Here is how to create a new user on Windows Server. Every Hostner Windows Server ships with the built-in Administrator account enabled, which gets you in the door but is not something you want to keep using day to day. A dedicated user account, with its own name and password, is safer and makes it obvious who did what if you ever share access with someone else. It also gives you a clean fallback: if one account ever gets compromised, you are not stuck rebuilding access to the one and only login your server has.
What you need
- A Hostner dedicated server running Windows Server
- Administrator access via RDP
- A chosen username, without spaces or special characters (save those for the “Full name” field instead)
Step 1: Open Computer Management
Connect to your server via Remote Desktop Connection using the administrator credentials from your Hostner dashboard. Once logged in, click the Start button, type “computer management”, and open the app with that name, it has a grey gear-and-monitor icon.
Step 2: Create a new user on Windows Server
In the Computer Management window, expand “Local Users and Groups” in the left pane by clicking the arrow next to it. Click “Users”. Right-click anywhere in the empty space of the middle panel and choose “New User”.
Fill in your chosen username, an optional full name, and a strong password. Untick “User must change password at next logon” if you want to start using the account immediately without an extra prompt, and tick “Password never expires” so Windows does not nag you to rotate it constantly. Click “Create”, then “Close”.
Step 3: Make the new user an administrator
Back in the Users list, double-click your new account. Go to the “Member Of” tab, click “Add”, type Administrators, and click “OK”. This gives the new account the same permissions as the built-in Administrator, without you needing to keep using that original account.
Step 4: Allow the new user to log in via RDP
Still in the same properties window, go back to “Member Of” and add the account to Remote Desktop Users as well, using the same “Add” button. Without this group membership, the account cannot connect over Remote Desktop even if it has administrator rights.
Step 5: Disable the built-in Administrator (optional, recommended)
Once you have confirmed the new account works, go back to the Users list, right-click “Administrator”, and choose “Properties”. Tick “Account is disabled” and click “OK”. Attackers scan the internet for servers with that default account still active, disabling it removes one of the most common targets outright.
If it does not work
If it does not work
If you disabled Administrator and then find yourself locked out entirely, use your Hostner dashboard’s KVM/IPMI console to log in locally and re-enable it, don’t disable the built-in account until you have actually confirmed the new one can log in and has admin rights. A password that does not meet Windows’ complexity requirements is another common snag at account creation, if the “Create” button does nothing, check that your password includes a mix of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols. For Microsoft’s own reference on account types and permission levels, see their documentation on managing user accounts in Windows.
No ticket needed. A few clicks in Computer Management, and you are no longer running everything as Administrator.
See more guides in Docs, or check out Create a New User on Windows 11 Pro if you manage that OS as well.