User Accounts in Vista Home Premium?

I am working on a laptop computer running Microsoft Vista Home Premium. I
wanted to access the utility for modifying user account permissions;
normally found in the 'Local Users and Groups' dialog within the Windows
Computer Management utility (right-click Computer icon and select Manage).
However, I cannot find any 'Local Users and Groups' option in Vista Home
Premium. Without this feature how can we enable or disable user accounts or
profiles?

Blue Max

Just like the XP Home versions, the Vista Home versions do not include the
management console snap-ins like local users and groups.

Most everything that you can do with the MMC can be done in the home
versions using direct registry edits.

There is no way to actually 'disable' an account in Vista, but you can
'hide' an account so that it is invisible on the login screen.

Let me know if this is what you want to do.

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User


"Blue Max" <mailrichard@msn.com> wrote in message
news:B0AB9C15-7F6F-49CD-A59D-CD44C5373B00@microsoft.com...
>I am working on a laptop computer running Microsoft Vista Home Premium. I
>wanted to access the utility for modifying user account permissions;
>normally found in the 'Local Users and Groups' dialog within the Windows
>Computer Management utility (right-click Computer icon and select Manage).
>However, I cannot find any 'Local Users and Groups' option in Vista Home
>Premium. Without this feature how can we enable or disable user accounts
>or profiles?
>

On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 19:04:12 -0700, Ronnie Vernon MVP wrote:

> Just like the XP Home versions, the Vista Home versions do not
> include the management console snap-ins like local users and
> groups.

The Event Viewer seems to be a MC snap-in, available in
Home-Premium.

--
Chris Game

"Hopefully the net-dwelling paranoid delusional conspiracy theorists
won't descend upon me " -- Chris Pratley, MSFT.

Chris

That's correct. The only snap-ins that are not included are things like
Group Policy, Security Policy, etc. These components are focused on managing
large numbers of systems and large groups of users, which is not usually
important to the home version users.

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User


"Chris Game" <chrisgame@example.net> wrote in message
news:1a6b4r11ijcaj$.dlg@example9876.com...
> On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 19:04:12 -0700, Ronnie Vernon MVP wrote:
>
>> Just like the XP Home versions, the Vista Home versions do not
>> include the management console snap-ins like local users and
>> groups.
>
> The Event Viewer seems to be a MC snap-in, available in
> Home-Premium.
>
> --
> Chris Game
>
> "Hopefully the net-dwelling paranoid delusional conspiracy theorists
> won't descend upon me " -- Chris Pratley, MSFT.

Thank you, Ronnie, see in-line replies below:

"Ronnie Vernon MVP" <rv@invalid.org> wrote in message
news:F9BDAA53-C51B-4DCD-AB83-8857DB928B40@microsoft.com...
> Blue Max
>
> Just like the XP Home versions, the Vista Home versions do not include the
> management console snap-ins like local users and groups.

I was afraid this might be the case. Thank you for the confirmation.

> Most everything that you can do with the MMC can be done in the home
> versions using direct registry edits.

This is good go know, a little more technical than I might have wanted, but
a useful possibility.

> There is no way to actually 'disable' an account in Vista, but you can
> 'hide' an account so that it is invisible on the login screen.

Interesting, because my Vista property dialogs for each user have an option
titled "Account is disabled" versus "Account is hidden." Nevertheless, I
think I understand what you are describing. In Windows XP the
'Administrator' account was not displayed on the 'Welcome' screen, but could
still be accessed remotely or at the 'Welcome' screen using Ctrl-Alt-Del.
Is this the same behavior we should expect in Vista? In other words, the
account is hidden, but still active?

If so, how do we access the Administrator account, for example, from the
'Welcome' screen as we did in Windows XP? And now back to our concern in
our original message, how would one ever 'Unhide' or 'Enable' the
Administrator account in Vista Home Premium, which is hidden or disabled by
default, but has no snap-in? Are we going to be forced into the registry to
change a default or is there a utility like TWEAKUI that will help with
these changes?

Thank you for the help.

> Let me know if this is what you want to do.
>
> --
>
> Ronnie Vernon
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Shell/User
>
>
> "Blue Max" <mailrichard@msn.com> wrote in message
> news:B0AB9C15-7F6F-49CD-A59D-CD44C5373B00@microsoft.com...
>>I am working on a laptop computer running Microsoft Vista Home Premium. I
>>wanted to access the utility for modifying user account permissions;
>>normally found in the 'Local Users and Groups' dialog within the Windows
>>Computer Management utility (right-click Computer icon and select Manage).
>>However, I cannot find any 'Local Users and Groups' option in Vista Home
>>Premium. Without this feature how can we enable or disable user accounts
>>or profiles?
>>
>

Ronnie Vernon MVP wrote:
>Most everything that you can do with the MMC can be done in the home
>versions using direct registry edits.
>
>There is no way to actually 'disable' an account in Vista, but you can
>'hide' an account so that it is invisible on the login screen.
>
>Let me know if this is what you want to do.
>

Ronnie,

I would like to know the registry edits to hide an account in Vista Home
Premium, and access it via Ctrl-Alt-Del twice at Welcome screen, similar to
XP Professional. Or is there another way in Vista?

