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Help & Advice

XP Hidden Admin Account

Xp comes with a hidden admin account that has no password by default and is easy to get at giving total control of an XP machine to anybody. The admin account you set up on installation is not the only one there, Microsoft include the hidden account to prevent you from removing your only useable admin account and losing control of your PC - but they did not make it safe.

To secure this account:

Start > Run > Type “control userpasswords2” (without the quotes) into the box then RETURN
Click on the Administrator under User Name – top option and then click on “set password” down the bottom. Enter a good password (twice) then OK it, and reboot.

If this Account is not password protected

This is how to get full access to any account on the machine. Reboot in safe mode ie keep pressing F8 when booting before the windows logo comes up. You will see a list of options one of which is "Safe Mode". Use the arrow keys to select "Safe Mode" then hit "Enter". Windows will now boot up slightly differently and as well as your normal accounts you will see an "Administrator" account. Click on this then hit "Enter" there is no password unless you have taken the steps above to secure it. When it boots up go Start > Control Panel > User Accounts. Select the accounts one by one and select "remove password" from the options. Reboot the PC normally, now all accounts have no password and you have full root access - in hacker parlance you "own the box", just click on a user name and hit Enter. This is good for getting into a lot of XP machines, vast numbers of them are unprotected.

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