Solved Administrator user needs to manually "elevate" each time

st1led

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Hi everybody, I'm experiencing a weird problem with Windows 8 Pro x64. Although I'm on the only user account on Windows (that is the administrator one), it looks like I don't have the Admin privileges and need to manually request them each time.

For instance, when I install some programs (e.g., VLC, Deamon tools, Dropbox...), I often receive errors similar to "Windows could not elevate", or "Windows doesn't have sufficient rights to install from a temporary directory". This is easily fixed by right-clicking the executable and selecting "Run as administrator", but is this working as intended? I have another Windows 8 installation where it just works without this workaround.

Do I need to change some settings?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
Hi,

1. Please post the exact error messages you're getting (hint: you can Ctrl+C when the dialog is active and then Ctrl+V).
2. Does the problem ever occur when you elevate intentionally? E.g. when you type cmd on the start screen and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.
3. Create a new administrative account, log in and report whether the problem exists in it.

Vadim
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion dv7t (17.3'', i7-2630QM, HD 6770M 1Gb, 8Gb RAM, 2 SSD@120Gb + 1 HDD@750Gb)
Hi, thank you for your answer.


  1. I didn't post the exact error message since it varies from application to application (I guess this is because the inner Windows error is encapsulated by each application). When I try to install VLC it is "Unable to elevate, error", for Dropbox it is "Dropbox requires administrator rights to continue, but could not elevate (unexpected error advapi32::GetUserName(t.r0,*i1024)).", with Rainmeter I get "unable to elevate (5)".
  2. No, the problem just occurs when I try to do something without explicitly requesting admin privileges. I can install the above three programs by right-clicking and selecting "Run as administrator". I'm just wondering why on the other Windows installations I have I don't need to do that as it's somehow "automatic", since I'm logged in from the administrator account.
  3. I tried to create a new administrator account, and surprisingly I don't have the problem. What's wrong with mine then?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
Hi,

We can dig for the culprit for days, or you can get everything up and running in about an hour. I recommend the latter: use migwiz to transfer your files and settings to the new account.

Vadim
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion dv7t (17.3'', i7-2630QM, HD 6770M 1Gb, 8Gb RAM, 2 SSD@120Gb + 1 HDD@750Gb)
Indeed your second way seems just better. I tried to do it, and every file and setting was correctly copied into the new account. Unfortunately, even the problem leading to the error :(

What now?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
Haha, so much for the easy way :) Yet I'd still pursue it one more time. Create another account and import everything but Windows Settings (they are in the red rectangle here).

You'll lose some personal settings, but if you use Microsoft Account, lots of user settings are synced with the cloud anyway.

If that doesn't help:
1. Download Process Monitor.
2. Start logging.
3. Reproduce the problem.
4. Stop logging and upload the log somewhere.

Vadim
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion dv7t (17.3'', i7-2630QM, HD 6770M 1Gb, 8Gb RAM, 2 SSD@120Gb + 1 HDD@750Gb)
Well, thank you for your hints but I guess something went horribly wrong during the last import, and at some point I was unable to login anymore with any account on the computer (it said the password was wrong while it obviously wasn't).

I had to format everything and re-install Windows which, of course, is the silver bullet to fix any problem, including this one.

Thank you for your time!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
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