Windows 10: UAC Problems.

Denis here's another image. Taken when I tried to open msconfig ..
It asks for a password, does this mean success at last ?

Alan.

 

Alan,

It looks good. Just to check, enter this
net user NewAdminPrimary
to see the new account's properties and check that its Local group memberships line has the entry Administrators in it [this is also in the plural; and it does not matter that it also has the entry Users].

Denis

 

Wouldn't it have been easier to just add the user "Alan" to the Administrators group?

 

NavyLCdr - No. The user's description of the problem indicates that Alan is corrupted. Denis

 

Denis !

Just got a moment of two to follow the instructions in your reply... opened up the screen to access safe mode.. and found the following....


I am at a loss as to which password to enter to access safe mode,
I'm certain you will be able to explain this !

Again thanks for your patient help,

Alan.

 

Alan,

Because you used my instructions, the [temporary] password you set was
12345
so just use that to log in to NewAdminPrimary [you do not need to bother with Safe mode any more].

The computer appears to have rebooted since you left it which is why it is showing you the login screen. Not a problem probably but open any command prompt and enter
net user NewAdminPrimary
to see the new account's properties and check that its Local group memberships line has the entry Administrators in it [this is also in the plural; and it does not matter that it also has the entry Users].

Denis

 

Alan,

As soon as you confirm that NewAdminPrimary is an admin account, you can create NewAdminReserve and make that an admin as well. Since you have left Safe mode [because of the reboot], I can guide you through how to do this in Settings, Accounts.

Remember not to connect the computer to the internet until you have finished the procedure [my article's section 5] by putting in decent passwords of your own choice for NewAdminPrimary & NewAdminReserve.

Denis

 

Denis !.. Thanks, the 12345 temporary password opened up NewAdminPrimary .

Is the next move to create a permanent password for this, or to create a NewAdminPrimary Reserve as your Tutorial recommends ?.

Thanks,

Alan,

 

Alan,

The very first thing is to open any command prompt and enter
net user NewAdminPrimary
to see the new account's properties and check that its Local group memberships line has the entry Administrators in it [this is also in the plural; and it does not matter that it also has the entry Users].

You need to know that this new account has admin status. Then you can create NewAdminReserve and permanent passwords.

Denis

 

Denis !,

I opened up net user NewAdminPrimary and yes, the entry Administrators
is there .
To change the 12345 temporary password to my own selection, do I have to use the 2 cmd steps again ?.
Also, and digressing !, how can I remove a program from my laptop which the conventional method via Control won't delete ?..
I just get a box telling me that I don't have the administrative rights to remove it .

Anyway, I appear to have admin control over my machine again, for which I must say thanks to you. I have also registered with the forum and thus my limited pc skills might hopefully improve !.

Alan.

 

Alan,

Now that you have a working admin account again,

1 Firstly, you can use the normal method to create the additional NewAdminReserve admin account - see my procedure's para 5.5.
- Remember to write the password down somewhere secure yet readily accessible.
- You can just apply a proper password to it straightaway, there would be no point in any interim 12345 password because that was just to avoid complications when using the command prompt window.
- There would be nothing stopping you from using a command prompt window to do the job but it would have to be opened using "Run as admin" & that is not something we have discussed because it did not apply to the procedure when logged in as the Built-In Administrator. You would also have the limitation of avoiding passwords that the command prompt window did not like whereas using the normal method allows you to set whatever you want straightaway.

2 Secondly, after you have the safety net of another admin account set up you can use my procedure's para 5.2 to change NewAdminPrimary's password to something sensible.
- The reason for waiting until after the other admin account is set up is just to avoid the risk of making a mistake and being unable to sign back in [which would leave you in a much worse condition than the one you were in before].

3 Then you can work through the rest of my procedure's para 5 to complete the tidying up.

Denis

 

It depends what it is you are trying to remove [you do not mention its name]. It does sound a rather odd problem; I cannot imagine any legitimate application giving you such a response. I suggest
1 running a full scan using Windows defender.
2 searching TenForums for the application's name to see if there is existing advice about removing it, and
3 creating a new question [a new thread] about the new problem.

Denis

 

Alan,

And here are the dits I have been saving up because I did not want to complicate things while you were still trying to fix your accounts.

