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Failing to have a password on the Administrator account makes your computer very vulnerable. Hackers have ways to access your computer and use the Administrator account to give them permission to do all kinds of things – if there is no password.

So, you must have a password on your Administrator account. How do you do this?

The easiest way is if you are an Administrator already. Click {Start} then right-click on {My Computer} and choose {Manage}
Click the + to expand {Local Users and Groups} then click on Users. Right-click on Administrator in the right panel and choose {Set Password}
Type in a password THAT YOU WILL REMEMBER, and type it again to confirm it.

If you aren’t allowed to do this, (you will get a warning when you open the Computer Management box) make a note of the following then log off your computer.
Note: choose {Start} then {Log Off}, not {Turn Off Computer}
In the {Log Off Windows} box, click on {Log Off}

Now press {Ctrl}+{Alt}+{Delete} - twice! This should bring up a dialog allowing you to log in as Administrator.

Make a note of the name that appears in the top line – this is YOUR username and you will need it later to log back in as you.

You need to click in the top line and type the word Administrator in the top box and then click {OK} or press {Enter}
Once you’re logged in as the Administrator, press {Ctrl}+{Alt}+{Delete} to bring up the Task Manager box and then click on {Change Password}
Type in a password THAT YOU WILL REMEMBER, and type it again to confirm it. Then click on {Start} then {Log Off}, then {Log Off} again. Type your username in the top line and in the second line, the password you created from Are you Safe? Part 2

Now you could have used the method in the last part of the procedure just explained in Are you Safe? Part 2 to change your own password. But then you’d have had to go through Control Panel anyway to see if the Administrator account was there. And now you know three ways to change passwords.

1. Press {Ctrl}+{Alt}+{Delete} to bring up the Task Manager box and then click on {Change Password}
2. Click {Start} then right-click on {My Computer} and choose {Manage} Click the + to expand {Local Users and Groups} then click on Users. Right click the User you want a new password for and enter the Password twice
3. Click on {Start} then {Control Panel} then {User Accounts} then click on the {User Accounts} at the bottom of the windows.
Click on the user account you want to change. There is a list near the top – one of the items is ‘Change My Password’ (Note:If the account has no password on it, Click {Create a password}) and enter a password that you will remember.
Click in the second line and enter the password again.
Then click in the third line and type in a hint that will help you remember what the password is.
Click {OK} and close windows to get back to the desktop again.

Please ask any questions here if you find it confusing or something doesn’t seem right to you. As Mr JM tells me the only dumb people in Computing are the programmers who are convinced they have it all correct. Users may be inexperienced or unaware, but if they appear dumb it’s because the programmer got it wrong.