Lock screen login account disabled

[Prissy_J]

I had to do an Hp reset of my Notebook PC because of irrational behaviour. Everything was extremely slow and pages were jumping to other pages. After the Reset I now get an error message on my lock screen login page that says "This administrator account has been disabled please refer to administrator. I am the only administrator or User period on my PC. I can then click ok and login to my same regular administrator account. I cannot however change my lock screen photo any longer. Before the Reset I had a photo there. When doing the Reset I saved all my personal files and data.

[IT_WinSec]

Hi @Prissy_J

Welcome to the HP Support forum. Thank you for your post.

It looks like your account profile has been corrupted. It is good you can eventually login.

You should access the files stored in this rofile and I suggest you copy them to the main c:\ - e.g.. in C:\folder\

Create new folder in the main C:\  and paste your files there.

Create a new user account. Log off from this suspected to be corrupted account.

Login to the newly created account.

Delete the corrupted account from Windows settings, ensure that the corrupted folder is also erased C:\Users\xxxx-profilename-xxxx\

Once the new account is created, you can move the personal stuff from  C:\folder\  to the new profile.

Some tips >> http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fix-windows-issues-creating-new-user-account/

Hope this helps. Please, provide feedback and let me know if you face difficulties.

[Prissy_J]

Thank you for your help. I did what you suggested and outside of creating a new user and deleteing the old account Nothing changed. My lock screen is the same and I can't find an option on images to add it to my lock screen. 😞

PS. I forgot one thing to do, I didn't create a restore point.

[IT_WinSec]

Hi @Prissy_J

It seems to me you had 2 issues:

- the error message

- the inability to change background login screen picture

It seems that the first one ("error message administrator account has been disabled" ) is clear. Am I correct to assume this ?

With regards to the login screen background picture, please ensure your Windows is activated and follow the suggestions here >> http://www.howtogeek.com/223875/how-to-change-the-login-screen-background-on-windows-10/

[Prissy_J]

Hi. Thank you for your responce.

Yes to the first subject and my main problem. The error message that the Administrator account has been disabled, see System Administrator.

So now I have the disabled account and my new account. The New Folder you suggested worked, thank you so much for that, I was able to save my photos. I am worried now that my system no longer knows me as the owner and only User.

[IT_WinSec]

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@Prissy_J wrote:

So now I have the disabled account and my new account. The New Folder you suggested worked, thank you so much for that, I was able to save my photos. I am worried now that my system no longer knows me as the owner and only User.

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You are welcome. If you have copied the necessary files you can safely delete the corrupted/disabled account.

With regards to your question "I am worried now that my system no longer knows me as the owner and only User."

This is a machine - smart one but not a human and not a mammal - it does not know people (users) as machine's owners. You can plead for property if you have registered your PC with HP (with regards to warranty) and also with documents (proof of purchase).  Would you clarify to me what worries you with regards to the system ownership ?

[Prissy_J]

As to the ownership first, I can't delete certain files, like the other account files. I get the message "You don't have permission to do this" error. I have tried changing permission in the properties. The other account is under simply Administrators, even though I too am the administrator. I can't change the Administrators permissions and delete the files for that account.

Now, as of today, both my name and Administrator appears on the lock screen. So I tried to log into the Admin. account and was told then it was disabled and to see system administrator.

PS. Thank you for your help.

[IT_WinSec]

OK,

First thing: you need to first erase the account. Go to Control Panel > Administrative tools > Computer Management.

On the left side you will see several options:

Click on and expand "Local Users and Groups" > Users

On the right side you will see the accounts.

Click on the account you want to delete (mark/highlight it)  and click the red  X  button on top to delete the account you want to delete.

You should be able to delete the account. You cannot delete built-in accounts (built-in accounts are typically disabled and they are Administrator and Guest  accounts) as they are undeletable as per Microsoft design.  But if the corrupted account is not a built-in account and is called with different name (e.g. George), you should be able to delete it.

Eventually, please restart the PC and you should then see one account only (your new account).

When you login, you can check for leftovers in C:\Users\~xxcoruptedaccountxx~\  and delete them.

The files can safely be deleted (even with other means) - I can post them , too.

[Prissy_J]

 Users ect, folder is not there in Computer Management? What does that mean? 

Thank you.

[IT_WinSec · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Thank you for following the instructions. This means you use Home edition of Windows 10 and this option is not present in Windows 10 Home edition - it is present only in the Pro edition and in the Enterprise edition. My fault - I didn't thought of this.

Anyway, there are other means of deleting the user. Here is a tutorial how to delete a users in Windows 10 >> https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5464-user-account-delete-windows-10-a.html

Options 1, 2 and 5 should also work in the Home edition.  Please, follow them and erase the corrupted user account.

You cannot delete built-in accounts as per Microsoft design.  But if the corrupted account is not a built-in account and is called with different name (e.g. George), you should be able to delete it.

Eventually, please restart the PC and you should then see one account only (your new account).

When you login, you can check for leftovers in C:\Users\~xxcoruptedaccountxx~\  and delete them.