Vista Super Admin

Not many people know that Vista has a hidden super-user account I will show you how to activate this Vista Administrator account via a 'Net User' command One benefit of logging on as this super account is that you will never be prompted for the nagging UAC dialog box. Logon to Vista using your normal username and password.

1. Click on the Start button

2. Click on all programs, accessories

3. Right click on Command Prompt

4. select 'Run as administrator' from the shortcut menu.

5. In the black 'DOS box'

1. The next instruction is the crucial command I have chosen password = pa$$word, you may want to choose different characters.

2. Type in or copy & paste numbers 9 &10

3. Net user administrator pa$$word

4. Net user administrator /active: yes

5. Check the message : The command completed successfully

6. Switch User, or logoff

7. Logon as Administrator Password pa$$word (Your password may be different!)

Trap1: There should be no space between the word 'active' and the colon.

/active :yes is wrong.

/active:yes is correct.

Trap2: You need a forward slash before /active

Net user administrator active:yes is wrong

Net user administrator /active:yes is correct

If you prefer a simpler method, visit the Local Security policy, incidentally, this MMC is worth exploring in its own right.

This is how you navigate to the Local Security Policy.

Firstly click on Vista's Start orb, then in the Start Search dialog box type: secpol.msc. Note: you must include the .msc extension.

Secondly drill down to Local Policy, Security Options

Thirdly double click Accounts: Administrator account status, and select enable.

Benefits of Vista's Hidden Administrator Account

The main benefit of activating this hidden Vista Administrator is so that you have access to an account, which does not suffer from the annoying UAC dialog box. Although it is possible to suppress the UAC with a local policy, there is a lingering fear that security is being weakened. Another worry is that rumours persist that some commands don't work properly if you turn off the UAC.

Linked to the benefit of suppressing the UAC dialog box is the fact that this Administrator account has elevated privileges. What this means is that if your run CMD you don't have to 'Run as administrator' before you get unrestricted access to the command line.

Another benefit of knowing this method is to keep the hidden Vista administrator account as a 'back door', for example, if you inadvertently lock out your main account. Sitting there at your computer, you can never believe that you will be so foolish as to lock yourself out, yet logic dictates that somewhere in the world, someone has just done that: locked themselves out of Vista. Would not they like to know how to activate the administrator account?

Naturally, it is a case of administrator by name and administrator by function, this super user is a member of the Local Administrator's group. In many ways this super Administrator account reminds me of the Unix root account. As I am not a 'professor' of Unix I do not know if you can hide root, but you can hide Vista's administrator account with this command:

Net user administrator /active:no.

Check Vista's User Accounts

Activating this super account provides a good opportunity to examine where you can configure Vista's accounts. Click on the Start button, Control Panel and select --> User Accounts: My point is that you can check in the GUI whether accounts have activated successfully. /Active:yes the account is visible. /active:no the User Name disappears from the list below.

Trap: Before you can make ANY changes to ANY account, you must make sure that this box is ticked:

'Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer'. See screenshot below.