Why is Administrator logged in?

Discussions around the setup, operation, replacement, and disposal of clerk computers, not to include using MLS
aclawson
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Why is Administrator logged in?

#1

Post by aclawson »

Sat down at the admin computer just now and I noticed that the Administrator account is logged in and active in the background. Anybody know of any reason why this would be?
jdlessley
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Re: Why is Administrator logged in?

#2

Post by jdlessley »

aclawson wrote:Anybody know of any reason why this would be?
Sounds like someone has been using it by remote access, or someone just did not shut down the computer.
JD Lessley
Have you tried finding your answer on the ChurchofJesusChrist.org Help Center or Tech Wiki?
russellhltn
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Re: Why is Administrator logged in?

#3

Post by russellhltn »

Where were you looking? Microsoft updates were issued just this past Tuesday. I'm wondering if some updating was going on in the background.
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aclawson
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Re: Why is Administrator logged in?

#4

Post by aclawson »

It was on the logon screen with the user icons - both the Administrator and the Clerk user icons were identified as being logged in. Somebody must have changed the settings on this machine because I always tweak the settings to require people to actually type in the username and password rather than clicking on the icon (so people aren't tempted to log on as administrator).

Even better is to require users to hit CTRL-ALT-DEL to get to the login prompt. (To do that, enter the CMD window and type "control userpasswords2" and check the box on the Advanced tab. I know you don't HAVE to run it from a CMD window but if you do it that way then the command doesn't show up in the windows run history which makes it less likely that somebody will play with the settings.)
russellhltn
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Re: Why is Administrator logged in?

#5

Post by russellhltn »

aclawson wrote:Somebody must have changed the settings on this machine because I always tweak the settings to require people to actually type in the username and password rather than clicking on the icon (so people aren't tempted to log on as administrator).
Well, there you go. Sure sounds like someone is messing with the machine.
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Mikerowaved
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Re: Why is Administrator logged in?

#6

Post by Mikerowaved »

aclawson wrote:Somebody must have changed the settings on this machine because I always tweak the settings to require people to actually type in the username and password rather than clicking on the icon (so people aren't tempted to log on as administrator).
You didn't specify, but I have to assume you're dealing with Windows XP, since Windows 7 has the Administrator account disabled by default. Here I'm a bit confused, because with XP, the default setting is for the Administrator icon to NOT be visible at the Welcome Screen, so I don't see where the temptation would come from.
aclawson wrote:Even better is to require users to hit CTRL-ALT-DEL to get to the login prompt.
I'm uncertain that's "better". The classic login screen has no restriction from anyone simply typing "Administrator" for the User Name.
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russellhltn
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Re: Why is Administrator logged in?

#7

Post by russellhltn »

Mikerowaved wrote:I'm uncertain that's "better". The classic login screen has no restriction from anyone simply typing "Administrator" for the User Name.
I think "out of sight, out of mind" applies here. If you display the option, someone will want it.
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Mikerowaved
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Re: Why is Administrator logged in?

#8

Post by Mikerowaved »

russellhltn wrote:I think "out of sight, out of mind" applies here. If you display the option, someone will want it.
But that's my point. Once any other account gets created (like "Clerk"), Windows XP automatically removes the Administrator icon from the Welcome Screen.
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russellhltn
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Re: Why is Administrator logged in?

#9

Post by russellhltn »

Mikerowaved wrote:Once any other account gets created (like "Clerk"), Windows XP automatically removes the Administrator icon from the Welcome Screen.
I'm not 100% sure about that. A quick Google suggests that it requires another admin account to be created. Even then, there's a registry hack to make it appear.
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aclawson
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Re: Why is Administrator logged in?

#10

Post by aclawson »

This is windows 7.
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