Enable or Disable Built-in Administrator Account in Windows Vista

Unlike Windows XP where the built-in Administrator user account is created with blank password (no password) during Out-of-Box-Experience (OOBE) and simply hidden from the view of users, Windows Vista also by default will create a built-in Administrator account with empty password, but this Administrator account is disabled by default in all clean installations and upgrades of Windows Vista, including factory pre-installed Windows Vista from Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and system builders. The admin account is disabled in order to enhance the security protection of the system.

How to Enable Windows Vista Administrator Account

Method 1

Under the command prompt shell window, run the following command:

net user administrator /active:yes

Note that you may need to disable UAC or open elevated command prompt.

Method 2

Enable the built-in Administrator account by using the Local Users and Groups MMC console to change the properties of the Administrator account:

1. Open the MMC console and select Local Users and Groups.
2. Right-click the Administrator account and select Properties. The Administrator Properties window appears.
3. On the General tab, clear the Account is Disabled box.
4. Close the MMC console.
5. Administrator access is now enabled.

Method 3

You can enable the Administrator login access automatically during the unattended setup and installation of Windows Vista, by using the AutoLogon unattended Setup setting. To do so, set the AutoLogon setting to Administrator in the Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup component. This option will enable the built-in Administrator account in Windows Vista, even if a password is not specified in the AdministratorPassword setting.

For fully automated procedure, system administrators can create an answer file by using Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM), as shown in the sample below that will enable the Administrator account, specify an Administrator password, and automatically log onto the system.

<component name=”Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup” processorArchitecture=”x86″ publicKeyToken=”31bf3856ad364e35″ language=”neutral” versionScope=”nonSxS” xmlns:wcm=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State” xmlns:xsi=”http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance”>
<AutoLogon>
<Password>
<Value>SecurePasswd123</Value>
<PlainText>true</PlainText>
</Password>
<Username>Administrator</Username>
<Enabled>true</Enabled>
<LogonCount>5</LogonCount>
</AutoLogon>
<UserAccounts>
<AdministratorPassword>
<Value> SecurePasswd123</Value>
<PlainText>true</PlainText>
</AdministratorPassword>
</UserAccounts>
</component>

How to Disable Administrator Account Logon Access

Method 1

Under the command prompt shell window, run the following command:

net user administrator /active:no

Note that you may need to disable UAC or open elevated command prompt.

Method 2

Reset and remove all unique and customized account information including product activation status to return to end users first-run out-of-box experience (OOBE) by using sysprep.exe /generalize command. Sysprep (System Preparation Utility) is an integral part of the operating system and is always present in the C:\Windows\system32 directory, and thus can be invoked from the command line as shown below or via a GUI dialog box. To run it, execute any of the following command in command prompt or Run box.

sysprep /generalize

or

c:\windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe /generalize

The next time the computer starts, the built-in Administrator account will be disabled.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 7th, 2007 at 1:06 am and is filed under Windows Vista. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.