For security reasons, your regular Carleton account is not an administrator account on Windows computers. For things that require administrator rights, there is a separate .\admin account that you can use. The password for this account should be something that only you know, and it should be different from your regular Carleton password.
-
Contact the ITS Helpdesk to ask for the temporary .\admin account password that was assigned to your machine (call x5999 or open a ticket)
-
Open the Start menu and search for lusrmgr.msc
-
Right click on lusrmgr.msc, and then click Run as administrator.
-
Log in using .\admin as the username (note the \, not /), and the temporary password the Helpdesk gave you
-
Double click on Users
-
Right click on the admin user (not “Administrator” or “Carladmin”), and select Set Password…
-
Click Proceed
-
Enter a new password, and click OK
-
Click OK to confirm the change, and close the user manager window
Notes about setting this password:
The password for the .\admin account is completely disconnected from any of your other accounts, including your regular Carleton one. We recommend setting a unique passphrase not only so that there is greater account security but also because if you use your Carleton password, this .\admin password will not update if you update your Carleton password. For this reason we recommend keeping a record of this password, and we highly recommend using a secure password manager to do so.
Since this password guards your computer system from unauthorized changes, do not enter it if you get an unexpected request for it or if the request comes from a program you do not recognize. When in doubt, call the ITS Helpdesk: 507-222-5999.