Rename the Administrator for Better Security in Windows 7
Posted on May 6, 2010 at 6:45 am
One of the strangest moves made by Microsoft when it comes to Windows 7 security was to create default names for both the Administrator and Guest accounts on every copy of the operating system. A hacker, knowing these accounts exist on every installation of Windows 7, could target them to gain access to just about any PC running Windows 7.
Appropriately named Administrator and Guest, these accounts were intended to make life easier for anyone who owns or administers a Windows 7 PC. Unfortunately, wherever standardization exists, so exists high motivation for a hacker or criminal to take advantages of the vulnerabilities of that standardization to gain unauthorized access.
Luckily, Microsoft does make it easy for you to rename these two accounts to make it more difficult for a hacker to circumvent the security measures in place to protect these accounts.
Why Rename the Administrator and Guest Accounts?
Every installation of Windows 7 has two built in accounts whether they are active or not. These accounts represent a security risk because knowing the names of the accounts on a Windows 7 PC is the first step to hacking it remotely. Not knowing the names of the accounts makes it that much harder for a hacker to break into your computer and steal your personal information and files.
Regarding the Administrator, Microsoft has this to say about renaming that account:
This security setting determines whether a different account name is associated with the security identifier (SID) for the account Administrator
The same is true for the Guest account. Renaming these accounts also makes it harder for someone to guess the username and password combination for both the Administrator and Guest accounts. This makes your Windows 7 PC safer against people who have physical access to your computer.
Renaming the Accounts
To rename the Administrator and Guest accounts in Windows 7, begin by logging in to your computer with an account that has administrative privileges. Click on Start>All Programs>Administrative Tools>Local Security Policy.
In the left hand pane, click on the Local Policies folder and then on Security Options. The right hand pane will change its content to show all of the local security options available to you.
In the right hand pane, locate an option titled Accounts: Rename Administrator Account.
Right click on Accounts: Rename Administrator Account and choose Properties from the menu. This will bring up the Rename Administrator Account Properties window. Here you can name the administrator account using any name that is legally allowed by Windows 7. When finished, click the OK button.
On the Local Security Policy window, locate the option in the right hand pane titled Accounts: Rename Guest Account. Right click on this option and again choose Properties from the menu. Rename the guest account to anything you want just as you did the Administrator account above. Click the OK button when finished.
Renaming both the Administrator and Guest accounts on a Windows 7 PC adds more security to your computer. Hackers often strike at operating system vulnerabilities.
Knowing that these accounts are available on every installation of Windows 7, these two accounts are often targets for viruses, malware, and attempts to break into a PC. Rename these accounts and add another layer of security to your computer.
» Filed Under Windows 7
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6 Responses to “Rename the Administrator for Better Security in Windows 7”
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Change How Windows 7 Prompts for Admin Approval Mode Says:
[...] system environment allowing you to increase or decrease security depending on your personal need for administrative security. AKPC_IDS += [...]
May 17th, 2010 at 6:24 am
Great tip, thanks! I’ve gone in and changed both of mine. However, I didn’t have administrative tools in my list, but windows 7 has a great search function. Just click on the Windows (start) button and type Local into the search box, and it pops right up.
Not seeing “Administrative Tools” in “Start”. Also, searching for “Local” does not get us there. What flavour of Win7 is this tutorial for? With what Options set to what where?
This also can (and should) be done for the Administrator and Guest accounts in XP.
Is there any way to change the administrator account name on a remote machine?
Thanks so much for this great tip. I just purchased a new PC running Windows 7 and this constant prompting was forcing me to tap-in my credentials a dozen times a day.
You’ve just saved my head from exploding. :>