Regaining Administrator Access

I'm the sole user of my computer. Previously, I was able to use it as an administrator, but I somehow ended up creating a separate administrator account. Unfortunately, I can't seem to switch it back. I wish I could go into more detail, but I'm not entirely clear on how I ended up in this situation.

I've tried going into the command prompt and entering "net user administrator /active:yes", but it simply says that a System Error 5 has occurred.

Earlier, I went to "User Settings". I tried changing the account type; I went and selected Administrator, but it wouldn't acknowledge it once I selected it. When I went back, it had switched to normal.

Please let me know what I can do to resolve this issue. Thanks.

miza84 said:

I've tried going into the command prompt and entering "net user administrator /active:yes", but it simply says that a System Error 5 has occurred.

That command will enable the built in Administrator account to log on. It is disabled by default for good reason. It gives full unrestricted access to the system without the protection of User Account Control (UAC) kicking in if you (or someone accessing your PC remotely) tries to do something that may damage the system. System Error 5 means you were not running the command with administrator rights. See this tutorial for more details:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2...dows-10-a.html

I suspect what you have done is something like this:
You don't sign in with a Microsoft account, your user accounts are local (just on your PC). You started off with one user account with administrator rights. You then created a new user with normal rights and no password. You logged into the new 'normal user' account and now every time you start the PC you go straight into this account without seeing a login screen. This is normal behaviour for a local account without a password.

To get back to your original user account with administrator rights you must first log out of the normal user account. To log out, right-click on the Start and select 'sign out' from the 'Shut down or sign out' menu. You'll then see the sign on screen with a list of available accounts in the lower left corner. Click on your original one to log into that account.

Bree said:

That command will enable the built in Administrator account to log on. It is disabled by default for good reason. It gives full unrestricted access to the system without the protection of User Account Control (UAC) kicking in if you (or someone accessing your PC remotely) tries to do something that may damage the system. System Error 5 means you were not running the command with administrator rights. See this tutorial for more details:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2...dows-10-a.html

I suspect what you have done is something like this:
You don't sign in with a Microsoft account, your user accounts are local (just on your PC). You started off with one user account with administrator rights. You then created a new user with normal rights and no password. You logged into the new 'normal user' account and now every time you start the PC you go straight into this account without seeing a login screen. This is normal behaviour for a local account without a password.

To get back to your original user account with administrator rights you must first log out of the normal user account. To log out, right-click on the Start and select 'sign out' from the 'Shut down or sign out' menu. You'll then see the sign on screen with a list of available accounts in the lower left corner. Click on your original one to log into that account.

Hmm, okay. Unfortunately, I don't see any other user accounts. At one point I was logging on with some kind of Administration account, but I can no longer do that. I can't recall how I accessed that account, but it did not have my name, nor was it the account I normally use. Currently, I think I'm using my original account, but it no longer has admin access.

miza84 said:

Currently, I think I'm using my original account, but it no longer has admin access.

The you'll have to follow Simrick's advice - enable the hidden built in Administrator account, log in with that then change your normal user account to administrative status.

To do that you'll need to run a Command Prompt with administrator rights - right-click on Start and choose 'Command Prompt (Admin)'. At this point you'll have to provide the password of an administrator account - hopefully it will then ask you for the password to that administration account you seem to have mislaid.

Bree said:

The you'll have to follow Simrick's advice - enable the hidden built in Administrator account, log in with that then change your normal user account to administrative status.

To do that you'll need to run a Command Prompt with administrator rights - right-click on Start and choose 'Command Prompt (Admin)'. At this point you'll have to provide the password of an administrator account - hopefully it will then ask you for the password to that administration account you seem to have mislaid.

I tried that. A window pops up asking if I want to allow the app to make changes. To continue I have to type in an administrator password, but there's no space in which to type it.

miza84 said:

I tried that. A window pops up asking if I want to allow the app to make changes. To continue I have to type in an administrator password, but there's no space in which to type it.

Sounds like something is broken - there should be account name and a 'password' box on that screen. Sounds like you may have to create yourself a new user account with administrator rights rather than try to fix the current one. Either way, you need to enable the built-in Administrator account before you can do that.

Simrick has already shown you a way to enable the Administrator account at boot time. It's option 4 in the tutorial we've pointed you to.
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2...a.html#option4

I can't do anything in command prompt. I just keep getting a System Error 5 message.

Also, I'm somewhat confused by the directions. Where does it say to get into command prompt from boot?

miza84 said:

Also, I'm somewhat confused by the directions. Where does it say to get into command prompt from boot?

In the instructions here...
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2...a.html#option4
...it says:

1. Boot from your Windows 10 installation USB or recovery drive, and open a command prompt at boot (Shift+F10).

The blue words 'command prompt at boot' are a link that takes you to this tutorial...
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2...dows-10-a.html
...that explains how to get into a command prompt.