Difference between Administrator and created Admin account in XP

[jryan25]

I know the Administrator account is the end all king user but I thought if one had Administrative rights they could be seen as the same? If I right click a folder in XP Pro under my name with Admin rights (I have other names under limited users to browse the web etc to cut down on Spyware) it will not show the Security tab. Any ideas?

 

[JonnyBlaze]

Click the add button, advanced, find now and pick the admin account you want to add.

 

[jryan25]

No I think you mis understood my question.

I am telling you I created an Admin account under the User Accounts in control panel to do Administrative tasks in XP (this was before I disable the Welcome screen that doesn't show "Administrator" unless going into Safe Mode so now I can just CTL+ALT+DEL my way into the Administrator account easily. I was just curious that even though the login in wasn't "Administrator" but I was using Admin which technically is set to an "Administrator" account and not a "limited user" why did I not see the Security tab under Properties on a folder right click? I figure if I log in as Administrator it will show it I was just curious why this other admin user name would not. Thanks.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: jryan25
No I think you mis understood my question.

I am telling you I created an Admin account under the User Accounts in control panel to do Administrative tasks in XP (this was before I disable the Welcome screen that doesn't show "Administrator" unless going into Safe Mode so now I can just CTL+ALT+DEL my way into the Administrator account easily. I was just curious that even though the login in wasn't "Administrator" but I was using Admin which technically is set to an "Administrator" account and not a "limited user" why did I not see the Security tab under Properties on a folder right click? I figure if I log in as Administrator it will show it I was just curious why this other admin user name would not. Thanks.

Is it a file you own? Is it a file you have rights to modify?

 

[Nothinman]

I know the Administrator account is the end all king user but I thought if one had Administrative rights they could be seen as the same? If I right click a folder in XP Pro under my name with Admin rights (I have other names under limited users to browse the web etc to cut down on Spyware) it will not show the Security tab. Any ideas?

Any admin account can be locked out of files, but as an admin you can take ownership and change the rights so that you can see it if you want.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

I know the Administrator account is the end all king user but I thought if one had Administrative rights they could be seen as the same? If I right click a folder in XP Pro under my name with Admin rights (I have other names under limited users to browse the web etc to cut down on Spyware) it will not show the Security tab. Any ideas?

Any admin account can be locked out of files, but as an admin you can take ownership and change the rights so that you can see it if you want.

Guys, he knows this, but the security dialog box to actually do this isn't being shown for him. Hence the question...

To the OP. Is Simple File Sharing turned on or off?

 

[jryan25]

It is on my computer. I wasn't asking for a specific file but the difference in the XP Made Administrator account (THe one XP makes you choose a pass for upon installation) and another admin account you create on your own. I was using the admin account I used on my own, right clicking a folder that yes I installed something for (Half Life 2 to be exact for what I was doing at the time) and trying to give my little brother access to the steam folder (as the error said it would need to write to it). But I was asking mostly if there was differences in using the XP made admin vs man made admin. Thanks.

 

[jryan25]

bsobel hit the nail on the proverbial head! That is all I was asking, I know it came out confusing but that is what I was looking for. You know what perhaps that is turned off, I will check that tonight. Would that disable a security tab? Makes sense.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: jryan25
bsobel hit the nail on the proverbial head! That is all I was asking, I know it came out confusing but that is what I was looking for. You know what perhaps that is turned off, I will check that tonight. Would that disable a security tab? Makes sense.

Yea, they are tied together. As for your original question, technically the only difference between the 'real' administrator account and the one you created is that (short of renaming it) the real one has a well known name 'administrator'. Thats bad since any attacker already knows the account name, he just needs to start attacking passwords. Better to make the attacker discover both (that and few people like having their name be 'administrator' vs their real name).

 

[RebateMonger]

Also, the "Administrator" account is special. It's built-in and can't be deleted. Furthermore, the "Administrator" account isn't subject to "Lock-Out" due to repeated login errors.

 

[jryan25]

Well I changed the guest account name to "Tony" haha, even though it is turned off in the policies. Should I change the name of the Administrator? I am guessing so.

Also, where do I enable simple file sharing? I can't remember off the top of my head though I know I have seen it. Thank you both so much for your answers!

 

[stash]

I've never really bought into the theory that changing the admin account name slows down a hacker. The administrator account uses a well known SID, the account name doesn't matter.

User names should be treated as public information. It is ridiculously easy to figure out what a given person's username is. Just get them to send you email.

However, renaming the admin account and the guest account does have one benefit. It makes it somewhat easier to audit when someone is trying to use that account.

 

[rileychris]