Safe Mode Administrator Vs. Other Admin.

I've started the process of removing a particularly pernicious piece of malware, which means I need to enter Safe mode.

I can enter Safe Mode just fine, but two users pop up, which don't exist in normal mode. My default user is an administrative mode called Bill, no password. A second administrative mode also comes up when loading Safe Mode, Administrator. If I click on this one it asks for a password.

Back when I was installing Windows XP Pro I did not enter any password for administrator, but now it appears it will not accept enter. How do I find out, or set, the password for Administrator so I can access both user modes.

Again, this only applies in Safe Mode.

Thanks.

 

If you can log in as the "Bill" admin account, you can do the following to reset the "administrator" password:

1. Log in
2. Hit windows key + r (or click Start --> Run)
3. In the 'Run' dialog, type 'control userpasswords2' (without the quotes)
4. Press enter, or click the 'OK' button

You should see a dialog listing all user accounts on this computer. All that's needed now is to highlight the desired account, and press the 'Reset Password' button.

For computers that use the welcome screen, (or Home editions of XP), safe mode is the only time you should see the admin account listed. Recommend the password is NOT left blank, as this is the most common backdoor into XP systems. (Hit CTRL+ALT+DEL twice at the Welcome screen to access the classic login, where you can manually enter the admin account credentials)

 

II'll add a password to the administrative account. Thank you for the help.