Windows 10: Locked and hidden administrator.

Recently I had to make a change in my computer that required the Elevated Administrator account to be used. I finally figured out how to open that account, did my thing, shut down the Elevated Administrator account, and returned to my standard account. Then I discovered that I must have done something else while in Elevated Administrator mode because after that I could not install or uninstall any program, could Not access System Configuration, could Not access Safe Mode (used the shutdown /r /o command. When I got to the selection window and pressed F4 I waited for 45 minutes with no Safe Mode result), cmd -> "run as administrator" does not work. When using the GUI to work on this (open Elevated Administrator) I get "To continue, type an administrator password, and then click Yes." But there is no place for a password and the Yes button is not active. When I use the command prompt I get an Error 5 message.

There must be a way to remedy this hiccup without trashing the OS but I'm at my wits end. You tube 'tutorials' have not helped. Any Windows 10 gurus out there to shine a light on this? Thanks in advance.

:)

 

Family Security and Montoring is easily defeated

Hi Gerkster,

In Windows 10, only administrators can kill the time restrictions process. I would double-check that your son is not an administrator, and that there isn't another, possibly hidden, admin account he knows the password to

In Windows 10, the child also can't launch the Task Manager when they are locked out. They can get to Ctrl-Alt-Del but the Task Manager will be hidden beneath the lock screen.

Thanks,

Daniel

 

Enabling Hidden Administrator

Hi Yashwanth

Thanks for your reply

I could not progress beyond Step 4 as I've got a black box ' C:\WINDOWS|systems32> ...and no options!

Mary Anne

 

Hello and welcome! *Smile

I am sure we can help. Firstly, have you looked at any of the tutorials on this site. They are full of useful information and will help you find the correct way of doing things. For example, opening the hidden built in Administrator account is covered in the following tutorial:
https://www.windowsphoneinfo.com/threads/enable-or-disable-elevated-administrator-account-in-windows-10.7493/?filter[1]=User Accounts

This should help you to get your Admin account back.

 

In a normal command prompt type:

net localgroup administrators

What user accounts are listed as administrators?

 

Answer:
Alias name administrators (hgl - see attachment)
Comment Administrators have complete and unrestricted access to the computer/domain

Member
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Administrator
The command completed successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32

P.S. I have seen the page you have recommended, "How to Enable or Disable Built-in Elevated Administrator Account in Windows 10,"a number of times but I will study it again for anything I may have missed. Thanks for your help.

 

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately, I'm still locked out of the elevated administrator account. Nothing on that page has worked. Still open to suggestions.

 

Here is another tutorial that shows how to view the details of User accounts on your system. Maybe it will reveal what has happened to the account.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3...dows-10-a.html

 

Thanks philc43. An amazing tutorial. Here are the results of that tutorial. Can you see anything amiss? Based on this, what must I do to return my OS to its pre-screw-up standard, unlocked/unblocked state of health? s.n.: Computer name Dads; User name Harvey. Thaks again.



AccountType=512
Description=Built-in account for administering the computer/domain
Disabled=TRUE
Domain=Dads
FullName=
InstallDate=
LocalAccount=TRUE
Lockout=FALSE
Name=Administrator
PasswordChangeable=TRUE
PasswordExpires=FALSE
PasswordRequired=TRUE
SID=S-1-5-21-459098871-1041614040-2392201109-500
SIDType=1
Status=Degraded




AccountType=512
Description=A user account managed by the system.
Disabled=TRUE
Domain=Dads
FullName=
InstallDate=
LocalAccount=TRUE
Lockout=FALSE
Name=DefaultAccount
PasswordChangeable=TRUE
PasswordExpires=TRUE
PasswordRequired=TRUE
SID=S-1-5-21-459098871-1041614040-2392201109-503
SIDType=1
Status=Degraded




AccountType=512
Description=Built-in account for guest access to the computer/domain
Disabled=TRUE
Domain=Dads
FullName=
InstallDate=
LocalAccount=TRUE
Lockout=FALSE
Name=Guest
PasswordChangeable=FALSE
PasswordExpires=FALSE
PasswordRequired=FALSE
SID=S-1-5-21-459098871-1041614040-2392201109-501
SIDType=1
Status=Degraded




AccountType=512
Description=
Disabled=FALSE
Domain=Dads
FullName=
InstallDate=
LocalAccount=TRUE
Lockout=FALSE
Name=Harvey
PasswordChangeable=TRUE
PasswordExpires=FALSE
PasswordRequired=TRUE
SID=S-1-5-21-459098871-1041614040-2392201109-1002
SIDType=1
Status=OK




AccountType=512
Description=Built-in account for homegroup access to the computer
Disabled=FALSE
Domain=Dads
FullName=HomeGroupUser$
InstallDate=
LocalAccount=TRUE
Lockout=FALSE
Name=HomeGroupUser$
PasswordChangeable=TRUE
PasswordExpires=FALSE
PasswordRequired=TRUE
SID=S-1-5-21-459098871-1041614040-2392201109-1004
SIDType=1
Status=OK

 

So now we know you only have one Administrator account (built-in but disabled) and you are a standard user and there are no other accounts you can use. As you are not an Administrator and you can't access the built in account you can't make any of the changes needed to get you back to an Admin account status. Neither can you do any of the normal repairs. This is why you always need one available admin account on your PC.

You will need to reset your PC from a bootable disk. Please make sure you backup any important files before proceeding. I am assuming you do not have any recovery disks or system backups from an earlier point in time.

You will need to boot from a W10 installation media disk or USB and go into advanced startup options and then reset windows. Create the installation media to match your current setup, ie same type (Home/Pro, 64bit/32bit and language version).

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

Reset Windows 10

 

Thanks for the advice. However, the problem still remains. When I try to execute item number three (3) of the recommended tutorial I get the dreaded "To continue, type an administrator password, and then click Yes." But there is no place for a password and the Yes button is not active, as I mentioned in my very first communication with you all. This, along with "Error 5" message has been, and continues to be, my problem. Is there no way out of it besides wiping the C drive and starting over again? Thanks again for all of your help.

 

Sorry, you could use the tech bench to download the W10 ISO instead of the MCT.
Tech Bench

I think it has come to this being the only route if you have exhausted all the other suggestions. To be sure though did you try option 4 of the original tutorial to enable the built in admin account. This was the one that should have worked for you. You can use the W10 installation media you create above to do option 4.

 

Thanks for the info. I have not tried option 4 above because my Windows 10 was a free upgrade from Windows 8.1 (and that came with the laptop installed) and I had no copy with which to attempt this option. But even as I type this I am downloading Win 10 so hopefully this problem will soon be resolved.

Thanks again for all of your help.

 

22 Feb 2016
I have tried option 4 above - No Go. When I click on the ''MediaCreation Tool'' I get a ''To continue, type the administrator password, and then click Yes.'' But there is no place for such a password and the Yes button is not active. I have also tried the latest release of Rufus. Same result. Linux is looking very good, right about now. Do you have any other suggestions for me, other than a clean install?
Thanks for all of your efforts.

 

I don't follow, once you have downloaded W10 via the Tech Bench you have bootable media and you do not need the media creation tool to use option 4 of the original tutorial.