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Question RESOLVED __ SEE LATEST POST: Laptop sold to a friend with original owner's "administrator" user account -- needs to be tweaked

BonzaiDuck

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
My friend Linda -- not a computer nerd -- is on a shoe-string budget. She bought a Lenovo laptop from somebody named "Larry" at the senior center.

Larry's account persists on the system. Her account does not seem to be an "administrator" account, and I cannot figure out how to change it. But we can still log on with Larry's account, and then log off and log on again with Linda's.

This problem seemed to affect the options for installing software, or when we want to "run as administrator". We actually got the drivers and software installed for a perfectly-working flatbed Canon scanner released in 2007 -- all works fine.

But I want to purge Larry's account and upgrade Linda's to "administrator".

I've been through similar hoops on my network with 5 systems. Here's my idea and my plan.

I think we should log on as "Larry". Then -- we should ADD a new account for Linda with an account name not too different from her existing account. And in the process of adding an account, since "Larry" is administrator, we should be able to create this third account to be "administrator" as well. Further, we should be able to tie the new administrator account to LInda's "Microsoft account", or -- we could create a NEW Microsoft account (but I don't see why.)

Does any person more knowledgeable about this think it will work? Once Linda's new administrator account is created and verified, I think we can move her "User" folder functioning under her old account to the new account's folder. Is that not correct? Because I think I'd done this sort of thing before.

I don't want to proceed with a friend's computer unless I have a pretty sure way to accomplish getting to the objective with success.
 
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While logged in as Larry, go to accounts, find Linda and change account type from standard to administrator. Log out of Larry's account, log in to Linda's, go back to accounts and delete Larry's account.
 
bba-tcg said:
While logged in as Larry, go to accounts, find Linda and change account type from standard to administrator. Log out of Larry's account, log in to Linda's, go back to accounts and delete Larry's account.
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I could not find the item or link which would change the account type when logged on as Larry. Of course, it wouldn't hurt to try creating the third account because it most likely would give you the opportunity to make it an administrator account.
 
admin command prompt
net users
(identify which user is linda's - if she originally signed in with a MS account then the actual internal username might not be all that friendly)
net localgroup administrators lindausername /add
 
mikeymikec said:
admin command prompt
net users
(identify which user is linda's - if she originally signed in with a MS account then the actual internal username might not be all that friendly)
net localgroup administrators lindausername /add
Click to expand...
Thanks -- I'll copy this and save it. Then notify Linda and make plans for another visit with her laptop.
 
If the PC is new to her why not reset or reinstall windows and start new? What if Larry's PC has malware or illegal pics?

I'm guessing there is a way to reset the admin password. Yesterday I followed a procedure to do that exact thing on my Steam Deck running Steam OS.
 
I see your point with that, but I want to be as unobtrusive as possible. She has MS Office installed on the laptop. I could look again, but I don't see the install files or file. Whatever software she has and whatever she uses, I don't want to get into a situation where I'm obliged to help restoring it.

I sent her an e-mail explaining what Mikeymikec provided. Told her she might want me to perform those operations for her. She's definitely not a nerdy enthusiast such as we are here. But she uses her laptop.

I'm pretty sure there's no malware on that system. I can look at it more closely, but I doubt it.
 
If she does it while logged in as her (and auth'ing as larry for the admin command prompt), she'll need to log out and back in again afterwards for the administrative fairy dust to take effect on her account.
 
mikeymikec said:
If she does it while logged in as her (and auth'ing as larry for the admin command prompt), she'll need to log out and back in again afterwards for the administrative fairy dust to take effect on her account.
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Yeah. I've been aware of these particulars myself for working with Windows since 1993. But she isn't even close to a fraction of my experience and expertise.

I just stumbled into her dilemma because I had an old (18 years!) CanoScan 8800F flatbed scanner that continues to work perfectly, destined for the recycler, and asked her if she wanted it. All of that -- the delivery, setup with the driver and Navigator software -- is done. But in the process I discovered this accounts and security problem.

When I see something like this, I can't just "let it go". Fixing it depends on her understanding what I tell her -- her own inclination. I could just back away from the whole thing. But I think she wants it fixed.

For some reason, there is no password obstruction for logging in as "Larry" on this laptop, so we can use an Administrator account to resolve giving that status to the User/Owner of it. Otherwise, we'd have to corral all of the PDF, DOC , Outlook and other files she's scattered on the storage drive, back everything up and install a clean Windows 11.

She's a nice lady with limited means and no tech understanding. Otherwise, I can't see how I could involve myself is something that most people here would be able to resolve in less than an hour.
 
BonzaiDuck said:
Yeah. I've been aware of these particulars myself for working with Windows since 1993.
Click to expand...

