Making myself Administrator

Barbee

New Member
Power User
Messages
267
Location
Western New York State
Several function will not work because it tells me I need permission from the administrator. It's my computer and no one else in the house uses it.

I followed these directions signed in as Admin:mad:: How can I change the administrator, Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 (user)? So don't bother posting them. My problem is the last step. Where you select "Make Administrator". Mine is faded out. I cannot select it. I think MS should make computer 1 type for home users and 1 type for business. This is frustrating.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUSTeK M1188 Series
    CPU
    3.20GHz
    Motherboard
    AMD 64 bit
    Memory
    12.0GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 7310
    Internet Speed
    Business class
    Browser
    Chrome/FF/IE
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
Giving yourself admin powers is not always a pathway to smooth, effortless, sailing. I've found out that both taking admin control and/or talking ownership control does not always lead to getting my way with certain Windows Operations. In fact, the other night I admin'd and ownership'd my way right into a forced restart of Windows 7 Pro. Thankfully, the restart and another restart brought me back my 100% Windows OPs.
Unless I read incorrectly, the absolute admin is the Windows Trusted Installer. Windows does grant admin powers to its built-in administrator account. From there, you and I are somewhere underneath those top two generals.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Pro 64bit [MS blue-disk set]
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2 Acers & 1 Antec[?]
    CPU
    i7 in 2 Acers, i5 in desktop
    Motherboard
    Desktop w/Gigabyte
    Memory
    Two w/16GB, 1 w/8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Laptops GameWorthy; Desktop maybe GameWorthy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    flatscreens; 2 are BluRay worthy
    Screen Resolution
    1368x768; 1600x900
    Hard Drives
    1TB internals; 2 ext usb WD 1TB HDs
    PSU
    what's PSU?
    Cooling
    Regular plus external fans
    Keyboard
    desktio w/PS2
    Mouse
    desktop w/PS2
    Internet Speed
    DSL middle level [160?]
    Browser
    from Netscape 0.9 to FF 36
    Antivirus
    well-balanced, well-configured mult-layered defense is best
    Other Info
    From MS-DOS 3.3, MS-DOS 6.22, from Windows 3.1 to WFW 3.11 to Windows 95-98SE, now to Windows 7 Pro.
    Security for now: Windows 7 Firewall, Emsisoft AM, MSE [scan-only], SpywareBlaster, Ruiware/BillP combine
Giving yourself admin powers is not always a pathway to smooth, effortless, sailing. I've found out that both taking admin control and/or talking ownership control does not always lead to getting my way with certain Windows Operations. In fact, the other night I admin'd and ownership'd my way right into a forced restart of Windows 7 Pro. Thankfully, the restart and another restart brought me back my 100% Windows OPs.
Unless I read incorrectly, the absolute admin is the Windows Trusted Installer. Windows does grant admin powers to its built-in administrator account. From there, you and I are somewhere underneath those top two generals.

A les drastic approach I use with Vista and later, since I'm the only user on the system, is to use the Take Ownership Context Menu
Command on the Program Files and Program Files (x86) folders. Do not take ownership of C:
entirely or you will have bigger problems.

With this approach I don't have to run programs as Administrator just because they write an .ini file or data file in their install folders.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
MilesAhead "... Do not take ownership of C: entirely or you will have bigger problems..." is spot on! Also, do not meddle with C:\Windows\System32 or SystemWow64[?] -- that I think is what led me to my forced reStart.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Pro 64bit [MS blue-disk set]
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2 Acers & 1 Antec[?]
    CPU
    i7 in 2 Acers, i5 in desktop
    Motherboard
    Desktop w/Gigabyte
    Memory
    Two w/16GB, 1 w/8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Laptops GameWorthy; Desktop maybe GameWorthy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    flatscreens; 2 are BluRay worthy
    Screen Resolution
    1368x768; 1600x900
    Hard Drives
    1TB internals; 2 ext usb WD 1TB HDs
    PSU
    what's PSU?
    Cooling
    Regular plus external fans
    Keyboard
    desktio w/PS2
    Mouse
    desktop w/PS2
    Internet Speed
    DSL middle level [160?]
    Browser
    from Netscape 0.9 to FF 36
    Antivirus
    well-balanced, well-configured mult-layered defense is best
    Other Info
    From MS-DOS 3.3, MS-DOS 6.22, from Windows 3.1 to WFW 3.11 to Windows 95-98SE, now to Windows 7 Pro.
    Security for now: Windows 7 Firewall, Emsisoft AM, MSE [scan-only], SpywareBlaster, Ruiware/BillP combine
MilesAhead "... Do not take ownership of C: entirely or you will have bigger problems..." is spot on! Also, do not meddle with C:\Windows\System32 or SystemWow64[?] -- that I think is what led me to my forced reStart.

Thanks for posting that specific folder info. :thumb:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
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