Solved Administrator Account Help

parksn306

New Member
Messages
6
Hello, I just got Windows 8 and tried disabling the log-in screen. I went into "netplwiz" and obviously made some kind of mistake because now I seem to have lost my administrative powers.

I can't download programs or access the "user accounts" tab in the control panel. Every time I try to do something that would require admin powers, I get a "user account control" prompt that tells me that if I, "want to allow the following programs to make changes to this computer," that I need to enter an administrator password and then click yes.

But there is no text box to enter a password and the "yes" button is grayed out. My only option is to hit "no" or "show details."

When I go into "PC Settings" and the "users" tab, it says that "there are no other users on this PC" and "Sign in as an administrator to add users to this PC." But how do I do that?

I've tried going into the "run" operation and entered "net user administrator /active:yes" command, but nothing happens. I also tried entering "msconfig" but I ran into the same problem of not having admin powers to do that. I tried starting in safe mode by jamming shift and F8 but that didn't work either.

Can anyone help me with this problem?

I'm honestly thinking of just going back to Windows 7. I really liked that O/S and since I don't have a smart phone or tablet, I'm not really sure what advantages Windows 8 has over 7.

Thank you for your time, any help is appreciated.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Hello Parksn, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Well, you can't really blame Windows 8 for the honest mistake you made, but whatever OS works best for you. :)

Could you post back with what all you did?

It sounds like you may have changed your account type to be a "Standard" user instead of still being an "Administrator". If you open "User Accounts" from the Control Panel (icons view), does it show "Administrator" like below?

User_Accounts.jpg
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Haha, fair point Brink, I guess I am just a little frustrated at myself for messing things up!

And in response to your question, no, it does not show "administrator" but "local account" and then "guest account" beneath that.

Please tell me there is a way to change back to an administrator account.

Thanks for the speedy reply. I await further instructions!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Also I tried the advice in the tutorial link you sent me, but for both methods I get that "user account control" prompt at around step 2. I don't have the option to enter an administrator password and can only press "no," and not allow the program to make changes to the computer.

Looking at that link I think I know what I did wrong now. I did exactly what that pink warning box tells me not to do! Please tell me there is a way to undo my foolishness!

Any help is appreciated, thanks again.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Wow, I just bought this computer yesterday and I already need a re-do! Thanks for the speedy replies Brink and thanks for the link. However I bought this computer yesterday and it came with Windows 8 already installed. There doesn't seem to be a Windows 8 CD in the box. And these tutorials seem to be for people that upgraded from Windows 7. Is there a way for me to do a clean install? Or am I better off taking it back to the store where I bought it?

Also, I am not trying to shift the blame for this mess (it's all on me) but do you think in the future it might be a good idea to try to protect computer geniuses like me from themselves in the netplwiz file? Like if someone were about to do what I did, have a prompt come up that says something like "Hey numbnuts, you really don't want to do that." Or is this not a common enough problem?

Thanks for your time.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Yeah, it would be nice to get a warning message about that, or even better not allow you to do it if that's the only admin account.


No worries though. What brand and model is your computer? I'll be happy to look up the instructions for how to do factory restore/recovery.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
I have just done a clean install and everything is as it should be! Thank you very much for all your help Brink. It's nice to know that Microsoft has set up such a great customer service system. Hopefully you'll never see me on here again!

Have a good one!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
You're most welcome.

Well, you can always swing by to have some fun or check out the tutorials. :D
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Hi I have read through this thread, and I was having a similar issue.
When i try to update iTunes it says an error and that i do not have sufficient administrations rights.
I followed your first few steps and check if i was the administrator... and I am then tried again to install the iTunes update... and NO go.

Help and advice welcome please
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
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