In order for an attacker to gain access to your system, they really only need two things: a valid username and its associated password. It’s easy for an attacker to learn what operating system and application vendors do by default when their product is installed.Therefore, everyone knows that Windows sets up a User Account called Administrator, which by default is a member of the Administrators group, and that Windows XP creates these accounts with blank passwords during installation.With this information, an attacker has the keys to the kingdom so to speak.
While there are ways that an attacker can tell which account is truly the Administrator account, it is recommended that you rename the Administrator account to make it harder to find.This way, you will at least protect your system from novice or casual hackers.
You should select a name which means something to you, but that doesn’t make it obvious it’s an Administrator account—in other words, calling it Home or Family or even some variation of your own name (for instance “Chuck” if your name is Charlie, or “Mike” if your name is Michael). If you rename it to Admin or LocalAdmin or anything else, it will still look like an administrative account and you won’t be able to throw off an attacker for long.
You can rename the Administrator account by following the steps listed earlier to open the Computer Management console and clicking the plus sign next to Local Users and Groups, and then clicking Users.You can then right-click the Administrator account and select Rename.You will have to use a different account with Computer Administrator privileges to make the change, however, because you can’t rename the account you’re currently logged in under. Windows XP Home does not create an “Administrator” account per se (it does exist as a hidden account that is only visible if you log in using SafeMode), but you should follow similar logic in deciding what to name accounts given Computer Administrator privileges.
