[compidjt]

I just formatted and reloaded XP pro. I've spent a lot of hours trying to get everything loaded and working properly for my daughter who's away at college and desperate for her computer. Thought all was well this Am. Everything was fine except that the ewido suite(full version) was not fully active in both profiles.

Both accounts were showing at logon and I had a pass. protected admin account and a pass. protected limited account for my daughter to choose from.

I got the bright idea to reload the Ewido suite to try to fix the "inactive' protection problem. I was told that I could only reload as an admin account so I changed my daughter's to an admin using the user accounts in the control panel. Tried to reload and somewhere along the line, logging on and off of both accounts the kevin Doyle/admin account disappeared from the normal logon screen and now is only found when I logon in safe mode.

I know that this is not the end of the world but it is driving me crazy. I don't want to be unable to switch between profiles without rebooting and now my daughter's account is an admin account and I can't change it back! I am really beginning to hate XP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please help. I'm about to stroke out!

Kevin

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just so we are clear--- you have

THE administrator account
AN administrator account
and daughter account
?

[gerryf]

just so we are clear--- you have

THE administrator account
AN administrator account
and daughter account
?

[compidjt]

To be clear I had an administrator account when the system first started up and for 10-20 logons afterwards. it then disappeared from the startup screen, only to be found in safe mode.

I have, since my first e-mail, added another "administrator" account and it made it possible to renew the limited access status to my daughter's account.

I have to assume that there are two types of Admin. accounts, both from your question and now from my experience. Windows says as much on the user accounts page after the first admin. profile/account disappears from startup.

Sorry for the long winded answer. The problem may solved for the time being, I guess I'll find out in another 20 or so boots! In the meantime if you can help me understand what happened I'd still appreciate it, it's sure not clear (at least to me) from the documentation or help pages how this works.

I'd also like to know if there's any way not to have to copy all of the shortcuts and settings every time a new profile/user is created!

[gerryf]

is this xp pro or home?

there is THE ADMINISTRATOR account

In windows xp home, it does not show unless you are in safe mode

Go to c:\documents and settings

How many folders do you see and what are they named?

You can not copy shortcuts when a new user profile is created by adding the shortcuts to the default profile, or, the way we typically do it, set up a profile the way we like it, then copy that profile over the default profile...any new profiles will appear as that.

To do this, you set up the profile, then log out and log on as THE ADMINISTRATOR, then right click MY COMPUTER< choose PROPERTIES, choose ADVANCED, then click the USER PROFILE settings button

Then, choose the profile you like, choose COPY TO button, and then navigate to c:\documents and settings and select DEFAULT, and OK OK OK

boom

All new profile will have the same icons, same startmenu same favorites, same wallpaper etc (but not same group membership)

[compidjt]

It is XP pro that I loaded.

The administrator account showed up on the screen automatically as I remember. I then added and configured an account for my daughter. Some of the previously loaded programs ( ewido , for instance) showed up on her desktop, most did not. I created and copied shortcuts from the programs on C: and for the most part this worked.

The frustration came about when the administrator profile disappeared from the normal startup/logon screen and I was forced to reboot in safe mode to gain access to it. I don't believe that i did anything to make this happen though it's possible.

Thanks for the tip on how to set up new profiles more efficiently . I'll save the info for the next crash!

The laptop is on it's way to Ohio as we speak so I won't have the opportunity to play with it (or screw it up) again until spring break.

[gerryf]

ahh pro, well, I wonder if ewido reset a key

You can make the ADMINISTRATOR logon show up in normal mode by editing this key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList

and changing ADMINISTRATOR from 0 to 1

By default, it is supposed to be NOT showing, though, except in safe mode

[compidjt]

Thanks, I will consider the tweak but as long as I have two accounts that show up at normal logon I'm happy.

I also have to assume that the admin in safe mode is a good idea in case of problems. I just can't figure out why it appeared and then went away, that really pissed me off! If this is normal XP pro behavior it'd be nice if there was a warning that the account is only available for a set period/number of startups, etc. If it's not normal then I have a copy of XP pro with a mind of it's own.

I've instructed my daughter to login on the limited account and only on the administrator (small a) account if there's a need i.e. programs not loading, etc.

Thanks for your help and advice. I'm hoping that the setup is going to work and remain stable for a while.

[gerryf]

it's actually NOT normal for it to show...

Having a safe mode account is always good, as is installing the recovery console

I actually have a four choice boot loader menu that consists of

windows xp normal
windows xp safe mode
windows xp basevideo
recovery console

then, no fiddling with function keys to get to what I need. Of course, I tend to torture my machine more than most people....oh, a new virus! Cool, wonder how it works, time to load her up!

[compidjt]

I remember seeing a reference to the recovery console somewhere. Is it preloaded with XP or does one need to get it from the xp disc or online?

Also, does the boot menu that you set up bring up a prompt every time you boot so that you can choose your option? This sounds cool though I wonder whether it would be a good idea for a casual user who actually tries to avoid working on his 'puter unless absolutely necessary (like me).

[gerryf]

how to install the recovery console

http://support.micro...kb;en-us;307654

The act of installing the recovery console will create the text boot menu

the other options are just windows loading with certain switches which is done by editing the boot.ini file. And yes, it occurs at every boot up...the default is 30 seconds, but i have mine for 3 seconds

The safemode, and basevideo are overkill for most people, and some would argue so is the recovery console, but I have advocated that EVERY machine have the recovery console installed just in case...HP is now installing it by default on newer machines.

[compidjt]

Sounds like a good idea, I'll do it on my desktop to get familiar with it's use/setup.
I don't know why the original problem with the profiles had me so confounded, I think it was just because it was so unpredictable and annoying, along with the fact that i was trying to get the laptop back to Ohio state ASAP.
In any case,thanks for the advice and suggestions.