How to Disable a User Account in XP Home

You can disable user accounts in Windows XP Home.

You may want to disable Windows user accounts without deleting them. For example, you can disable a user's account if you want to block that user's access to the computer without deleting his or her data. In Windows XP Professional, this option is available in the Control Panel, but Windows XP Home hides it. You can still disable a user account, however, by either using the command line or editing the registry.

Instructions

1. Select "Start" and "Run" to open the command prompt. Enter "cmd" (without quotes) in the dialog box. The command prompt resembles an old DOS screen and allows you to interact with the operating system directly.

2. Enter "net user [username] /active:no" into the command line, without the quotes. Replace [username] with the exact spelling of the user name you want to disable. This will disable the user name so that it does not appear. The next step details an alternate method.

3. Open the "Run" dialog and enter "regedit" (without quotes) to open the Registry Editor. The left-hand side of the window is a folder tree. Find the folder called "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList."

4. Go to "Edit" and "New," then select "DWORD." A new "DWORD" value will be created. Double-click the field under the "Name" column to edit the name of the value and change it to the exact spelling of the username that you want to disable. Under the "Data" column, set the value to 0 to disable the account or set it to 1 to enable it.

Tips & Warnings

• It's risky to edit the registry, and it's possible to completely break your Windows installation if you make a mistake. Changes to the registry take effect immediately and there is no undo button. The Registry Editor is a powerful tool, but don't improvise or experiment.

References

• PC World Forums: Disable User in XP Home
• Intelli Admin: Hide USer Accounts from the Windows XP Welcome Screen