I thought I'd point it out because if I was giving someone instructions and they said, "it still isn't working for this account", then I might not immediately twig because I wouldn't have the computer in front of me 🙂
 
mikeymikec said:
I thought I'd point it out because if I was giving someone instructions and they said, "it still isn't working for this account", then I might not immediately twig because I wouldn't have the computer in front of me 🙂
Click to expand...
Totally appreciated. Myself -- I'm humbled for my Command-window illiteracy. I used to know that stuff cold back in the day. Of course, one can always make queries for syntax in the command window.

But with my age and changing focus, I've slipped into "has been" status for my computer savvy. So let's just assume that I "don't know shit anymore".
 
UPDATE __ WITH ANOTHER CONCERN RELATED TO THIS THREAD

Linda gave me the "go-ahead" to raise her account status to "Administrator". We'll probably get together over the weekend.

Of course, the idea was to eliminate "Larry" as an account on her system, but now I have another concern.

The laptop came with MS Office installed, and of course Linda uses Word and Outlook. I'm wondering if deleting "Larry" will wreak havoc on either her use of or the updates to the MS Office installation.

ANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS?

I was just looking at my own "twin" systems that have been upgraded to Windows 11 (SKY and KABY LAKE, but discussed elsewhere, this has not been a problem for being short of the "eligible" list. ) All my LOCAL accounts -- a feature I'd been using on my LAN-networked systems since the mid-90s -- have been changed to my Microsoft Account", although the user names of the local accounts still persist as "default user" and "defaultuser0" when I list "net users" under the Command windows.
 
Which version of MS Office is installed?

In my experience, removing another Windows user does nothing to Office (I'm going to concentrate on =>2013) installs. Modern copies of Office activate through Microsoft accounts, and such linkage is on a per-user basis. From experience, I expect to be able to sign out of a standalone copy of MS Office without consequences, but 365 tends to revert to a "non-activated" state IIRC.

All Windows login users will be listed with NET USERS, even if they're pure Microsoft accounts. You can reset a password with NET USERS (e.g. NET USER USERNAME "", to remove the password), but this does not work with pure Microsoft accounts. I'm using the word pure because you can have a local-only Windows login user with/out Microsoft account linkage, or you can have a Microsoft account for the Windows login process.
 
mikeymikec said:
Which version of MS Office is installed?

In my experience, removing another Windows user does nothing to Office (I'm going to concentrate on =>2013) installs. Modern copies of Office activate through Microsoft accounts, and such linkage is on a per-user basis. From experience, I expect to be able to sign out of a standalone copy of MS Office without consequences, but 365 tends to revert to a "non-activated" state IIRC.
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I'll have to investigate when I visit to raise Linda to "administrator". That by itself won't affect anything adversely. But if she has Office, it wouldn't be the 365 subscription -- it would be the standalone one-time purchase license.

I suppose this is nice because it gives me another opportunity to visit my new friend. Regular dates cost more!! We'll see what she says. I appreciate your input.

UPDATE It's important to think clearly at my age. The conventional licensed installations of Office used a key code -- a series of some six sets of six characters each. I'll just need to check and see what she has. If that's the case, it shouldn't matter whose account it was installed under -- or at least I think so. Those things are tied to the machine, just like OS installations.
 
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Here's what I found out, probably of less use to the well-appreciated luminaries who've instructed me in this thread.

Beginning with the worst-case scenario -- "no apparent or available Administrator account" on a PC/Laptop -- there is a "Built-In" Administrator account which can be raised by booting into Safe Mode with Command Prompt:

On Login screen, hold down Shift key, click the Power button, select Restart.

After restart, select Troubleshoot->Advanced options->Startup settings ->Restart

A list of options will appear. One of them will be "6. Select Safe Mode with Command Prompt". Press F6 or 6

At Command Prompt, type in "net user administrator /active:yes"

Upon restart an account named "Administrator" will appear on the login screen, which has no password by default.

User is advised to create a password for this account if it is to remain active, or -- after using it to edit other accounts and/or raise one of them to Administrator status -- to reverse its availability with:

"net user Administrator /active:no"

I've "rehearsed all this on my own system so I can be sure of no unhappy surprises when I visit my friend Linda and "fix" her laptop account status.

Main advantage here: I don't have to mess with the "Larry" account. Even so, I need to research further if it had been possible for Larry to rename the built-in Administrator account with his own name. Right now, the Larry account doesn't have a password login -- the status of the built-in Administrator account when you first access it and make it available.

Then -- what happens to the "Built-in Administrator" account?
 
It remains disabled. I'm confused though, surely you said that she had been authenticating as Larry to get admin privs when needed?
 

