Administrator Desktop Default

I've never had problems with dial-up but since DSL became available in my area (and I just couldn't pass it up!), something interesting has happened.

When I booted my computer today and logged in as Administrator, I got a "generic" desktop with the standard shortcuts. Curious, I opened Windows Explorer and found that I now have two Administrator folders: one is labeled 'Administrator' and the other is 'Administrator.bak'. The Desktop located in Administrator.bak is has all the shortcuts I've saved but the computer insists on starting up with the wrong one.

How to fix? And why did this happen? Computer is connected to a LAN cable which, in turn, is connected to my DSL modem. Could this be the result of a hack?

Much obliged.

 

Your original Administrator profile (now administrator.bak) was probably corrupt. And if you rename/delete a profile then log off and back on with that username, the system creates you a new, generic profile.

Not really sure what would have caused the specific rename you mention. But if the information in the .bak profile for desktop and other personal items is still there, you can get it back. Just create yourself another account and add it to the administrator group. Then log on with that new account and simply move the things from the .bak profile to the administator profile.

That being said, it's a bad idea IMO. The Administrator account should be kept generic and you should create another account to use on a routine basis. If it's part of the administrator local group, it will have the same rights.

Before going any further though, I'd strongly suggest you run an online virus scan of the PC followed by an online scan by one of the anti-trojan specialty programs. It's possible a critter did the deed and some of them can disable or cripple your installed AV software.

After that I'd suggest deleting or renaming the adminstator account, logging off, and back on to create a new administrator account you know is clean. Then protect that account with a strong password. Strong is 15 character minimum with both upper and lower case letters, at least one number, and at least one non-alpha character like * or $ or something. And if you use a word as part of the password, make the upper/lower case unusual. Something like mYwoRD. A strong password can be cracked by a very good program but not quickly (hours to days) and most of the password crack applets can't do it at all.