Is there any difference between the two regarding permissions, abilities, etc? Alternatively, is it possible to merge it into an existing user account?

There is 1 difference. The hidden admin account is not affected by the UAC (User Account control) and always have the full admin token while the other users from the admin group have to request the full admin token with "Run as administrator" [1]. André [1] http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/How-do-I-run-an-application-once-with-a-full-administrator-access-token "A programmer is just a tool which converts caffeine into code" CLIP- Stellvertreter http://www.winvistaside.de/

The is 1 difference. The hidden admin account is not affected by the UAC (User Account control) and always have the full admin token while the other users from the admin group have to request the full admin token with "Run as administrator" [1]. André [1] http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/How-do-I-run-an-application-once-with-a-full-administrator-access-token"A programmer is just a tool which converts caffeine into code" CLIP- Stellvertreter http://www.winvistaside.de/

The is 1 difference. The hidden admin account is not affected by the UAC (User Account control) and always have the full admin token while the other users from the admin group have to request the full admin token with "Run as administrator" [1]. André [1] http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/How-do-I-run-an-application-once-with-a-full-administrator-access-token "A programmer is just a tool which converts caffeine into code" CLIP- Stellvertreter http://www.winvistaside.de/ Is there any way to override that, or merge the two accounts?

Is there any way to override that , or merge the two accounts? this enables UAC for the build-in admin, too. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd835564%28WS.10%29.aspx#BKMK_BuiltInAdmin The build-in account is disabled until you enable the account. So you shouldn't see it by default."A programmer is just a tool which converts caffeine into code" CLIP- Stellvertreter http://www.winvistaside.de/

Not quite what i meant -- is there a way to give a user in the administrator group that same 'full admin token', i.e. make someone other than 'administrator' a 'root user' to use a linux term; without having to constantly "run as administator"?

Not quite what i meant -- is there a way to give a user in the administrator group that same 'full admin token', i.e. make someone other than 'administrator' a 'root user' to use a linux term; without having to constantly "run as administator"? That would mean that you have to disable UAC, and thus disable this setting: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd835564%28WS.10%29.aspx#BKMK_AdminApprovalMode

Not quite what i meant -- is there a way to give a user in the administrator group that same 'full admin token', this means to turn the UAC off. Move the slide to the lowest position or set the value to 0: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd835564%28WS.10%29.aspx#BKMK_AdminPromptBehavior BUT, this is not recommend for daily use!"A programmer is just a tool which converts caffeine into code" CLIP- Stellvertreter http://www.winvistaside.de/