How to copy my profile settings to the default Administrator account

[mmmelaney]

I need to replace the system's Administrator profile settings with my own -- or copy my profile to that account. (I know. It's dangerous. Bla bla bla! I built this computer myself and I run my other Win7-x86 computer this way. I NEED the extra access the account provides.)

This is Windows 7x64 SP1 Ultimate retail.

The problem is that when I fresh-installed Win7-x64 to this new computer I forgot to rename the Administrator account to myself and login to it by default. So I've put all this work into setting up my own account (part of the Administrators Group) and now want to see if I can transfer all of that work to the Administrator account after logging on to it.

I can copy Appdata over without a problem. Libraries are easy to change too. I'm worried about registry settings, Tasks, visual settings, etc. etc. If possible this includes program installations but I'll add these later if necessary.

Another reason I'm asking is because Win7 64bit has a lot more security restrictions than 32-bit. So many changes I've made, such as registry tweaks to enable video codecs, I haven't been able to apply to the Local Machine, or to All Users.

I don't think I can use Windows Easy Transfer because it will simply create a new account named something like Me2, right?

 

[karlsnooks]

Forget it.

Completely unnecessary and can only be problematic.

The built-in administrator account is seldom, and for most, never needed.

I disable the account, and the Guest account.

please go to a command prompt, that is, run cmd.exe
run following two commands and upload the resulting files that will appear on your desktop:
wmic sysaccount get Domain,LocalAccount,Name,SID,Status /format:table > %userprofile%\desktop\SystemAccounts.txt

wmic useraccount list full /format:table > %userprofile%\desktop\UserAccountsFull.txt

HOW TO UPLOAD
Post a File or Screenshot in Seven Forums

 

[gregrocker]

I believe an Admin-level account with UAC turned off is the same as Built-In Administrator account. I can't see any difference and I run them both ways.

This is not to say any but the most experienced users should turn off UAC. You know who you are.

 

[mmmelaney]

I need to use the default Administrator account.

I can already tell you what my accounts are:
Me: Administrator (no UAC)
Guest: Disabled
Administrator: Disabled (never logged in to, no folder.)

Like I said, it's my system, I built it, my risk.

I need to do many things with registry tweaks, video codecs, etc. etc. that are just easier with the access of the default Administrator. If I can't copy my profile settings over I will have to do a fresh-install again. Last resort I will go back to Win7 x86 because I'm just having too many problems configuring the 64-bit OS.

And yes, the access is higher than the User administrator accounts.

 

[mmmelaney]

There is this article here: Fix a corrupted user profile

However, it only refers to the profile folders. Like I said, that's not my problem.

I want the settings in HKCU mainly.

 

[mmmelaney]

One idea I'm thinking about is:

1. Make an Easy Transfer backup in my current profile. (Let's all it "Me".)
2. Create a temp user account -- administrator type, no UAC. (Call it "Tempy")
3. Reboot and log in to the Tempy account.
4. Delete "Me" and all it's folders (My Documents are stored elsewhere, don't worry -- I will remap the Libraries before doing this.)
5. Rename the default Administrator account to "Me," then enable it.
6. Reboot and log in to the new "Me" account.
7. Delete the Tempy account and all of its folders. Empty the Recycle Bin.
8. Reboot and log in to the new "Me" again, just to make sure all is deleted.
9. Recover my old settings by running Windows Easy Transfer and applying them "Me."

Now the only account on the computer (other than disabled Guest) would be "Me," which is also default Administrator with all its higher privileges. It SHOULD have all of my old settings (missing a few installed programs.)

The only question is, will Windows Easy Transfer try to create a new account instead of applying the settings to the default Administrator account?

I think I'll try this in a Virtual Machine and see what happens.

Anyone tried this, or have a better idea?

 

[karlsnooks]

Any good reason why you have not complied with post #2.

 

[Duzzy]

Could you upload a reg tweak or give an example of something that you can't do in a normal Administator account with UAC turned off because I havn't found anything I can't do yet.

 

[karlsnooks]

Any good reason why you have not complied with post #2?

 

[bbearren]

I believe an Admin-level account with UAC turned off is the same as Built-In Administrator account.

There are a handful of Registry entries that will give up ownership only to the default Windows Adminstrator, and not to a created member of the Administrators Group. Other than that, I haven't noticed any differences.

Oddly enough, once ownership of those particular Registry entries has been taken by the default Windows Administrator, that ownership is then shared with the Administrators Group.

I run normally as a standard user with UAC in the default setting, and the Windows Administrator account disabled.

 

[mmmelaney]

Any good reason why you have not complied with post #2?

Not trying to be difficult but I don't feel comfortable giving out detailed account info for security reasons. I gave you the list of accounts and types on my computer.

I did forget about one additional Administrator account (Call it Me2) with a different password for networking purposes. It has no folder since I've never logged on to it through this computer.

 

[mmmelaney]

Could you upload a reg tweak or give an example of something that you can't do in a normal Administator account with UAC turned off because I havn't found anything I can't do yet.

1. Deleting registry keys in HKLM via a .reg file does not work in Win7 64bit. I have to convert them to bat scripts. PITA! Worked fine in 32-bit. Don't know if default admin will help with this.

2. None of my Decoders work properly in 64-bit Media Center (particularly Haali or Divx.) Avi files won't play either. I got AC3 audio working, but had to search and change each 64-bit key myself. All worked in 32-bit with simple changes.

