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The administrator account does not appear on the Windows Vista Welcome screen

Article ID: 926183 - View products that this article applies to.

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SYMPTOMS

You notice that the administrator account does not appear on the Windows Vista Welcome screen.

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CAUSE

By default, the following conditions are true in Windows Vista:

The built-in administrator account is disabled.
The built-in administrator account cannot log on to the computer in safe mode.

Note In some cases, Windows Vista may determine, during an upgrade from Microsoft Windows XP, that the built-in administrator account is the only active local administrator account. In this situation, Windows Vista leaves the built-in administrator account enabled. Additionally, Windows Vista puts this account into Admin Approval mode.

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MORE INFORMATION

An administrator account is a user account that lets you make changes that affect other users. Administrators can change security settings, install software and hardware, and access all files on the computer. Administrators can also make a variety of changes to other user accounts.

When you set up Windows Vista, you must create a user account. This account is an administrator account that lets you set up the computer and install any programs that you want. After you finish setting up the computer, we recommend that you use a standard user account for your day-to-day computing. This practice helps make the system more secure.

For more information about how to change a user's account type, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/74603287-0ee9-4470-9a4e-3d791f95f4c61033.mspx

(http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/74603287-0ee9-4470-9a4e-3d791f95f4c61033.mspx)

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