To rename the Administrator account using the Group Policy Management Console

  • Article

To complete this procedure, you must be logged on as a member of the Domain Admins security group.

  1. Open Server Management.
  2. In the console tree, click Advanced Management, right-click Group Policy Management Console (GPMC), and then click Add forest.
  3. In the Add forest dialog box, enter the domain name. When prompted Do you want to add this forest with this domain?, click Yes.
  4. In the GPMC tree, click Forest:ForestName, click Domains, right-click DomainName, and then click Create and Link a GPO Here.
  5. In the New GPO dialog box, in the New box, type the name that you want to use for this policy (for example, Rename administrator account), and then click OK.
  6. In the GPMC tree, click Group Policy Objects located under the Windows Small Business Server domain name, right-click the Rename administrator account Group Policy object that you created, and then click Edit.
  7. In Group Policy Object Editor, click Computer Configuration, click Windows Settings, click Security Settings, click Local Policies, and then click Security Options.
  8. In the details pane, double-click Accounts: Rename administrator account.
  9. Select the Define this policy setting check box, and then type the new name for the Administrator account.
  10. Click OK, and then close Group Policy Object Editor.
  11. Close the Group Policy Management Console.
  12. After changing the Administrator account name, you need to log off and then use the new name to log back on as an administrator on the server.

Notes

  • To open Server Management, click Start, and then click Server Management.
  • To change the name back to Administrator for the account, repeat the preceding procedure. To revert to the Administrator account, do not disable the Rename Administrator Account Group Policy; instead, change the name back to "Administrator," using the GPMC tool, and then clear the Accounts: Rename Administrator Account check box. After the system updates the information, disable the Rename Administrator Account Group Policy.