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You are here Software Advice and Support > How-to Guides > Manage Local Profiles

Windows - How to manage local profiles

The local administrator account gives full administrative access to your machine and any data stored on it. This profile should only be used for troubleshooting. You are required to use a College Profile on a day-to-day basis.

To check the username of a Local Administrator profile

  1. Open Computer Management.
    • In Windows 8 or Windows 10
      1. On the desktop, move the cursor to the bottom left corner of the screen.
      2. Right-click to display the Administrative Tools
      3. Select Computer Management.
  2. In Computer Management window, click the triangle next to Local Users and Groups to expand that list.
  3. Click Users.

    Windows Computer Management

  4. Local Administrator profiles are listed in the central panel.

To reset password for a Local Administrator profile

  1. In Computer Management window, in the central panel, right-click Administrator or another username with administrative privileges and select Set Password, then click Proceed.
  2. Type and re-type your new password, then click OK.

Note: This password allows you to log on to the machine to make administrative changes. It is important that you do not loose that password because it will make it more difficult to troubleshoot problems that may affect your machine in future.

Note: The local administrator account gives full administrative access to your machine and any data stored on it. Therefore to prevent unauthorised individuals accessing your data it is essential that the local administrator account should have a strong password that is known only to you (see our Passwords FAQ for tips on setting a secure password).

To log off your college account and log on as a Local Administrator

  1. While logged on to your college account, press Ctrl+Alt+Del on your keyboard and select Log off or Sign out (Windows 8).
  2. On the log on screen, press Ctrl+Alt+Del, then click OK.
  3. Log on as Local Administrator.
    • In Windows 8 or Windows 10
      1. Click Other User.
      2. In the username box, type the Local Administrator username in the form computername\administrator and your password, then press Enter.

Tip: You can check the computer name from the log on screen. On the log on screen, click How do I log on to another domain, or How do I sign in to another domain (Windows 8).