logo

Windows Reserved Usernames

A strange thing happened this weekend. While round at a friend's for dinner and drinks they asked if I could help setup their new computer for them. Nothing much to it - just had to put the right leads in the right places and turn it on. The last thing I was expecting was any problems. Everything was going ok until we got to usernames. The user's name, in this case, was Carl. When we got to this stage I told him to enter his (and his wife's) name. You know the bit I mean? Where XP asks who will be using the computer and you enter a list of names that will display each time you boot.

The last thing I was expecting was to be told that the names "Carl", "Administrator" and "Guest" are reserved and cannot be used. I had no idea why and had to tell Carl to choose another name. He's now logging in as Carlos.

The only thing I could think of was that when he called Dell and ordered the machine they added his name to it. This seems unlikely though. Plus, why do we then not see Carl and Carlos from the login screen? No, it must be that Carl is a reserved name. For what though? I've done some Googles and am still no wiser. Anybody know?

Comments

    • avatar
    • Erik
    • Mon 16 Feb 2004 06:11

    What was the name of the computer? I ran in to this when helping a friend, he had named his computer after himself and that made the name reserved.

    • avatar
    • Jake
    • Mon 16 Feb 2004 06:22

    Doh! Doh! and DOH!

    How stupid do I feel now ;o)

    I told him to call the computer anything he liked. Didn't watch but he must have called it Carl...

    • avatar
    • Nick
    • Mon 16 Feb 2004 06:48

    Hi! For a some strange coinsidence I was doing the same at the last weekend. Called the computer Nick I was in 5 minutes unable to choose Nick as a login. Now interesting part: if you change computer name will Windows allow you use old name as a login?

    • avatar
    • Jake
    • Mon 16 Feb 2004 07:02

    is that rhetorical Nick? I don't know. Going to be at their house some time today though so I may be able to find out. Watch this space...

    • avatar
    • Karel
    • Mon 16 Feb 2004 07:23

    I took notice of this _bug_ a while ago.

    I add additional user later in the config panel when first booted properly.

    • avatar
    • Andrew
    • Mon 16 Feb 2004 07:58

    had this exact same situation while helping my mom setup her Dell laptop.

    ;-(.

    They should put some warnings in the literature besides "you can name your computer whatever you'd like."

    • avatar
    • Parveen
    • Mon 16 Feb 2004 08:02

    Hi,

    Is there any way of authenticating the Lotus Notes users apat from any of the 2 methods mentioned below.

    1. Basic authentication wherein the username and password are passed in the URL or else the user is prompted with a dialog box to enter the name and pwd.

    2. Session based authentication wherein the sessions have to be enabled.

    I am facing this problem in my application where I cannot use sessions and after applying the latest MS patch it does not allow me to pass the username and password in the following format -

    "http://username:password@application.com"

    • avatar
    • Anti Ohne
    • Mon 16 Feb 2004 09:39

    Try the following construction:

    "http://<dns name server>/names.nsf?Login&Username=<user name>&Password=<your password>&RedirectTo=http://<dns name server>/<the rest of your url>"

    This works the same as the method which the MS patch broke. But remember, it will show up in your weblogs (if you don't filter them out) and without a SSL connection it's not save to use (sniffer tools).

  1. the method that Anti suggests only works if you have the Domain SSO turned on it seems.

  2. 8) Too coincidental. The exact same thing had happened to me yesterday while visiting my sister. My nephew was installing XP onto his system and was stumped when he couldn't enter his name onto the list. So, I suggested he go with "Slappy".

    I suspected he had named his computer by his first name and it was confirmed after a successful login.

    • avatar
    • Robin
    • Fri 16 Apr 2004 20:58

    I need help to come up with a username for a website. I hope you can help me with this.

    Robin

Your Comments

Name:
E-mail:
(optional)
Website:
(optional)
Comment:


About This Page

Written by Jake Howlett on Mon 16 Feb 2004

Share This Page

# ( ) '

Comments

The most recent comments added:

Skip to the comments or add your own.

You can subscribe to an individual RSS feed of comments on this entry.

Let's Get Social


About This Website

CodeStore is all about web development. Concentrating on Lotus Domino, ASP.NET, Flex, SharePoint and all things internet.

Your host is Jake Howlett who runs his own web development company called Rockall Design and is always on the lookout for new and interesting work to do.

You can find me on Twitter and on Linked In.

Read more about this site »

More Content