Many people ask me why there is no built-in administrator account available in Windows 8/7/Vista like previous Windows versions? Why can’t we see the hidden administrator account showed up on the welcome screen? Actually, when we install Windows, it automatically creates an account “Administrator” and sets its password to blank. In Windows 8/7/Vista, the account is disabled by default for security purposes.

You can rename the built-in administrator account but you aren’t allowed to delete it, so this account always exists in any Windows operating system. You might want to enable it for troubleshooting or to get rid of the annoying UAC prompts while tweaking your system. So here I’ll describe how to enable / disable the hidden Administrator account in Windows 8/7/Vista, it requires you to log in to Windows with another administrator account.

How to Enable Built-in Administrator Account in Windows 8/7/Vista?

1. First open the Run box by pressing Win + R keys.
2. Now type the following command:
   net user administrator /active:yes
3. You should see a message that the command completed successfully. Log out, and you’ll now see the Administrator account showed up on the login screen.

How to Disable Built-in Administrator Account in Windows 8/7/Vista?

1. First open the Run box by pressing Win + R keys.
2. Now type the following command:
   net user administrator /active:no
3. The administrator account will now be disabled, and shouldn’t show up on the login screen anymore.

Never enable the hidden Administrator account until required. It’s better to use other administrator accounts for better security. Also the built-in administrator account has no password, so if you enable it then don’t forget to set a strong password for it.

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