I am comfortable editing the registry.

Thanks.

KMarkum

First, a Warning. Be very careful when hiding user accounts in Vista. If you
hide the only available administrative account, you can effectively lock
yourself out of performing any tasks that require administrative privileges
on the system. This is because the CTRL+ALT+DEL procedure is no longer an
option at the login screen. Also, if you hide the only user created,
visible, administrator account on the system you will not be able to log on
with this account, even in Safe Mode. Also, if you hide the only visible
administrator account, you will also not be able to logon with the Built-in
Administrator account in Safe Mode. You must have administrator privileges
to hide or un-hide a user account in Vista.

In Vista when you hide a user profile, it is really "hidden". You cannot
access this account in normal or Safe mode.

Hide Users from the Welcome Screen

Go to Start and type: regedit.exe Right click regedit.exe in the results
and select the Run As Administrator option.

Navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList

If the SpecialAccounts and UserList keys are not there, you will need to
create them.

Right click the Winlogon key and select New/Key from the menu.
Name the Key SpecialAccounts (Case sensitive)
Right click the SpecialAccounts Key and select New/Key.
Name this Key UserList (Case sensitive)

With the UserList key selected, right click in the right side pane and
select New / DWORD Value (32-bit).
Name this Value the same exact name of the user account that you want
hidden.

Double click this Value and place a 0 (Zero) in the Value Data line. Click
OK.

This will prevent the user from showing up on the welcome screen.

Do this for each account you want hidden.

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User


"kmarkum" <u38668@uwe> wrote in message news:7a7267f04f99b@uwe...
> Ronnie Vernon MVP wrote:
>>Most everything that you can do with the MMC can be done in the home
>>versions using direct registry edits.
>>
>>There is no way to actually 'disable' an account in Vista, but you can
>>'hide' an account so that it is invisible on the login screen.
>>
>>Let me know if this is what you want to do.
>>
>
> Ronnie,
>
> I would like to know the registry edits to hide an account in Vista Home
> Premium, and access it via Ctrl-Alt-Del twice at Welcome screen, similar
> to
> XP Professional. Or is there another way in Vista?
>
> I am comfortable editing the registry.
>
> Thanks.
>

Blue Max

Sorry for the long delay, I had to deal with the CA wildfires this past
week.

> Actually, you can 'disable' an account in Vista, either by using the
> option you describe or from a command line. Unfortunately, the resulting
> behavior has been changed in Vista. If you disable a user account, that
> account will no longer be available, anywhere. The CTRL+ALT+DEL behavior
> has changed in Vista. You can no longer use this keyboard combination to
> bring up the old style login dialog. If you disable or hide a user
> account, that account will no longer appear even in Safe Mode. As a
> result, you must be very careful when disabling or hiding any user
> account.

This is pretty scary stuff! Why didn't they build in a feature that would
prevent the user from hiding or disabling the only remaining administrator
account? It doesn't take a psyhic to foresee that there are going to be
some really angry users down the road who fall prey to this oversight;
potientially at great cost to themselves or their business entity.

On Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:16:29 -0700, Ronnie Vernon MVP wrote:

> If you disable or hide a user account, that account will no longer
> appear even in Safe Mode. As a result, you must be very careful
> when disabling or hiding any user account.

I thought the Administrator account enabled itself in Safe Mode if
other admin accounts were removed?

--
Chris Game

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything
that counts can be counted." - Albert Einstein

"Chris Game" <chrisgame@example.net> wrote in message
news:pqhn4bx9y0by.dlg@example9876.com...
> I thought the Administrator account enabled itself in Safe Mode if
> other admin accounts were removed?

Chris

This was the default behavior in previous versions of windows such as XP but
it works differently in Vista.

The key word here is 'removed'. If you remove all of the user created
administrator accounts, then the Built-In Administrator account will appear
on the Safe Mode login screen. This is the safety net in case all
administrator accounts have been deleted, corrupted or removed.

However, if a user created administrator account has been hidden, Vista will
still detect that account and the built-in administrator account will not
appear on the safe mode login screen.

I don't recommend hiding any accounts in Vista. If you don't want the
accounts appearing on the login screen, you can simply enable the old style
login dialog where you have to enter a user name and password. This works
even if an account has been hidden.

The bottom line here is that you don't want to assume that because something
worked in XP that it will still work the same way in Vista.
--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

I found something more useful on Microsoft KB website under: kb/555910

HOW TO: Enable the build-in Administrator account in Windows Vista
(applies to any other user)

MORE INFORMATION
To enable the build-in Administrator account, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, and then type cmd in the Start Search box.
2. In the search results list, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as Administrator.
3. When you are prompted by User Account Control, click Continue.
4. At the command prompt, type net user administrator /active:yes, and then press ENTER.
5. Type net user administrator <Password>, and then press ENTER.
Note: Please replace the <Password> tag with your passwords which you want to set to administrator account.
6. Type exit, and then press ENTER.
7. Log off the current user account.

LP
t00dy