By default, Remote Installation Services (RIS) automatically disables the local Administrator account on Windows Server 2003 servers.

For that matter, you can also disable this account manually if you want to increase the security of your servers.

But what if you're called in to manage a server for which the Administrator account is disabled and there are no other user accounts with administrative access?

In this scenario, you can enable the disabled Administrator account by booting the server into Safe Mode.

To do so:

• Begin by restarting the server.
  
• When the Power-On Self Test (POST) routine completes, press [F8] to display the Windows Advanced Options menu.
  
• From this menu, select the Safe Mode option. Then, select the operating system you want to start.
  
• Log on to Windows Server 2003 as "Administrator".
  
• When the boot process completes, open the Computer Management console. (On the Start menu, right-click on My Computer and choose Manage).
  
• In the console tree, expand Local Users And Groups.
  
• Select Users, and in the details pane, right-click on Administrator and choose Properties. Deselect the Account Is Disabled check box and click OK to save your changes.

You can now restart the server and log on with the Administrator user account.