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#1
Hidden Administrator account, no backup admin
I foolishly hid my only administrator account using the registry editor and I can't do anything with the secondary account that I have on the computer.
I went to:
Created a new keyHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
>"SpecialAccounts"
Created a new key under that
>"UserList"
Created new Dword (32bit)
>"Test" <-- Name of the administrator account
Set hex value to 0.
Having completely forgotten to elevate the secondary account to an administrator, I logged out.
Now I can't log in to my administrator account. When I log in with the secondary account, the UAC prompt has no option for sign in or administrator password entry, it just allows you to click "No". I have no rights to edit the same entry in the registry editor and I can't access gpedit.msc.
I tried using Shift+Restart to use command prompt - which does allow me to sign in with my admin credentials. I tried "net user Administrator /active:yes" (and tried the same with my named administrator account), which says it was successful, but makes no changes after exiting command prompt and continuing to windows. I also opened "regedit" through the command prompt and tried to make the same entry in regedit that I initially made (the keys and dword don't show up when I open it), but with a value of 1, with no effect.
I tried booting into safe mode as well and clicking on the account icon to switch users, but the option doesn't exist (account hidden).
I ended up doing a reset on the computer, but I am left with the same option at the sign in screen and no access to administrator accounts.