Admin Rights on a 2nd hand Computer

danjo-xx

A thread I read tonight has prompted me to ask this question.

I bought a cheapie old desktop as a backup in case my laptop gives up the ghost.

I have set up an admin a/c on this using the user a/c's but how can I be sure that I really have full admin rights in case trouble arises in the future or is this enough.

The registered user is still the guy I bought it from and not me.

yoyo

danjo-xx wrote: »

A thread I read tonight has prompted me to ask this question.

I bought a cheapie old desktop as a backup in case my laptop gives up the ghost.

I have set up an admin a/c on this using the user a/c's but how can I be sure that I really have full admin rights in case trouble arises in the future or is this enough.

The registered user is still the guy I bought it from and not me.

Go into Start>control panel (classic/large icon view)>User Accounts and click on your account. Make sure its set as administrator and not standard user. Delete his account from in here if you wish (i think you can)

Nick

CreepingDeath

Depending on how paranoid you are about computer security I'd reinstall Windows from scratch.
You never know what programs/malware is on a second hand computer either intentionally or unintentionally.

danjo-xx

yoyo wrote: »

Go into Start>control panel (classic/large icon view)>User Accounts and click on your account. Make sure its set as administrator and not standard user. Delete his account from in here if you wish (i think you can)

Nick

There is no account now for previous owner, I think I just renamed his account. yeah I'm certain that's what I did. Just have to remember whenever I'm under the bonnet my name is 'Alan' comes up all over the place in file path's anyway.

Depending on how paranoid you are about computer security I'd reinstall Windows from scratch.
You never know what programs/malware is on a second hand computer either intentionally or unintentionally.

First thing I did was loads of scans etc so not worried on that score.

yoyo

danjo-xx wrote: »

There is no account now for previous owner, I think I just renamed his account. yeah I'm certain that's what I did. Just have to remember whenever I'm under the bonnet my name is 'Alan' comes up all over the place in file path's anyway.



First thing I did was loads of scans etc so not worried on that score.

You cannot rename the user folder I'm fairly certain, make a new admin account in user accounts, move all your stuff over, then delete the old redundent account.

Nick

danjo-xx

yoyo wrote: »

You cannot rename the user folder I'm fairly certain, make a new admin account in user accounts, move all your stuff over, then delete the old redundent account.

Nick

ok I think this is what happened when I got the desktop.

I booted up and winxp screen displayed with logon option 'Alan'
and I was able to click on that and it was not password protected.


So then I must have created my own account. Files created by me show Alan in the file path, cause he is the registered owner.

eg. C:\Documents and Settings\Alan\My Documents

So do I have full admin rights without having to change computer name to mine which I understand may cause some probs in the registry.

riclad

GO to control panel,accounts, is there an account there,alan, administrator , if so you are fine .You just need a admin account to add,remove programs, acess files documents.And setup other accounts.
The account name is not important ,you may want to set up a guest account , to allow someone else to use the pc,
without acess to your documents .

danjo-xx

riclad wrote: »

GO to control panel,accounts, is there an account there,alan, administrator , if so you are fine .You just need a admin account to add,remove programs, acess files documents.And setup other accounts.
The account name is not important ,you may want to set up a guest account , to allow someone else to use the pc,
without acess to your documents .

No account for Alan just me, danjo

I remember clearing out some files left in Alan's account and just renamed it but nick thinks you can't rename an admin a/c

Remember his account was not password protected.

yoyo

danjo-xx wrote: »

No account for Alan just me, danjo

I remember clearing out some files left in Alan's account and just renamed it but nick thinks you can't rename an admin a/c

Remember his account was not password protected.

You should have in the 'C:\Documents & Settings' folder 'Alan' and 'Danjo'. You can safely delete the Alan folder I'm fairly certain, provided you are an admin user

Nick

danjo-xx

yoyo wrote: »

You should have in the 'C:\Documents & Settings' folder 'Alan' and 'Danjo'. You can safely delete the Alan folder I'm fairly certain, provided you are an admin user

Nick

The Alan folder is there and all my files are in there.

Tried to rename it but got message 'its a windows system folder and is required for windows to run properly' and it cannot be moved or renamed.

I think I'll leave well enuf alone.

riclad

Everythings working ,you have an admin account ,best to leave things as they are.You can copy any files to another folder ,if you are afraid of losing data.
its not a good idea to try to delete or rename the admins, documents folder, as your music,docs etc are automatically saved there.
Windows is designed to save or put your files ,in admin,documents if its the main or only administrator account.
eg in this case, alan, my documents.
You could make another account in your name ,if you want to.

Cork24

you can buy software that will allow you to delete the First Owners Password, so you can no delete their Account on the Computer.

I have this Software and it works from 98 up to win 7

its handy if i need to get into the computer or trying to install software and the owner doesnt tell me the password or has forgotten the Admin password.

danjo-xx

Cork24 wrote: »

you can buy software that will allow you to delete the First Owners Password, so you can no delete their Account on the Computer.

I have this Software and it works from 98 up to win 7

its handy if i need to get into the computer or trying to install software and the owner doesnt tell me the password or has forgotten the Admin password.

thanks but this is just a cheap desktop that I have as backup for my laptop so not really that pushed:)

Cork24

danjo-xx wrote: »

thanks but this is just a cheap desktop that I have as backup for my laptop so not really that pushed:)

when i say buy :rolleyes: u knw where to go for one