Solved locked out and require help with clean install

I have locked myself out and cannot even get into msconfig because a box keeps popping up saying "cannot access specified path, file or folder etc"

I read someone saying i need to do a clean install, but i cant reset my pc. It just says there was a problem and it cancels.

What can i do?

Can you pull up Task Manager any way ?

By pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete ?

If you have a Restore point or 2:

If you can access Task Manager, Click on File at top left & choose create new task.

In the create new task window, check the tiny box saying run task as administrator & type CMD into the textarea.

Click ok or whatever & an administrator command prompt will appear.

Type in rstrui.exe & press Enter.

System Restore will popup.

Choose the suggested restore point & follow the prompts.

I saw a thread the other day where someone had the "Drive I locked" message and it was related to the drive becoming uninitialized. I checked and if I had an uninitialized drive and checked it with Diskpart from a command prompt, it would say the drive was locked and if I tried to list the partitions, it said there were none present.

I suppose I am suggesting you boot into the command prompt in the Recovery Environment and check the drive with Diskpart. If you can boot into the command prompt, and need commands, let us know.

hey guys... thanks for the help after reading a ton here and everywhere i can find i will try and list the things i have tried that i can remeber doing and also what my system is doing:

Things I have done:
Reset
restore.. says there is no restore points or something along those lines
refresh...... all of these say there is a problem and it closes
net user administrator.. got it up but gives me no extra leverage to bent the system to my will.
normal running mode i cant access admin command prompt
safe mode i can and i have checked CHKDSK chk partitions etc all there and have 3 recovery partitions
i have tried rstrui.exe but no luck
i have gone to microsoft website and tried installing windows 8 and windows8.1 with my product key and failed both times because my product key cant be used for a retail version of windows 8.... really annoyed me, win8 came with my new machine!!

Things my system wont let me do:
Everything involving administrator roles period.

Things i can do:
open files and folders
use browsers

hope this helps you guys in helping me... pulling my hair out lol

Windows 8 came with my new machine!!

Click to expand...

Use the OEM manufacturer's Recovery DVD's or USB drive.

@theog
It came preinstalled and i didnt make a recovery disk.... i realise too late this is something i should have done

evprop said:

@theog
It came preinstalled and i didnt make a recovery disk.... i realise too late this is something i should have done

Click to expand...

I found this Clean install guide for Dell Notebooks, perhaps you can modify the drivers to the correct ones for your Unit.

You will need to disable secure boot and enable CSM in your BIOS.

evprop said:

@theog
It came preinstalled and i didnt make a recovery disk.... i realise too late this is something i should have done

Click to expand...

How to order Microsoft official Dell OEM manufacturer's Recovery Disks.
Manuals | Dell US

Right sorted it!!

My problem:
single user account on my system seemed to have been infected and i lost all admin access, i couldnt change anything!!
could not refresh, restore or reset back to factory settings.

Fix:
safe mode
command prompt (admin)
regedit

• hkey local machine
• software
• microsoft
• windows
• current version
• policies
• system

Click on system:
On the right hand side you should see a list of files, look for "EnableLUA" Double click.
A box will come up with details of:
Valuename: Enable LUA
Valuedata: 1
Base: Hexadecimal

If this is what you see then you need to change the data value to: 0 and restart your system!!
Problem fixed and you have full control on your pc!!
No re-install required it should just all be working normally again
Really hope this helps someone in the future

Thank you!

I copied that fix and printed it out, for my "Repair Notes" folder, that I carry with me in my 'Kit' on every service call.

I hope that others, reading this thread will save that 'Fix' as well.

Thanks again!
And, Happy New Year!
TechnoMage

Also make a note that this does not fully solve the problem.

After using it for a while i noticed there were still problems with what I could do with the system, but at least I was able to finally reset back to factory settings