Ok I was messing with something trying to get my computer to sign directly on to 
my usual account.

Being an idiot I was doing stuff I didn't know what to do and now somehow that account 
has become the hidden admin and I have another useless one. To make it worse I cant 
reach my files.

Can anyone help me retrieve that account or at least the files?

Tip: Run a free scan for common Windows errors ad

re: Lost files to hidden admin *Urgent* Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 7:22 pm Posted by Johnb33 (2283 messages posted) Have you tried doing a system restore to see if that will fix your screw up? Do you know exactly what you did do? On Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 7:04 pm, MAtt wrote: >Ok I was messing with something trying to get my computer to sign directly on to >my usual account. > >Being an idiot I was doing stuff I didn't know what to do and now somehow that account >has become the hidden admin and I have another useless one. To make it worse I cant >reach my files. > >Can anyone help me retrieve that account or at least the files? [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Lost files to hidden admin *Urgent* Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 7:25 pm Posted by MAtt (4 messages posted) As in reformat? If so no I havent as I want to keep my files, I have a lot of work and important files in there :s I tried following advice to get rid of the welcome screen and then soon after that when trying get back in after the restriction thing I did something, I just cant remember what and it like swapped then around :s [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Lost files to hidden admin *Urgent* Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 7:35 pm Posted by Johnb33 (2283 messages posted) No, i'm not talking about reformatting. It's called System Restore, not System Recovery. Click start, programs, accessories, system tools, system recovery. It allows you to take your system back to a day where everything was working fine(except for your log in screen issue, which we can fix after you do the system restore.) Hopefully you have it enabled. Open system restore and it will come up with a calendar with days in bold type. Click on one of those days when it was working ok or the day before you screwed it up. After it gets done doing its restore, the system will reboot and hopefully it will tell you the restore was successful. On Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 7:25 pm, MAtt wrote: >As in reformat? If so no I havent as I want to keep my files, I have a lot of work >and important files in there :s > >I tried following advice to get rid of the welcome screen and then soon after that >when trying get back in after the restriction thing I did something, I just cant >remember what and it like swapped then around :s [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Lost files to hidden admin *Urgent* Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 7:42 pm Posted by Adam Bradley (8787 messages posted) Boot to safe mode and login with the account "administrator" with no password (unless you had one) and create a new a new administrative account, log out and log into that account (while still in safe mode, this builds the account's folders) then transfer the files over from the administrator account. You should not use the administrator account for day to day computer use, it is a backup in case you need to get in to fix things and if you break it you loose one of the most critical parts of the recovery toolbox. On Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 7:25 pm, MAtt wrote: >As in reformat? If so no I havent as I want to keep my files, I have a lot of work >and important files in there :s > >I tried following advice to get rid of the welcome screen and then soon after that >when trying get back in after the restriction thing I did something, I just cant >remember what and it like swapped then around :s [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Lost files to hidden admin *Urgent* Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 8:22 pm Posted by MAtt (4 messages posted) Damn, neither of those worked =( I think Im just going to have to use my back up from two months ago unless you have any suggestions? [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Lost files to hidden admin *Urgent* Sunday, October 25, 2009 at 12:49 am Posted by MAtt (4 messages posted) Oh one more problem :S Now that I want to put on my back up, I cant because those files that I cant get are taking up all the room on my hard drive, any more help? [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Lost files to hidden admin *Urgent* Sunday, October 25, 2009 at 4:03 am Posted by David (716 messages posted) Hi MAtt Backup your files before trying anything else Not sure what sort of system you have . . .? These possibilities may help? Slave the hard drive to another computer Boot with LiveCD - Puppy Linux - small footprint, Knoppix, Ubuntu . . . Google for info David On Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 7:04 pm, MAtt wrote: >Ok I was messing with something trying to get my computer to sign directly on to >my usual account. > >Being an idiot I was doing stuff I didn't know what to do and now somehow that account >has become the hidden admin and I have another useless one. To make it worse I cant >reach my files. > >Can anyone help me retrieve that account or at least the files? [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Lost files to hidden admin *Urgent* Sunday, October 25, 2009 at 4:16 am Posted by MartinM (7551 messages posted) 3 possibilities I can see: 1. From the new admin account (did you succeed in making it ?), do a Windows Explorer search for your files (they are there of course) and go through the "take ownership" process. Post back if you don't know it. 2. Boot to a Puppy Linux CD and copy the files to external media or into a new account from there - it bypasses all of Windows efforts to hide the files 3. Pop the HDD into a USB enclosure (they are very cheap) or into another PC (slightly more fiddly) and get the files that way. [Reply or follow-up to this message] Tip: Use one of the [Reply or follow-up to this message] links above to add a message to this thread Search this forum Start a new thread on a different subject Report abuse of the forum Return to the Windows XP Discussion Forum