Principle of least privilege - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

As a default, I wouldn't elevate the Linda account to admin. It's safer to use a "regular" account for daily usage, and if something were to break, that could limit the damage.

You can rename the display name of "Larry" to "AdminOnly" or whatever you want to call it. Would be sensible to put a strong password on that account, but that's up to you/her to decide.
 
Red Squirrel said:
#1 thing to do when buying a used PC is to wipe it clean and do a clean install. I wouldn't even try to salvage anything. Just start fresh.
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Surely I agree, but she's will not want to do all that. She is very emphatic that she doesn't want to learn any particulars about her computer -- she just wants to "use" it.

HERE'S WHAT I think has happened. "LARRY" renamed the built-in Administrator account. I can verify this by logging in as Larry, opening CMD as administrator, and executing "net users". If Administrator doesn't show up in the list, then THAT is what he (F***ing) DID.

I could change it back to "Administrator" after I elevate Linda to "Administrator"

As a "power user", I don't think I agree that Linda should remain a "basic user" or "standard user". She's not going to do anything with CMD; but someone helping her may need to as "Administrator".

Right now, the LARRY/Administrator account is exposed. if I change it to "/active:no", Nobody is going to know the account name to change it back to /active:yes. UNLESS -- Linda has Administrator status, so they can query for user names and find "Larry".

But I've been building my own machines since 1994 without exception. I have a laptop, but I think I'm in the Administrator group on it. I don't ever remember needing to deliberately make myself "Administrator" on any of my machines, but when I had a Windows Server in the house, I didn't give administrator privileges to the other two members of my family -- of course NOT!

If I try and sell her on the idea of a clean Windows 11 install, she doesn't even know what a disk directory is, and her files are scattered here and there. She doesn't want to lose any of it, and I would need to spend a lot of time finding and backing up her files.

See -- on the one hand, the woman insists that she "can't live without her computer -- doesn't know what she'd do without it." On the other hand, she's determined to avoid learning any more than she has to. She's 70 years old. I'm not going to convince her that she needs to learn more, even if the Senior Center has computers and computer classes for Windows.

I'm going over to her house tomorrow night. Taking carry-out fried chicken. She's really picky: Doesn't like KFC, wants Church's. I won't argue.

The problem with the Larry (Administrator) account is that it's linked to Larry's Microsoft Account -- I'm pretty sure. I'm certainly going to double-check before I do anything, but I THINK that's what I saw!

Did you know that the Catholic Church has gone into the fast-food fried chicken business? They have two chains right now: Pope-ys and Church's. Body of Christ! Crispy or Original?
 
So here is what I'm going to do over fried chicken. There are two things I do not know for sure, but I need to find out.

1) Is the Larry account a DIFFERENT administrator account than the BUILT-IN Administrator account -- which must be a LOCAL ACCOUNT?
2) Did Larry expose his built-in Administrator account and then link it to his Microsoft account? This was identified as a "loophole" in Windows 10 shown on Ten Forums. I have not found a definitive, trusted and reliable procedure to correct it, other than to do a CLEAN INSTALL of WINDOWS.

Linda cannot afford to get a new license for MS Office Pro.

I can raise Linda's account to the Administrator group. But the answers to my questions will determine what I can and cannot do to the Larry account. And I think I want to back away from this situation if she (a) doesn't want a clean windows installation, and (b) we have no license key information to restore her MS Office if we do that clean install.

I guess I'm glad I never went to work for Geek Squad. I remember one unfortunate situation in which I sold a guy -- a fellow professor -- a graphics card, and then we discovered it was faulty. That was back in 1997, and I never, ever want to find myself in such a situation again.
 
THE PLOT THICKENS . .

Turns out that I have some three or four MS Office Pro and Plus licenses -- each for multiple PCs. One is a 2016 MS Office Pro for 5 PCs. Another is a 5PC license for Office Pro Plus 2021, and I have a totally unused 2021 Office Pro Plus for 3 PCs.

I could offer Linda the "option" I wanted to avoid, since I could do a clean install of Windows 11 Pro already digitally licensed tying her hardware to the software. Then I could "give" her an installation of MS Office Pro or Pro Plus. No loss to me at this point!

Either way, though, I'm "going out on a limb" to help somebody . . .
 
SO!! I picked up carry-out at Church's Texas Chicken and visited Linda.

First, the good news -- nothing has been done to reveal or rename the built-in Administrator account on the laptop. So we logged on as "Larry" and raised Linda to the Administrator group, then logged on as Linda and deleted Larry forever.

Mission Accomplished. She still has her MS Office Home and Business. She's happy, I'm relieved and happy.
 
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