never set up administrator account-need help to install program
I'm trying to install a program i downloaded, but it says i need administrative rights to do so. I have two user accounts on my system (me,guest). My personal account has administrative rights but it's not letting me start the download. I've been reading around about how I need to be the original administrator to complete this task. But, I never set up an administrative account. How do I set up a account without having to completely reinstall windows xp? I also tried doing the ctrl+alt+del at the welcome screen, just encase I made the account and forgot the password. There is no account that exists on my system labeled (Administrator). I've also tried the process where you go to the start menu and edit the Registry. Both processes were a fail, any feedback would be appreciated. I feel as though I'm exhausted out of answers :(.1 person needs an answerI do too
January 20th, 2011 3:08pm

The quick check to determine if you have administrative rights is to Right-click on "Start". If one of the options that pops up is "Open All Users", then youdo have administrative rights. The error that you are quoting is indicative of an install program trying to write to somewhere on the hard disk or registry and not being able to because access rights do not allow the operation. Administrators do not have carte-blanche with respect to permissions and it is quite possible to set permissions to exclude Administrators. What Administrators do have is the ability to change permissions, though. When this error occurs, it used to be that 99% of the time it was because the installer was not an administrator -- but now it is just as likely to be due to a piece of Malware that got into your system and changed permissions so that you couldn't get rid of it. This sometimes has a secondary effect that you can't install anything new, either.The administrator account is usually automatic on a system and should be there unless something deleted it. Just to be sure, bring up a command prompt window (Start -> Run -> "cmd") and enter the command: net userThis will list all users that are known to your machine. See if "Administrator" shows up there. If not, try adding one with the commands: net user administrator * /add net localgroup administrators administrator /addAlso, this command will list all users that are administrators: net localgroup administratorsHTH, JW
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
January 20th, 2011 4:13pm

Administrator pops up in the command prompt but it doesn't on the login screen. I never set up an administrator account, I know there is the "built-in" admin account. But i don't know how to figure out what the password is to it. I can install other programs on my system with no probelm this one requires that I be and administrator though. And I have to be the original one or else it will not work. My user name that i regularly use has admin rights but it won't let me install this certain program.
January 21st, 2011 6:11am

At least we now know that the administrator account exists...When the login screen comes up and displays user login choices, try hitting Alt-Ctrl-Del keys twice. This should bring up a regular type-it-in login screen. Enter the user "Administrator". and, unless it was changed, the password for Administrator is blank by default so leave that box blank and try logging in.It is possible that the administrator account was deactivated. If you log in as yourself, bring up command window, and enter the command: net user administratorand check the "Account Active" line. If it says "No", then you can activate the account by entering the command: net user administrator /active:yesSince you do have admin privilege, you can reset the password on the administrator account if the blank password does not work. To reset the password, enter the command: net user administrator *or net user administrator password (where "password" is replaced with a chosen password)HTH, JW
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
January 21st, 2011 4:00pm

Thank you tons, you have been a great help! I got the password reset and the account was active. It says the file path doesn't exist for the program now but i'll figure all that out by starting all over. Once again thanks :)
January 21st, 2011 6:15pm

Thanks for the feedback. Good Luck to you. JW
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
January 22nd, 2011 5:23pm

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