In Windows 7, the administrator and guest user accounts are typically disabled. However, you may want to take this a step further and rename the accounts so that it is more difficult for someone to log into your computer by assuming the administrator account is listed as ‘Administrator’.
The steps below involve editing the local security policy of your computer. This is a very powerful tool. Make sure you have a good, working backup before proceeding.
- Open the Run command (Windows Key + R or Start, Run) then type in ‘gpedit.msc’ and press Enter or click OK.
- Alternatively, in Windows Vista and Windows 7, you can type the above command in the search box in the Start menu and it will find the program you need to run.
- When the Local Group Policy Editor appears, on the left, navigate to Computer Configuration\Wiindows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options. You can navigate by clicking on the arrows to the left of a section, as seen below.
- On the right, double click on the entry that says ‘Accounts: Rename Administrator account’
- When you double click on an entry, it will allow you to change the entry. In the box is the current username set for the default administrator account. Here you can key in anything you wish, as long as it doesnt conflict with another username. To understand better what the policy means, click on the Explain tab. When you’ve made your change, click on OK to apply the change.
To test this, log off and try logging back in, both with the old administrator username and the new one. If your administrator account is disabled, you may want to enable it first, just to run this test. Be sure to disable it when you’re done though.
To change the username for Guest, perform the same actions as listed above, with one exception. Instead of choosing ‘Accounts: Rename Administrator account’, choose ‘Accounts: Rename Guest account’. To test, the same rules apply.
Additional Tip: If for any reason the change has not applied (which for local policies, the changes typically are applied right away), you can go to a command prompt (Start, Run, ‘cmd’) and type in the command ‘gpupdate /force’. This will force the group policy to be updated.
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