Please help done something stupid Win 7

thepharcyde · 6 Sep 2009 at 12:00

Just followed this guide as I was trying to hide multiple users on my PC Win 7.

Basically I have a standard user and a admin. PC is all setup but wanted to hide the admin from Windows 7 welcome screen.

Followed this guide below and edited the registry.

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/...-user-account-from-welcome-screen-in-windows/

But now I'm stuck as I want to install something but cannot without being an admin. Cannot amend the dword as a stanard user so I'm stuck.

What can I do?

tom_e · 6 Sep 2009 at 12:10

Does going into safe mode and logging into admin that way not work?

thepharcyde · 6 Sep 2009 at 12:14

tom_e said:
Does going into safe mode and logging into admin that way not work?

No

mistercrabb · 6 Sep 2009 at 12:35

"Tip: In order to login into Windows using an user account that has made hidden and invisible, just press Ctrl+Alt+Del to bring up Windows Logon dialog, and then type in the user name and password manually."

Does that work?

Edit: No, wait, according to the page that doesnt work with Win7..
Seems some others have got stuck like you looking at the comments..

Fire Wizard · 6 Sep 2009 at 12:56

If you have System Restore enabled, if you boot from your Windows 7 disc, after it asks you to select your language, time and keyboards settings, on the next screen choose the "Repair your computer" option. After you have selected your installation, there will be a System Restore option. You will then be able to choose a restore point and restore your system to an earlier point.

Though, may I ask why you needed to hide the administrator account?

theheyes · 6 Sep 2009 at 13:01

Ugh these bloggers and their "tips" make me want to tear my hair out sometimes. Before making any registry edits you should always make a backup of the registry or better still the entire system for precisely this reason - it's so easy to bork something.

What's annoying about this "tip" is that I'm fairly sure you can turn off the welcome screen with a simple local security policy which achieves the same thing. It's ironic how he says displaying user accounts is "probably a weakness in the security point of view" when he's just effectively performed a denial of service on your PC.

Anyway enough of that, the safe-mode admin account is disabled by default in Vista/W7 (which is a good thing overall but often makes things more difficult when people give you machines to fix.)

I've never tried it on Vista or W7 but on XP you could use the recovery console to try and reverse what you did to the registry - albeit by command line. Boot the system with the Windows DVD and you should get into the Windows Recovery Environment and get a command prompt. The problem is it is going to be difficult just using the command line. If you can still access the files you need and make a backup it might be quicker to reinstall.

edit - yes, it's worth giving system restore a try first from the same menu.

thepharcyde · 6 Sep 2009 at 13:13

Just done a system restore from the Win 7 disc. Need to hide this admin account somehow though

thepharcyde · 6 Sep 2009 at 13:22

Fire Wizard said:
If you have System Restore enabled, if you boot from your Windows 7 disc, after it asks you to select your language, time and keyboards settings, on the next screen choose the "Repair your computer" option. After you have selected your installation, there will be a System Restore option. You will then be able to choose a restore point and restore your system to an earlier point.

Though, may I ask why you needed to hide the administrator account?

Just don't want it on the welcome screen. It's a HTPC, and want the default to be on the standard account with the password already selected.

marc2003 · 6 Sep 2009 at 13:35

set the normal user account to auto logon.

control userpasswords2

untick the box "users must....." and supply the normal account details.

Ultim8 · 6 Sep 2009 at 13:36

thepharcyde said:
Just don't want it on the welcome screen. It's a HTPC, and want the default to be on the standard account with the password already selected.

Why dont you just enable autologin that way you wont see any login screen.
Then if you need admin account you could do a login as a different user.

Here is how to do it http://on10.net/blogs/sarahintampa/Tip-Auto-Login-Your-Windows-7-User-Account/

HTH

Ulti

Fire Wizard · 6 Sep 2009 at 13:44

thepharcyde said:
Just don't want it on the welcome screen. It's a HTPC, and want the default to be on the standard account with the password already selected.

I'm not sure how to hide the administrator account from the Welcome Screen. Though, you can do the following to automatically log into an account of your choice when you first turn your machine on even though the account is password protected.

If you type netplwiz into the start menu search bar, after you have accepted the User Account Control prompt, you will be presented with the following:

Uncheck the "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" box and then click "Apply". It will then ask you for the User name and password of the account you would like to be logged into automatically.