I accidently made our only account a limited account. Now I have no way of
doing any of the administrative stuff. I also have no way of making new users
for my family. How do I switch it to an administrative account?

"Ashley" <Ashley@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F0D6FD1A-1015-4D27-B205-B5CF9A594873@microsoft.com
> I accidently made our only account a limited account. Now I
> have no way of doing any of the administrative stuff. I also
> have no way of making new users for my family. How do I
> switch it to an administrative account?

You need to logon to the computer with the built-in
Adminstrator account.

If you have Windows XP Home Edtion installed, you'll need to
restart the computer in Safe Mode. To start in Safe Mode,
reboot your computer and
start tapping the F8 key as soon as you see anything displayed
on the screen. Keep hitting F8 until the Advanced Startup
Options menu appears. Use the up and down arrow keys on your
keyboard to select Safe Mode. Hit Enter. Next, hold down the
Shift key in order to display the Welcome Screen. Once the
Welcome Screen is displayed, you should logon with the
Adminstrator account.

If you have Windows XP Professional Edition installed, you can
simply log off with your current account and hit Ctrl + Alt +
Del when you see the Welcome Screen. This should give you
access to the "Logon to Windows" dialog box. You can enter
Adminstrator in the User Name line and log on with that
account.

Once you're logged on with the Adminstrator account, you can go
to Control Panel and run User Accounts to make whatever changes
you want. Instead of changing your current account from
limited, you might want to consider creating another account
which is a Computer Administrator. Using an adminstrator
account for daily computer operations is somewhat of a security
risk. If you need to perform any administrative tasks, you
could log off your everyday account and log back on with the
new account.

Good luck

Nepatsfan

That still does not work. It seems as if there is no way to even get to an
administrative account. It will not let me at all.

"Nepatsfan" wrote:

> "Ashley" <Ashley@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:F0D6FD1A-1015-4D27-B205-B5CF9A594873@microsoft.com
> > I accidently made our only account a limited account. Now I
> > have no way of doing any of the administrative stuff. I also
> > have no way of making new users for my family. How do I
> > switch it to an administrative account?
>
> You need to logon to the computer with the built-in
> Adminstrator account.
>
> If you have Windows XP Home Edtion installed, you'll need to
> restart the computer in Safe Mode. To start in Safe Mode,
> reboot your computer and
> start tapping the F8 key as soon as you see anything displayed
> on the screen. Keep hitting F8 until the Advanced Startup
> Options menu appears. Use the up and down arrow keys on your
> keyboard to select Safe Mode. Hit Enter. Next, hold down the
> Shift key in order to display the Welcome Screen. Once the
> Welcome Screen is displayed, you should logon with the
> Adminstrator account.
>
> If you have Windows XP Professional Edition installed, you can
> simply log off with your current account and hit Ctrl + Alt +
> Del when you see the Welcome Screen. This should give you
> access to the "Logon to Windows" dialog box. You can enter
> Adminstrator in the User Name line and log on with that
> account.
>
> Once you're logged on with the Adminstrator account, you can go
> to Control Panel and run User Accounts to make whatever changes
> you want. Instead of changing your current account from
> limited, you might want to consider creating another account
> which is a Computer Administrator. Using an adminstrator
> account for daily computer operations is somewhat of a security
> risk. If you need to perform any administrative tasks, you
> could log off your everyday account and log back on with the
> new account.
>
> Good luck
>
> Nepatsfan
>
>
>
>
>

What exactly did you try to do?

Did you try to boot into Safe Mode? What happened when you did?

What, if any, error messages are you getting?

Please provide some more details. For starters, what version of
XP is installed on your computer, Home or Professional?

Post back with as much information as you can.

Nepatsfan

"Ashley" <Ashley@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F669EFD0-23B0-42F8-8FC1-AE03F7384907@microsoft.com
> That still does not work. It seems as if there is no way to
> even get to an administrative account. It will not let me at
> all.
>
> "Nepatsfan" wrote:
>
>> "Ashley" <Ashley@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:F0D6FD1A-1015-4D27-B205-B5CF9A594873@microsoft.com
>>> I accidently made our only account a limited account. Now I
>>> have no way of doing any of the administrative stuff. I
>>> also have no way of making new users for my family. How do
>>> I switch it to an administrative account?
>>
>> You need to logon to the computer with the built-in
>> Adminstrator account.
>>
>> If you have Windows XP Home Edtion installed, you'll need to
>> restart the computer in Safe Mode. To start in Safe Mode,
>> reboot your computer and
>> start tapping the F8 key as soon as you see anything
>> displayed on the screen. Keep hitting F8 until the Advanced
>> Startup Options menu appears. Use the up and down arrow
>> keys on your keyboard to select Safe Mode. Hit Enter. Next,
>> hold down the Shift key in order to display the Welcome
>> Screen. Once the Welcome Screen is displayed, you should
>> logon with the Adminstrator account.
>>
>> If you have Windows XP Professional Edition installed, you
>> can simply log off with your current account and hit Ctrl +
>> Alt + Del when you see the Welcome Screen. This should give
>> you access to the "Logon to Windows" dialog box. You can
>> enter Adminstrator in the User Name line and log on with
>> that account.
>>
>> Once you're logged on with the Adminstrator account, you
>> can go to Control Panel and run User Accounts to make
>> whatever changes you want. Instead of changing your current
>> account from limited, you might want to consider creating
>> another account which is a Computer Administrator. Using an
>> adminstrator account for daily computer operations is
>> somewhat of a security risk. If you need to perform any
>> administrative tasks, you could log off your everyday
>> account and log back on with the new account.
>>
>> Good luck
>>
>> Nepatsfan