1 I started off by giving you links to my recommended procedure. I was reviewing it at the time and have now submitted it as a TenForums tutorial so, just to avoid any potential confusion over paragraph numbers, this link is the latest version - If the Admin prompt has a greyed out or missing Yes button ... and it is this version that will be maintained in the future if changes need to be made.

2 About “nothing happens when I left click the start button” [your post #27] - the behaviour of the Administrator account in Safe mode & in normal Windows has varied across different Windows versions & probably will again. I know that, at one stage, it could not use the Start button as you have mentioned but I cannot remember if that was Ver 1607 behaviour or not [you are using ver 1607, see para 5 below]. In Ver 1709, Administrator can use the Start button & the Start menu even in Safe mode.

3 You posted a photo [post #28] of an Admin prompt showing NewAdminPrimary and a password entry box. I would only expect to see this if you were logged in to a standard user account not an admin account [so, not NewAdminPrimary] and definitely not while logged in to Administrator. Which account were you logged in to at the time [Alan?]?

4 You started out by saying that you had no idea what caused this problem. That indicates that the profile of your original user account [Alan] is probably corrupt & probably cannot be fixed. In some cases, people have been fiddling with account status and have inadvertently changed their only admin account into a standard account so they would have the option of simply making it an admin account once again. [see section 5 of the procedure]

5 You are using Windows 10 Version 1607.
- You can confirm that in a Command prompt by entering winver.
- That is an old version and is no longer supported [support ended on Tuesday 10th April 2018, see Windows lifecycle fact sheet].
- There have been two versions since this one - ver 1703, ver 1709 [the current version]
- The next version is about to be released - still referred to as Ver 1803 even though it is a bit late for March 2018.
- Is there a particular reason you have never updated?
- If not then either update to ver 1709 or wait a few weeks for Ver 1803.
- You can update to a new version using a procedure called a Repair install [also known as an InPlace upgrade].
- The link takes you through downloading an “ISO” file containing the new version and using it in the Repair install procedure.
- Note that the Repair install procedure is [must be] run from within Windows 10 - you do not boot from anything special, you just boot into Windows normally and then start the procedure.
- I always update to new versions by [creating a system image then] running the new ISO using the Repair install procedure.
- I also use the Repair install procedure to fix Windows faults [except those associated with user accounts because it has no effect on them].

6 Do not worry about the details that somebody posted about the whoami command. At the time, I just wanted a very quick confirmation that you were logged on as the Administrator so I could be certain about what was happening. You will probably never use this command again so I don’t think it is worth discussing the details.

7 Was it you that asked for advice about my procedure when it was posted in the MS Community forum? If so then note that I have refined it for TenForums including bringing it up-to-date for version 1709 & I have not touched the MS Community version so use the new link I have given you above.

I am glad you have managed to fix things. Now that you have two password-protected local admin accounts, you will never get into this situation again.

Denis

 

Denis,

Thanks for the dits !..

1. Have read your tutorial, and pleased to say I have a little more understanding of its contents than I had a fortnight ago !.

2. The menu NOW opens with the start button !.. ??.

3.I now have a user account and NewAdminPrimary for use.. I have updated Windows 10 and created a System Image on my external hard drive .. perhaps you will let me know when the new version puts in an appearance ?.

So, again thanks for your help, advice and guidance. I will continue to use the forum whenever I find the opportunity to develop my PC awareness !.

Problem solved !.

Alan.

 

Alan,

"2. The menu NOW opens with the start button !.. ??." - I don't understand what you are trying to say.

About "perhaps you will let me know when the new version puts in an appearance ?." - You can check this at Download Windows 10 using Media creation tool - at the top of the page it says which version it is for. At the moment it says "Windows 10 Fall Creators Update now available" [that's Ver 1709]. It will, at some uncertain stage, say that the Spring creators update is available [ver 1803] - assuming they do not change the name or version number.
- There is a tutorial on using the Media creation tool at How to Download Official Windows 10 ISO file from Microsoft
- Note that, afterwards, you should delete the Media creation tool because it contains a permanent reference to the version of Windows 10 it downloads. [corrected after reading @Bree's updated info below]

Denis