I've lost some admin rights. Is that due to BitDefender ?

.

Try3 said:

Use the

Code:

net user

command to confirm that the account still exists.
Denis

.

Results:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>net user

User accounts for \\DESKTOP-P52R3T1

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Administrator <me> <me2>
DefaultAccount Guest <a guest>
TestColours WDAGUtilityAccount
The command completed successfully.
.
Thanks
.

.

Which was the account that used to appear on your login screen but no longer does?
For that AccountName, run
Net user AccountName
and check the line in the response
Account active
as I suspect it is now disabled so would report
Account active - No.


It is unusual to use Guest accounts these days. I assume <a guest> was just your way of saying Somebody else rather than it actually being a Guest-type account. This should be clear in the
Net user AccountName
response in the line
Local Group Memberships


All the best,
Denis

OldGrantonian said:

I also would need to use "Take Ownership".
I was referring to:
C:\Users\<me>\AppData

Your Appdata folder should, by default, be owned by you and you should have Full control over it.
This is all getting very messy.

Do you have a system image from before all this hassle started?
You could copy all your own files to an external backup drive, restore that old system image and then copy all your own files back.
[I always make a system image of the current state before repairing things or restoring old system images. That way, I can be confident that the very worst that can happen is that I end up back where I am now.]


Denis

"None of these showed the account name "SecondAdmin" (or similar)."

If it wasn't reported by the bare

Code:

net user

command then it no longer existed.
It would still have been reported even if it was disabled or corrupted.


Denis

OldGrantonian said:

@Ghot said:
.
---------------------------
As for C:\Program Files\WindowsApps, I believe Windows itself blocks access to that folder.
I had to use "Take Ownership" to access that folder...
--------------------------
.
I also would need to use "Take Ownership".

However, I wasn't referring to:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps

I was referring to:

C:\Users\<me>\AppData

Thanks

Sorry, my bad. You can just do Take Ownership for that folder as well.

OldGrantonian said:

I have Level 2 UAC set.

Since, like so many of us, you are using an Admin account as your day-to-day user account, I believe that it is worth raising UAC to its highest level.
I reviewed lots of malware a few years ago that claimed to be able to elevate itself to run as Admin and hence be more invasive. None of it was able to do so if UAC was at its highest setting. I've kept UAC at its highest ever since.


All the best,
Denis