Suddenly have Administartor as a user at log-on

[starchman]

Win7 Home Premium, Asus Intel i3 laptop. Some time ago, I had to be a full administrator to make some change or another. I unfortunately do not remember the details, or how I created the account. However, now when I turn on the computer, I have a choice of 2 users, Administrator, or my normal log on user, which I always thought had admin privileges, but but nonetheless, the user account I always use with generally no problems. I read somewhere that if I delete this Administrator user account, that I would never again be able to re-create it. Not sure if that is true or not, but I have never deleted it.
Is there a way I can delete this Administrator user account? Thanks for many help.

[Miz]

You only need to disable the account, not delete it, for the login icon to disappear. You can re-enable it anytime.

To disable it, open an elevated command prompt (click the Start button, type "command" and "Command Prompt" should appear at the top of the list, right click it, left click "Run as administrator").

In the Command window, type or copy and paste from here:
net user administrator /active:no

Press the Enter key and close the command window.

[starchman]

Thanks Miz for your reply. I tried to do as you instructed, except when I right clicked Command prompt, there was no Run As Administrator. The user I almost always log on with is supposed to have administrator privileges, but for the one thing I tried to do some time in the past, I had to be a true administrator, and hence that Administrator user icon on my start up page. I am guessing that because I am logged on as an administrator of some sort, that this is the reason Run as Administrator does not appear. Am I correct? Should I create another user that has no administrator privileges and try your fix? This whole Administrator thing is quite confusing to me. I thought I had it figured out for XP, but Win7 seems to be different. Thanks again for your help.

[Miz]

Yes, Win7 is different from XP in the way you access the administrator account. I'm not an expert in its use.

Yes, go ahead and set up another user account with administrator privileges and see if you get the "Run as administrator" option in that one. If so, try using it to disable the main Administrator account.

[starchman]

Thanks Miz for answering. Ok, so I created a new Administrator user and an non Administrator user. I did as you suggested by right clicking Command Prompt after logging on as each one separately, and there was no Run As Administrator in either one. Am I doing something wrong? Missing something? I don't want you to spend a lot of time working on this for me, I mean this situation is an annoyance, not anything that prevents me from using my computer. Thanks in advance for your help.

[Miz]

See if anything in this thread is helpful for the "Run as" problem.

Other than that, I'm out of ideas.

[starchman]

Thanks Miz, I checked the thread you suggested but there was nothing that worked for me. I will just leave this alone for now. Last question, can I simply delete the Administrator user that shows up where I have to choose between it and my normal user account? Is there any danger if I do delete it? The reason I want to eliminate this user, is to have the computer continue to boot without me having to choose which user to have it boot into. I am retired, and there is only my wife and I at home, and she has her own laptop, so no one else uses my machine. Thanks again.

[Miz]

Oh, dear, it looks like I totally misread your original post. I thought we were talking about the main, usually hidden, Administrator account, not a user account you created.

My apologies.

Yes, you can delete any account you created in Control Panel>User Accounts.

If you want to leave the account you created yet remove it from the logon screen, you will first need to put a password on the account you want to go straight into when you boot up.

Then go to the command prompt, type "control userpasswords2" (without the quotes, with the space after "control), press the Enter key (or click OK).

In the window that opens, uncheck "Users must enter a username and password to use this computer," click OK.

In the window that opens, make sure the account you want to boot into is in the Username field, type the password you created earlier, click OK.

It should then boot straight into your original user account without having to enter a password every time or click on the account you want to logon.

[starchman]

Thanks Miz for your reply. Well, I did exactly as you wrote and rebooted. The first screen that appeared asked for the password for the user account I want to boot into. I typed the password I created as per your instructions and it said that it was incorrect! Oh Oh, what to do now? I tried the password several times with no luck. I have never heard of a password disc, and of course I don't have one. (I do now) Fortunately I was able to gain access to the computer through the very administrator account I have been trying to eliminate.
I removed the password for the everyday user account and I still cannot log into that account. I regained access via the administrator account and switched user to the desired user account, removed the password and rebooted. Still cannot get into it from the logon screen, so again used the administrator user to get in. Funny thing I noted, when switching user, it never asked for a password, yet at log on, it would not accept the password I created with your instructions. Next I recreated the password for my normal user. So I went to command prompt,entered your control passwords2 and checked the box saying all users must use password and now when I boot up, at the log on screen, I can at least log into my account using the password. I guess I will leave well enough alone and live with the delay at start up where I must choose which user to log into and now have to enter a password. I guess I shall just leave things as they are, but I want to thank you for your time in trying to help me. Apologies for the long post, just trying to explain what happened. Cheers.