I have no idea how many of my customizations worked well in the 32-bit system due to running as the default Admin all the time so I want to go back to it. It has never caused me a problem. This is the last thing I want to try in my evaluation of my 64-bit upgrade. If it doesn't make things easier I will downgrade.

I have stressed above and I will say again, I make constant image backups. I am not worried about the risk here.

HKLM not changed
Many other keys needed to be added as well

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

;AC3Filter ClassID

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Decoder]
"PreferredMPEG2AudioDecoderCLSID"="{A753A1EC-973E-4718-AF8E-A3F554D45C44}"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Decoder]
"PreferredMPEG2AudioDecoderCLSID"="{A753A1EC-973E-4718-AF8E-A3F554D45C44}"

 

[karlsnooks]

mmm,
Any good reason why you have not complied with post #2?

 

[mmmelaney]

Any good reason why you have not complied with post #2?

Not trying to be difficult but I don't feel comfortable giving out detailed account info for security reasons. I gave you the list of accounts and types on my computer.

I did forget about one additional Administrator account (Call it Me2) with a different password for networking purposes. It has no folder since I've never logged on to it through this computer.

mmm,
Any good reason why you have not complied with post #2?

...

 

[karlsnooks]

There are no security issues here.
Simply upload the two .txt files.

Here are mine:
View attachment SystemAccounts.txt

View attachment UserAccountsFull.txt

 

[Duzzy]

1. Deleting registry keys in HKLM via a .reg file does not work in Win7 64bit. I have to convert them to bat scripts. PITA! Worked fine in 32-bit. Don't know if default admin will help with this.

Try this, works for me (Note the -)

;Delete Key
[[I][B]-[/B][/I]HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Decoder]
;Delete Value
"PreferredMPEG2AudioDecoderCLSID"=[I][B]-[/B][/I]

2. None of my Decoders work properly in 64-bit Media Center (particularly Haali or Divx.) Avi files won't play either. I got AC3 audio working, but had to search and change each 64-bit key myself. All worked in 32-bit with simple changes.

Can't test every codec and I don't normally use Media Center but I have ffdshow and Haali Media Splitter installed and I have tested a MKV and a AVI and they play fine.

MKV Codec's
Video = Advanced Video Codec
Audio = AC-3

AVI Codec's
Video = MPEG-4 (XVID)
Audio = MP3

I don't have any DIVX files to test but I did have two files that would not play the audio.

One has 3 audio tracks 1 MP3 and 2 Vorbis. The MP3 works fine in Media Center but Vorbis doesn't and in Windows Media Player, MP3 works but the funny thing is only one of the Vorbis tracks works the other causes the video to freeze.

The second file uses WavPack which does not play in Media Center but does in Windows Media Player.

I have done no manual editing so you can take that how ever you like, I'm not going to tell you to use a different player.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

;AC3Filter ClassID

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Decoder]
"PreferredMPEG2AudioDecoderCLSID"="{A753A1EC-973E-4718-AF8E-A3F554D45C44}"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Decoder]
"PreferredMPEG2AudioDecoderCLSID"="{A753A1EC-973E-4718-AF8E-A3F554D45C44}"

Is this a reg file that will not import the values? I ask because it imports fine for me.

 

[mmmelaney]

There are no security issues here.
Simply upload the two .txt files.

Here are mine:
View attachment 209572

View attachment 209573

Tell you what. I will edit the names and account numbers and post them. I also didn't want to deal with the hassle of getting attachments to work with Noscript turned on in here but if you really think this will tell you something I haven't already I'll mess with it.

 

[mmmelaney]

Duzzy: as you can see it's catch-as-you-can. Interesting that modifying the HKLM key worked for you through the .reg file. There are many posts about folks needing to convert them to a batch script in 64-bit. However, there are other keys that need to be added to get AC3 to work in 64-bit too.

The mkv files with no audio are not working for you because they are AC3 audio. AC3 is not working for you (Do you get the AC3 tray icon while they're playing?) Also there is more to installing Ac3 filter. But don't worry about it since you don't use Media Center.

Anyway, this is not the point. The point here is to try and get my 64-bit setup to have the same Administrator access as my 32-bit system.

 

[mmmelaney]

I have tried my Windows Easy Transfer method in a virtual machine. Sorta worked sorta didn't. Many HKCU keys were not transferred over (such as HKCU\Software\Sysinternals\Process Explorer.) The key is there but the data values are not. Also for example, the Quick launch shortcuts in both Appdata Local and Appdata Roaming are missing, even though I specifically included them in the Easy Transfer save. These got transferred when I used WET on a normal profile. I have scrapped that Virtual Machine.

HOWEVER, I did find another possibility I had forgotten about. Local Security Policy>>Local Policies>>Security Options>>User Account Control: Run all Administrators in Admin Approval Mode>> >> ENABLED.

Along with this I think there are a couple of others I had changed in the 32-bit system. This SHOULD produce the same result I was looking for without having to delete my current account or even change it. I can also leave default Administrator alone.

Fortunately I have my old 32-bit system in tact. I can simply compare the Local Policy settings (I'll check Group Policy too for the heck of it) on dual monitors and match them.

Then test to see if any of my problems go away. This, I will test in a cloned partition instead, because driver issues are not the same in a Virtual Machine.

 

[mmmelaney]

Karisnooks: Here you go. The extra accounts are for Nvidia and for VMware.