as administrator account.
Admin is just another user name, like user1 , Fred etc .

Its quite common to initially setup PC's generically with a user name of 'admin' or 'user' .

Just make a new user account , give it admin rights, delete the 'admin' a/c.
Or best yet, if its a used PC that you bought, reset/refresh it . You have no idea whats been done to it

sewsable

87 posts

Master Geek

#1841854 9-Aug-2017 13:57

1101:

Admin account is not the same as administrator account.
Admin is just another user name, like user1 , Fred etc .

Its quite common to initially setup PC's generically with a user name of 'admin' or 'user' .

Just make a new user account , give it admin rights, delete the 'admin' a/c.
Or best yet, if its a used PC that you bought, reset/refresh it . You have no idea whats been done to it

Thank you, I never even thought of this, for whatever reason my previous system never did it and the last one that did ran Windows 98 if I'm remembering correctly. I've now deleted it and had already done a refresh before all this in order to get my User file moved over. I'm in the position of knowing a reasonable amount about computers, but not enough when things are different from expected, as a result I'm careful in what I do on the PC. Though installing a new hard drive was much easier than I expected!

freitasm

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#1841875 9-Aug-2017 14:31

1101:

Admin account is not the same as administrator account.
Admin is just another user name, like user1 , Fred etc .

Its quite common to initially setup PC's generically with a user name of 'admin' or 'user' .

Just make a new user account , give it admin rights, delete the 'admin' a/c.
Or best yet, if its a used PC that you bought, reset/refresh it . You have no idea whats been done to it

There's some confusion going on here.

"Administrator" is an account and it's a group. "Administrator" account is by default used for system services but it's disabled for login. This account needs to be explicitly enabled for login using command line.

The first account you create on a new or refreshed PC belongs to the Administrator group. It has Administrator powers but it's not The Administrator account.

Once you setup your PC create an account belonging to the Standard group. This should be your day-to-day account. It has less "powers" but just by not being part of the Administrator group it should block a lot of malware, spyware and loggers. When an Administrator privilege is required a prompt will appear and you can type the password for your other user account in the Administrator group.

This is the safest way to run a Windows PC. Or a Mac. Or any machine.

yitz

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#1841877 9-Aug-2017 14:38

I think there's some confusion between the built-in Administrator which should not be turned on and the first account created being an Administrator account that had inadvertently been set to automatically log on. To stop it from automatically logging in just run netplwiz and check 'Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer'.

Either that or you didn't want it to show on your logon screen in which case the only way other than remove is to disable the account which can be done through lusrmgr.msc or the Registry for Home editions. I would make sure there is at least one Administrator account before disabling the only one.

Sounds like things are sorted already though.

1101

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#1843316 10-Aug-2017 10:02

freitasm:

There's some confusion going on here.

There no confusion :-)

the OP mentioned user "admin" , NOT administrator

When shops/repairers setup PC's for other people , its common to initially setup with the user "admin" (or user "user" )
As simple as that.

His PC was probably initially setup with the user admin (not user "administrator")
Ive seen this often. In fact in the XP days, with forgotton user passwords I could sometimes easily get access as PC the intially had a user "admin" (and no password for user "admin")

freitasm

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#1843321 10-Aug-2017 10:03

Oh, I see. I just thought the "admin" was a short for Administrator as not all users are technical and use the full name when describing it - I also see this happening.

1101

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#1843338 10-Aug-2017 10:16

freitasm:

Oh, I see. I just thought the "admin" was a short for Administrator as not all users are technical and use the full name when describing it - I also see this happening.

Yep, I just made an assumption as well, one that suited my theory :-)

It seemed unlikely that the PC seller/shop would have gone to the trouble of enabling/unhiding ~user administrator~ as a user a/c
assuming the seller/shop did a generic Wipe & install , as they should do on a used PC

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