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I found this in a few different places around the 'net - hopefully it's helpful:

Access the Administrator Account from the Welcome Screen

If you are at the Welcome screen and want to log on with the Administrator account, but it's not listed:

  • Press Ctrl+Alt+Del twice to bring up the Windows 2000 logon window, which then allows you to log on as Administrator.

Logging on at the Welcome screen is not available on computers that are members of a network domain.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by aloo

Dani AI

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Useful follow‑ups to ’s tip (and to and ’s reports that it sometimes fails):

If the built‑in Administrator isn’t shown on the welcome screen there are a few supported, local options that don’t require CDs or third‑party tools. On Windows XP Home the Administrator account normally only appears when you boot into Safe Mode; on XP Professional you can also reach or enable the local Administrator from a non‑interactive (classic) logon. Safe Mode is the simplest way to get a local Administrator prompt to fix accounts or reset passwords. (flylib.com)

If another administrator account is available, enable or unlock the built‑in Administrator from an elevated command prompt and set a password (then disable it again when finished). Example:

net user Administrator /active:yes
net user Administrator NewPa$$w0rd

(Use the exact command syntax to avoid accidentally changing a password.) Once finished you can run net user Administrator /active:no to re‑disable the built‑in account. (learn.microsoft.com)

On domain‑joined PCs you can force a local logon by specifying the local account explicitly (for example, using .\\Administrator or COMPUTERNAME\\Administrator at the username prompt) so the machine authenticates against the local SAM rather than the domain. This is useful when domain credentials are offered by default. (learn.microsoft.com)

If the Administrator account is simply hidden from the Welcome UI it can be shown by creating the registry key under:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList
(add a DWORD named exactly Administrator and set it to 1). Note this requires an account with admin rights to edit the registry. If none of the local methods work (no admin access, can’t boot Safe Mode), the supported recovery path is to use recovery/installation media or seek hands‑on repair; there is no safe, supported way to elevate to Administrator without one. (learn.microsoft.com)

Thanks to for the original pointer and to / for noting real‑world limits — the steps above cover the common, supported fallbacks that don’t rely on external downloads.

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Member Avatar for aloo

but sumtimes it doesnt work..so ?

Member Avatar for aloo

there shud be sumother way ..isnt it

Member Avatar for The Dude

Welcome to Daniweb aloo :)

Interesting Dani............

Member Avatar for bugvih

I'm trying to access a user with administrator rights but whatever I do this do not works in this pc.
Anyone have a clue what to try while using no CD and or no Hardware or not software download?

Member Avatar for aloo

Welcome to Daniweb aloo :)

Interesting Dani............

thnx DUDE

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