Can I delete the Administrator Account ?

yash · 26 Dec 2009

Hello friends,

When I installed win7, I was asked to create a user account and I created one. Now in Control Panel-System and Security-Administrative tools-Computer Managements-Users and Groups, I see 3 accounts. Administrator, Guest and the account which I created during installation. Administrator and Guest account are disabled by default. Now, I want to ask that can I delete this Administrator (Built-in account for administering the computer/domain) account ? What is it for if win 7 already asks me to create an account at the time of installation ? I don't want to delete the Guest account. Will deleting the Administrator account cause any problems in future ?? What is its use ? Why Microsoft has kept this account built-in if it asks for making a new account at the time of installation ? Am I not the Administrator when I created the new account ?? Please help and clear my doubt....

Dzomlija · 26 Dec 2009

yash said:

Hello friends,

When I installed win7, I was asked to create a user account and I created one. Now in Control Panel-System and Security-Administrative tools-Computer Managements-Users and Groups, I see 3 accounts. Administrator, Guest and the account which I created during installation. Administrator and Guest account are disabled by default. Now, I want to ask that can I delete this Administrator (Built-in account for administering the computer/domain) account ? What is it for if win 7 already asks me to create an account at the time of installation ? I don't want to delete the Guest account. Will deleting the Administrator account cause any problems in future ?? What is its use ? Why Microsoft has kept this account built-in if it asks for making a new account at the time of installation ? Am I not the Administrator when I created the new account ?? Please help and clear my doubt....

The "Administrator" account that you see should not be deleted, because if something goes wrong with your current account, you'll need it to be able to login to Administrator to make fixes.

Yes, your current account is an Administrator account, but with reduced privileges for security purposes.

It is strongly recommended that you not activate the hidden Administrator account and use it for everyday computing - that is the one primary reason why XP ws so vulnarable to hacks and security breaches - all Admin level accounts had maximum privileges. While not perfect, and does not work as a substitute for a good anti-virus program, I'd suggest going into Control Panel and setting the UAC level to the max so that you can get better notifications of when programs want elevation.

gregrocker · 26 Dec 2009

Built-in Administrator Account - Enable or Disable

The first thing I do after install is enable the built-in admin account, log off, log back in as Admin, delete my named admin account in User Accounts, then I am never again bothered for anything.

It isn't recommended except for those who know what they're doing, although I tested it on my newbie roommate's computer for the past year and he hasn't had any bad effects and likes it much better.

seekermeister · 26 Dec 2009

Despite how unwise it may be, I do have and will keep the built-in administrator account active, but then I'm the only person with access to my computer, and if anything goes wrong, I have only myself to blame. The administrator account is more limited in privilege than the built in one, so personally I can't see why it couldn't be deleted, as long as the built-in administrator account remains. Of course, even though I have sole access to my computer, I still password protect all accounts, just in case.

If I were going to delete any account, it would be the "everyone" account, unless I was giving public access to my computer. For all regular users, I would have individual password protected accounts for each and every person authorized to use the computer.