Used Hard Drive, hidden Admin

I have a home network consisting of four used/refurbed HP Small Form Factor computers with Windows 10 operating systems. I am running into a problem with the one (the other three do not manifest that problem) in my wife's office. When I go to "Create and Format Hard Disk Partitions" to get a quick look at her hard drive, a Red box comes up telling me that "for my own protection an administrator has blocked me from this feature...". I assume that the previous owner(s) of her refurbed computer enabled a Hidden Administrator Account and blocked other users from performing potentially damaging procedures.

I have searched and found and tried some procedures to deal with enabling/disabling the Hidden Administrator Account, but have not been able to eliminate it at this point. If it should come to it, would "Refresh" or "Restore" eliminate that artifact of a previous Hidden Admin?

Any other advice relative to the problem?

You pull the drive and wipe in a caddy with Linux.

bro67 said:

You pull the drive and wipe in a caddy with Linux.

My intention is to eventually clone her hard drive to a Solid State Drive. She really has a lot of apps she does not want to loose if I can help it. So, saving the drive via wiping and Linux (which I do not have), would really be of much help. The had drive itself will eventually be discarded. It is the Windows 10 operating system (and all her apps if we can do that), itself is what I want to save, not that over-age spinner.

Maybe this article can be of assistance.

Enable the (Hidden) Administrator Account on Windows 7, 8, or 10 (howtogeek.com)

dahermit said:

I have a home network consisting of four used/refurbed HP Small Form Factor computers with Windows 10 operating systems. I am running into a problem with the one (the other three do not manifest that problem) in my wife's office. When I go to "Create and Format Hard Disk Partitions" to get a quick look at her hard drive, a Red box comes up telling me that "for my own protection an administrator has blocked me from this feature...". I assume that the previous owner(s) of her refurbed computer enabled a Hidden Administrator Account and blocked other users from performing potentially damaging procedures.

I have searched and found and tried some procedures to deal with enabling/disabling the Hidden Administrator Account, but have not been able to eliminate it at this point. If it should come to it, would "Refresh" or "Restore" eliminate that artifact of a previous Hidden Admin?

Any other advice relative to the problem?

Since you are able to "go to "Create and Format Hard Disk Partitions" to get a quick look at her hard drive", how are you getting there?
--- Also "Post #3 "She really has a lot of apps she does not want to loose if I can help it."

That appears to me that you are able to log-in.
Is the account being used a Local administrator account or a Microsoft account?
Is there another usable account available to use?

Is her HP Small Form Factor Windows 10 Pro?

MeAndMyComputer said:

Since you are able to "go to "Create and Format Hard Disk Partitions" to get a quick look at her hard drive", how are you getting there?

By typing in "disk" on "search"... it takes me there.

--- Also "Post #3 "She really has a lot of apps she does not want to loose if I can help it."
That appears to me that you are able to log-in.

Yes, although her computer is getting "hinky" (apps disappearing), most of the apps still work. However, we have lost the ability to get to the Microsoft Store, the Calc app disappeard, etc.

Is the account being used a Local administrator account or a Microsoft account?

Who ever blocked the "Create and Format Hard Disk Partitions" is not a Local administrator... it does not I.D. who the "Administrator" is who blocked that feature.

Is there another usable account available to use?

There are two accounts, mine and hers. I am the local administrator.

Is her HP Small Form Factor Windows 10 Pro?

Yes.


Inasmuch as I am going to install a SSD to replace her spinner, it is looking like I am going to have to do a "Refresh" on her Windows 10 pro to straiten it out first... but I sure do not want to have that hidden admin stuff migrate to the new SSD. I suspect it may be password protected. So I am worried.

Right now, I want to be optimistic toward a successful outcome.

Create a system image backup please in case something goes awry.
--- You can clear the external HDD afterward once things are cleared up.
Create a separate data backup also.

Use your local administrator

Go to Use DISM to Repair Windows 10 Image
How to Repair Windows 10 Image using DISM
Use DISM to Repair Windows 10 Image

Follow up with Run SFC Command in Windows 10
How to Repair System Files with SFC Command in Windows 10
Run SFC Command in Windows 10

"I sure do not want to have that hidden admin stuff migrate to the new SSD. I suspect it may be password protected."
If that hidden admin account is the typical hidden administrator account, it will still be included.

Go to Lazesoft Recovery Suite Home Edition V4.5 Free
Lazesoft Recovery Suite Free, Free Windows System Recovery, Free Data Recovery, Free Windows Password Recovery, Free Disk Clone

Create a Free Lazesoft Recovery Suite Recovery CD or USB disk


I have a previous version on a USB flash drive. It hasn't failed me yet.
Review the items in the Features & Guides tab to see which one of those linked instructions will be helpful for you.
That should work for you in which you will then work on the hidden administrator account you are concerned account.

Create a system image backup please in case something goes awry.
--- You can clear the external HDD afterward once things are cleared up.
Create a separate data backup also.

Use your local administrator

Go to Use DISM to Repair Windows 10 Image
How to Repair Windows 10 Image using DISM
Use DISM to Repair Windows 10 Image

I am a little confused by this. Do you mean I should use DISM to repair the system image I would make on an external HDD, or are you referring to some feature within Windows 10 called Windows 10 Image?

"Do you mean I should use DISM to repair the system image I would make on an external HDD"
No. Do not have the external HDD connected.

Usually, I use step 5. To Use DISM /RestoreHealth Command.
(recommended) You would use /RestoreHealth to scan the image for component store corruption, perform repair operations automatically using Windows Update as the source, and records that corruption to the log file. This can take around 10-15 minutes up to a few hours to finish depending on the level of corruption. It will stay at 20% for a while before continuing.

You will need to have an Internet connection for this command to perform repair operations automatically using Windows Update as the source.

If this command fails, then you can do step 6 or step 7 below instead.

If this is the first time you use this, use the previous steps so you'll see what they report.