Removed my own admin ability, unable to get it back


  1. Posts : 3
    Win 10 Home
       #1

    Removed my own admin ability, unable to get it back


    I have a home theater PC which I had operating with an admin level account. I figured it would be safest to remove this, so I removed my administrator rights and rebooted.

    Now I have no accounts with admin rights!

    I have only local accounts, none connected to Microsoft. How can I restore my admin rights?

    I've looked at multiple online tutorials, but all require some sort of admin rights to begin with.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 3
    Win 10 Home
    Thread Starter
       #2

    Okay, after a few hours of frustration I figured it out. Sorry if this is easy-peezy to the experts here.

    Posting just for posterity...

    1. Booted into Safemode with command mode. The ubiquitous but hidden Administrator account is visible here.
    2. Entered this command to activate the Administrator account visibility:
    net user administrator /active:yes
    3. Booted into this Admin account, now visible, in Windows the regular way and changed my usual account back to Admin.
    4. Entered this in a command prompt to disable the Admin account visibility:
    net user administrator /active:no

    Reasons why this was not as easy as portrayed on every online tutorial:

    1. Safemode for Win10 looks so different from anything else I was accustomed to, it took a while to get into it
    2. This PC came installed with Win8, then upgraded to Win10 online, so no physical media was available.
    3. Some tutorials asked for recovery media, and my Win10 install refused to create recovery media for some reason
    4. I had forgotten my Admin password because I had never set it. Hint: Hit ENTER if it prompts for one and it's never been set.
    5. Attempts to boot into regular Safemode Administrator gave me a non-working Win10 Safemode. Specifically, it showed a standard windows screen with taskbar, but NOTHING worked.
    Last edited by waylo; 30 Oct 2016 at 22:39.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 31,551
    10 Home x64 (22H2) (10 Pro on 2nd pc)
       #3

    waylo said:
    2. This PC came installed with Win8, then upgraded to Win10 online, so no physical media was available.
    3. Some tutorials asked for recovery media, and my Win10 install refused to create recovery media for some reason.
    Yes. by default the built-in Administrator account is disabled and has no password. Well done for sorting this out for yourself, and especially for remembering to disable Administrator once you'd finished using it.

    You should be able to use the Recovery Media Creator to make a bootable USB (just type 'recovery drive' in the Cortana/Search box).

    If that's not working for you, then you can use Microsoft's Media Creation Tool to make a bootable USB containing the full install media for Windows 10.
    4. Select (dot) Create installation media for another PC, and click/tap on Next.......
    Note
    Leaving the Use the recommended options for this PC box checked will have the Media Creation Tool create a USB flash drive that's the same language, edition, and architecture as the current PC.

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

    PS:
    my Win10 install refused to create recovery media for some reason.
    The reason was that you have to be signed in as an administrator (or to know the password of an admin account) in order to be able run the Recovery Media Creator. You should be able to run it now :)
    Last edited by Bree; 30 Oct 2016 at 21:40. Reason: PS:
      My Computers


 

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