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Here is the situation:

A Windows 10 (build 19041) installation has the following active local accounts:

  1. Teenager account ( without administrative privileges )
  2. Daddy account ( a member of the local Administrators group )

The Teenager username appears on the Logon screen but the password to this account is NOT known (it has been changed and forgotten). Kids...

The password to the Daddy account is known, but the Daddy account does not appear on the Logon screen because it has been hidden with:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList\"Daddy"=dword:00000000

Note, that the Daddy account is only hidden and it is not disabled (it is active) and in the past it was being used with the RunAs command successfully executed in the context of the Teenager account.

Also, Windows 10 does NOT prompt for the user name on the Logon screen because that policy is disabled by:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\"dontdisplaylastusername"=dword:00000001

See this blog post: “How to make Windows 10 ask for user name and password during log on”

Pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del multiple times on the Logon screen does not bring up the prompt for a different user name, like it did in previous versions of Windows, because Microsoft has disabled that behavior in their infinite stupidity and spite.

So how to log into the Daddy account? Would Safe Mode help?

George Robinson
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  • I would try Safe Mode. Windows 10 does not hide logins normally. Is there a right arrow attached to the login line? There might be. – John Jan 05 '21 at 22:44
  • Enable the built/-In Administration account and unhide your existing account do you can change the password of the other account. See my existing answers on how to do that – Ramhound Jan 06 '21 at 07:08
  • @Ramhound: Your tutorial on enabling the built-in Administrator account listed here: https://superuser.com/questions/1024203/how-to-get-rights-of-admin-after-i-disabled-all-admin-accounts-in-my-computer assumes that the computer can be booted from a CD, DVD or USB drive into WinRE. In this case, that assumption is false due to the lack of BIOS/UEFI access to change the boot drive. However if it is possible to edit Windows Registry (or hive) from the Safe Mode with the knowledge of the password to the ACTIVE `Daddy` account with administrative privileges, then the problem is solved. Is it? – George Robinson Jan 06 '21 at 10:10
  • @John. No right arrow exists on the login screen. – George Robinson Jan 06 '21 at 10:13
  • @GeorgeRobinson - You never mentioned not having access to your firmware settings. Are you asking me if your own problem is solved? – Ramhound Jan 06 '21 at 13:21
  • @Ramound: The BIOS password is on the SSD. I did not mention that the SSD is soldered to the motherboard either ...and a dozen of other hardware difficulties. I asked how to log into an active hidden account - not into an inactive (disabled) account. My mention of the Safe Mode was in the context of editing the Windows Registry (or a lone hive), because the active (but hidden) administrative account can be accessed after editing the `HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\"dontdisplaylastusername"`. So is it possible to log into Safe Mode as `Daddy` or not? – George Robinson Jan 06 '21 at 18:02

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