Administrator Password

lcc014

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Today, my windows 8 desktop acted up for no reason. When I tried to install a program/software, it prompted for an Admin. Password. However, in the dialog box, there was no text box for typing in the Administrator password and OK button was grey out.

Tried to open an elevated command prompt box using "Run as administrator", no luck. Selection was grey out too. I could not enable hidden administrator account via "net user administrator /active:yes" from elevator command prompt. I also could not install any software because the Administrator password dialog box contains no text box to enter Admin password and OK button grey out. I could only clicked the Cancel button.

Any suggestion to fix this problem is appreciated.

Thanks,

Ching-Ho Cheng
 

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System One

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    Windows 8
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Intel i5
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    Firefox, IE, Chrome
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    Malwarebytes
Hello Ching-Ho Cheng, and welcome to Eight Forums.

It sounds like you have your UAC settings set to a level other than the default level. Set UAC to the default level, and see if you are able to enter your administrator password afterwards.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5509-user-account-control-uac-change-settings-windows-8-a.html

Hope this helps, :)
Shawn
Shawn,

The method did not work because when I tried to change User Account and Control Settings, Windows 8 asked the the Admin password again of which the Yes button was greyed out and not text box for typing the password.

Then I tried the register file method, no working either because Windows said that I did not have enough privilege to merge the register file.

What else can I do other than reinstall the Windows 8 ??

Thanks,

Ching-Ho Cheng
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Intel i5
    Browser
    Firefox, IE, Chrome
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
I had this exact same issue a few weeks ago.

I had no idea how it happened but my main account had dropped to a regular user and I could not access the hidden administrator.

What I had to do was reboot into Advanced Mode Startup and select the Administrator account from there. Logging into Win8 had to run the first time setup and everything all over again but then once Win8 was all setup again I was able to 'netplwiz' and see that my main account was not an Admin, so I enabled my main account to be an administrator and rebooted, problem fixed.

If that does not work, you can use System Restore from the Advanced Startup menus to an earlier date, that will clear up the issue as well.I actually called MS about this issue and one of the elevated techs said that it is a rare bug flagged for squashing in the next major update. How true this is, I don't know.

I hope this helps you out a bit.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro w/ Media Center 64bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Desktop/Lenovo Yoga 13
I had this exact same issue a few weeks ago.

I had no idea how it happened but my main account had dropped to a regular user and I could not access the hidden administrator.

What I had to do was reboot into Advanced Mode Startup and select the Administrator account from there. Logging into Win8 had to run the first time setup and everything all over again but then once Win8 was all setup again I was able to 'netplwiz' and see that my main account was not an Admin, so I enabled my main account to be an administrator and rebooted, problem fixed.

If that does not work, you can use System Restore from the Advanced Startup menus to an earlier date, that will clear up the issue as well.I actually called MS about this issue and one of the elevated techs said that it is a rare bug flagged for squashing in the next major update. How true this is, I don't know.

I hope this helps you out a bit.
Thanks for the hope. How do I reboot into Advanced Mode Startup in the first place ? I am very new to Windows 8 and this is very different from Windows 7 and Windows XP from the GUI point of view. I heard that going into Safe Mode need so much work from Windows 8 now, is that true ??

Thanks

Ching-Ho Cheng
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Intel i5
    Browser
    Firefox, IE, Chrome
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
Can you get into "Users and Groups" in the Computer Management Console?

Right Click on "Administrator" and set a password, something easy like 12345.

If that works, then change it to something else that can't be guessed.

rightklik.png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
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    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
Can you get into "Users and Groups" in the Computer Management Console?

Right Click on "Administrator" and set a password, something easy like 12345.

If that works, then change it to something else that can't be guessed.

View attachment 19750
I will give it a try. Thanks for the suggestion.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Intel i5
    Browser
    Firefox, IE, Chrome
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
I had this exact same issue a few weeks ago.

I had no idea how it happened but my main account had dropped to a regular user and I could not access the hidden administrator.

