Hide Windows accounts

[m00nbl00d]

I have two administrator accounts and a few standard user accounts for different tasks.

One of the administrator account is for one specific task, and I never need to enter it. I only use it when elevating another application.

To make the logon Welcome Screen less populated, I tried to hide that secondary administrator account. But, when I execute the application in question or any other, I only have the chance to elevate with the primary administrator account.

Apparently, hiding the account in the Welcome Screen also hides it when trying to elevate apps with it.

Is anyone familiar with a way to hide the account in the Welcome Screen, while still leave it visible when elevating apps?


Thanks

[m00nbl00d]

I found a way.

Change Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Credential User Interface to disabled.

It will make the user enter both the Admin. username and password. This makes it possible to pick the one that's hidden, while still entering credentials in the Secure Desktop.

I'm wondering if it's possible to have them both enumerated, though.

[treehouse786]

are you trying to achieve this?

[m00nbl00d]

Originally Posted by treehouse786

are you trying to achieve this?

First of all, I appreciate your feedback.

No, that's not it. It isn't what I'm looking for, and simply because I got no intentions of logging in to the administrator account in question.

I only "use" this administrator account when I execute something from within a standard/limited user account.

Now, by hiding the account, it will no longer appear in the welcome screen, and I'd have to press CTRL ALT DEL to have the screen the image you provided shows.

That's not what I want, considering I have no intentions of entering the admin. account. So, I got no need to press the keys combination.

What I wanted/want is to hide the account, which I have, and still have it enumerated when I right-click something when choose Run as administrator.

Unfortunately, by hiding this administrator account, it will no longer be enumerated. Only my regular administrator account appears enumerated.

The only way I've found to be able to still elevate something with the hidden administrator account was what I mentioned in my second post:

Change Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Credential User Interface to disabled.

By doing this, I don't have any administrator accounts enumerated when right-clicking something and Run as administrator/when I execute something that requests administrative rights.

But, I do get the choice to enter both the name and password of the administrator accounts.

I still found no way to have the hidden administrator account enumerated as well.

But, the workaround works fine. I just have to type both username and password, instead of picking an administrator username and entering password.

P.S: I hope it's not too confusing... lol

[treehouse786]

it would help if i knew what 'enumerated' meant

googled it but it still does not make sense to me in this context.

i will read ur post occasionally throughout the day and will let you know the outcome.

[jdd58]

Originally Posted by m00nbl00d

I have two administrator accounts and a few standard user accounts for different tasks.

One of the administrator account is for one specific task, and I never need to enter it. I only use it when elevating another application.

To make the logon Welcome Screen less populated, I tried to hide that secondary administrator account. But, when I execute the application in question or any other, I only have the chance to elevate with the primary administrator account.

Apparently, hiding the account in the Welcome Screen also hides it when trying to elevate apps with it.

Is anyone familiar with a way to hide the account in the Welcome Screen, while still leave it visible when elevating apps?


Thanks

Actually I have been trying to find the reverse of this since malware hid some accounts on a co-workers Win 7 Home laptop.

I have not found a way to restore the accounts to the logon screen. The accounts are still there, you just have to manually type in the username and password. I think thats what moonblood means by enumerate.

[CloneRanger]

@ m00nbl00d

Hi, just a thought, could you try and swap the Admin accoints ?

Also i don't know if this would be of any use ? Reprofiler http://iwr.cc/reprofiler but it "might" be worth a look

[m00nbl00d]

Originally Posted by treehouse786

it would help if i knew what 'enumerated' meant [...]

OK...

1) When you right-click something and choose "Run as administrator" or when you execute something that asks for administrative rights, under a standard user account, you'll be presented with the available Administrator accounts (hence they're enumerated), and then you can choose under which Administrator account you wish to run XYZ program/installer/file.

2) If you hide an Administrator account from the Welcome Screen (also no longer being enumerated in the Welcome Screen), it will automatically remove it from the options I talked in 1).

That is, you'll no longer* be able to execute something under the credentials of that hidden Administrator account, because it's no longer shown as an option when you choose "Run as administrator" or when you execute something that asks for administrative rights, under a standard user account.

* You can execute something under the hidden administrator account if you do what I already mentioned, though, in post #2.

But, you have to manually enter both username and password. And, that includes any administrator account, not just the hidden one.

Normally, we just pick which administrator account we wish to use and enter our password.

[m00nbl00d]

Originally Posted by CloneRanger

@ m00nbl00d

Hi, just a thought, could you try and swap the Admin accoints ?

Also i don't know if this would be of any use ? Reprofiler http://iwr.cc/reprofiler but it "might" be worth a look

I'm not trying to restore user accounts or issues with them.

I was just wondering if there's some tweak/setting I could apply that, despite having a hidden administrator account, I could still have it enumerated when I choose "Run as administrator" or execute something requesting administrative privileges.

It appears there isn't a way, though. Only administrator accounts enumerated in the Welcome Screen will appear/will be enumerated when we execute something with "Run as administrator" or execute something requesting administrative privileges.

[CloneRanger]

@ m00nbl00d

Here's how i see it If i need some advice/help etc, i prefer if someone posts with ideas etc, rather than not, even if they might not work. Sometimes they do, and/or make me think further. Plus a given link/s might provide other useful stuff etc

[m00nbl00d]

Originally Posted by CloneRanger

@ m00nbl00d

Here's how i see it If i need some advice/help etc, i prefer if someone posts with ideas etc, rather than not, even if they might not work. Sometimes they do, and/or make me think further. Plus a given link/s might provide other useful stuff etc

I apologize if, somehow, I made you feel like I was being unthankful. I do thank you for your feedback.

And, I do agree with you, when you say Plus a given link/s might provide other useful stuff etc. It's one of the reasons that made me start this thread and others. Whenever I try to do some stuff and I don't find a solution in the first seconds, I start a thread and then I just update it with ways to do what I just asked about. Hopefully, others will find it useful and also bring useful ideas, as well.

I could have simply try and find every possible solution, before posting here. But, what would be the fun in doing that? None. In the end, I wouldn't end up posting and no one else would know about something they could consider useful for them, etc.

For example, user treehouse786 didn't understand the meaning of enumerated user accounts. So, at least, this thread brought something good. So, I'd like to think...

So, it's all about brainstorming...

Again, I apologize if I sounded unthankful.

[CloneRanger]

@ m00nbl00d

Nice post

Yeah, brainstorming can be good, mostly