Windows 10: All of a sudden I can't run some apps with my admin account?

I'm used to only ever having one account on my computers because I don't share them. I (regrettably?) upgraded my laptop to Win 10 months ago and yet I've only now noticed that I can't run certain apps including Calculator and Edge because my account is an 'Admin' account. I searched the net and this is an old problem but a) why am I noticing this only now? Is this restriction being rolled out slowly across different countries? b) Why is it okay for me to run other apps like PowerPoint and Inkscape?

c) How should I proceed? Can I make a new admin account and then downgrade the privileges of my current account or do I have to create a new user account and use that? Won't I lose all my user account cookies and desktop stuff and preferences and recent documents and so on and so forth?

:)

 

[WINDOWS 10] All of a sudden some Windows 10 apps' graphics are flashing and letters are broken.

None of those method solved my problem

The troubleshooter couldn't find any problems,

The graphic cards were up to date

and the file checker said there were no corrupted or missing files.

Please help!

Thanks

 

[WINDOWS 10] All of a sudden some Windows 10 apps' graphics are flashing and letters are broken.

Since all the methods provided did not work, the problem might be the screen itself. We recommend that you reach out to the PC manufacturer or the store where the PC was purchased to check on the hardware components.

Let us know if you need anything.

 

This behaviour only happens if you are running with the built-in admin account which is very risky from a security point of view! All the modern windows apps will not run but the traditional programs will run. I'm not sure why you ended up with this but I suggest you do the following:

1. Create a new user account and set it up as a local account with administrator user settings , log into this account and copy over any personal files and settings from your previous admin account.
2. Disable the built-in Admin account
3. You can optionally convert your local account to a Microsoft Account if you wish to.

These tutorials will help:

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5...dows-10-a.html
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2...dows-10-a.html
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5...dows-10-a.html

 

1. It is possible that your admin account is corrupted.
To prove that, create another admin account > logon to it and see if everything is working correctly.
If yes, use it for a few days to make sure.

2. If the new admin account is fine, go back to the old admin account > backup files you want to keep > delete the corrupt account.

 

When I click on "Add someone else to this PC" under Accounts, a black window flashes on the screen briefly and disappears with no apparent way to create a new account.

 

Strange.
Does this also happen if you click on "Add a family member " ?

 

This makes me think you will have to reset your PC and start again making sure you create a normal admin account rather than using the built-in one. It may be worthwhile thinking about doing a clean install because this will be much better in the long run. I'll give you tutorials for these two options below. Please note that you will need to back up all your files first as you will lose them and your apps and programs.


Reset Windows 10
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1...n-install.html

 

Adding a family member wasn't an option for some other reason but it doesn't matter since I got around it by running 'netplwiz' from the Run dialogue.

I've made a new account but, predictably, it lacks all my customisations such as desktop icons pointing to specific network drives, single-clicking files to open, my VPN settings, my task bar and start menu shortcuts and so on. This is more of a hassle than not being able to use Calculator and Edge. Is there some way to copy all these things from the Admin account to the User account I just created?

 

I don't know how to determine whether my Admin account is "built-in" or not. The account seemed to be automatically created when I upgraded from Win 7 to Win 10. My password was changed from my local account password to my Microsoft password and I carried on for months without thinking about it until some applications stopped opening at some point and I created this thread.

Edit: Ah, here we go. It is the "Built in Administrator account". When I try to open certain apps I get the following error message:

 

By the way, when you create a new user account, you can set it as an Admin account too.

But that is besides the point now.
I would suggest that you do a Repair Install.
Repair Install allows you to keep your files, settings and apps.
No product key is required.
Activation is automatic.
Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade
If you find the tutorial is bit overwhelming, please post back for clarifications.

 

I think the OP has sorted out his problem now. He did have a built-in admin account and he has now created a new account.

Please confirm that your new account is an admin account and that you can open all the windows apps.

Then we can help you transfer over your files etc before you disable the built-in account as I explained in my original post #2.

 

Built-in Admin account is by default disabled.
It will not get enabled automatically. It has to be done by the user.

Did someone enabled the Built-in Admin for you when you were running Windows 7 or you did it yourself ?

 

David: I was fairly certain he had the built-in admin account which was why I suggested the solution I did. However, I now realise I should have asked him to verify his account details so that this was clear to everyone. This is simply done by typing wmic useraccount list full into a command prompt and it will reveal the details of all accounts on the system.

See this tutorial for more details: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3...dows-10-a.html

I have seen a number of cases of this happening with upgrades from earlier Windows versions and I do not know why it happens. A repair install with an in-place upgrade does not always help because the user ends up with the built-in admin account again.

 

Unfortunately, the problem persists. When I created the new account as a User (not Administrator), I was able to open Calculator, however after transferring the account to the Administrator group, Calculator cannot be started and the same error message referencing the "built-in" Administrator account is displayed.

I'm in the process of acquiring a Win 10 ISO so I can maybe try the repair install thing later.

I don't recall activating the built-in Administrator account at any time. If it's so destructive, perhaps there should be more protection or it shouldn't even be there. I installed Windows 7 from a disc and typed my name in for my username when the installation was done.