What I had to do was reboot into Advanced Mode Startup and select the Administrator account from there. Logging into Win8 had to run the first time setup and everything all over again but then once Win8 was all setup again I was able to 'netplwiz' and see that my main account was not an Admin, so I enabled my main account to be an administrator and rebooted, problem fixed.

If that does not work, you can use System Restore from the Advanced Startup menus to an earlier date, that will clear up the issue as well.I actually called MS about this issue and one of the elevated techs said that it is a rare bug flagged for squashing in the next major update. How true this is, I don't know.

I hope this helps you out a bit.
Another question, once you are in Advanced Mode Startup option menu, did you go into Safe mode to select the Admin account ?

Thanks,

Ching-Ho Cheng
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Intel i5
    Browser
    Firefox, IE, Chrome
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
It happened a couple of weeks ago and I can't really remember exactly what I did but I think I ran the Administrator account from the Advanced Startup and after a long long setup I was able to use the netplwiz to give admin access to my other account.

I also recall running a system restore to a couple of days prior to make sure it wasn't related to anything I had installed.

I think running the system restore was what actually fixed the entire issue as after I rebooted from the sys restore back into the normal desktop I was able to log in with full administrator right to my original account and then ran netplwiz again to make sure all of my accounts had admin access. Everything has been normal since.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro w/ Media Center 64bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Desktop/Lenovo Yoga 13
It happened a couple of weeks ago and I can't really remember exactly what I did but I think I ran the Administrator account from the Advanced Startup and after a long long setup I was able to use the netplwiz to give admin access to my other account.

I also recall running a system restore to a couple of days prior to make sure it wasn't related to anything I had installed.

I think running the system restore was what actually fixed the entire issue as after I rebooted from the sys restore back into the normal desktop I was able to log in with full administrator right to my original account and then ran netplwiz again to make sure all of my accounts had admin access. Everything has been normal since.
Okay, thank you. I will run System Restore then.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Intel i5
    Browser
    Firefox, IE, Chrome
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
I finally had a chance this morning to try to fix the administrator password issue per various suggestions in this thread.

First, I tried to perform system restore back to a valid restore point. I could not do that because Windows 8 said that I was not an administrator, could not access system restore.

Second, I then tried to boot up in Safe mode. It took a while to figure out how to boot into Safe mode. Once I was in Safe mode, I went to Control Panel and user Account. Sure enough, my login privilege was set to Standard, no longer as an Administrator. I set it back to Administrator and restart. Once PC boot up, I login and check my account status. It was still set to Administrator. Everything back to normal :thumb:.

If Safe mode did not work, I will try Refresh or Reset Windows 8. That would be my last resources.

Thank you for all the help.

Ching-Ho Cheng
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Intel i5
    Browser
    Firefox, IE, Chrome
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
Hey, "lcc014:" - Was your account connected to a Skydrive account? Or are you using a Local Account? If Skydrive, see if you are still logged in to it under PC Settings.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
I'm glad you got all that fixed Cheng!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro w/ Media Center 64bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Desktop/Lenovo Yoga 13
Hey, "lcc014:" - Was your account connected to a Skydrive account? Or are you using a Local Account? If Skydrive, see if you are still logged in to it under PC Settings.
It wasn't connected to any Skydrive account. It is a local account. It got into this password issue for no reason.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Intel i5
    Browser
    Firefox, IE, Chrome
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
Merge it into your Skydrive account and I'll bet the problem stops.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
Last edited by a moderator:

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Last edited by a moderator:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Intel i5
    Browser
    Firefox, IE, Chrome
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
Merge it into your Skydrive account and I'll bet the problem stops.
Problem had been fixed via Safe mode. Are you saying that it may happen again for no reason ? What is Skydrive account ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Intel i5
    Browser
    Firefox, IE, Chrome
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
It's the default account for Windows 8, it would have asked you to set it up during install or original user setup. If you have any kind of Windows Live account, like Hotmail or Technet, or Windows Live Mail, then you already have a Skydrive account, just go to the Skydrive page and log in with your Hotmail/Windows Live Mail or MS Technet credentials.

But what you are saying is your problem was a degraded account? I don't know if it will happen again, but if you merged your Skydrive account into your Windows 8, it'll always be Administrator level.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
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