Windows 10 disaster

[Glyn DaviesParticipant @glyndavies49417]

Hi I know this is a long shot, but I wondered if there are any computer experts here that might be able to help me. I recently activated, and then de-activated the Windows 10 hidden admin account on my PC. I then thought I’d make the machine even more secure by removing the admin privileges from my user account. Doh! Now I don’t have privilege to either activate the Admin account or restore admin privileges to my user account, so cannot run anything that wants to make any changes to my device. Is there any option other than a clean reinstall of Windows? Apparently Microsoft stopped creating restore point backups in Windows 10 some time ago. Can’t believe Windows allowed me to make such a disastrous change without dire warnings beforehand.

Thanks

[MichaelRParticipant @michaelr]

I don’t know much about computers but you may have to do a reinstall, you could try this

If you have another administrator account on your Windows 10 device, you can use it to grant administrative privileges to your account. But if you don’t have another administrator account, you can use the Command Prompt to regain your administrative privileges.

* Open the Start menu,
* Search for “Command Prompt,” and then right-click on it and
* Select “Run as administrator.”
* Type the following command and press Enter: net localgroup administrators [your username] /add. Replace “[your username]” with your actual username.

You should now have administrative privileges.

I found this on Microsoft help

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

AI is very good at answering this sort of technical question!   Give it a try, nothing to lose:

1. In your Browser activate ChatGPT by clicking this link. It will respond:

Paste in your question:

“I recently activated, and then de-activated the Windows 10 hidden admin account on my PC. I then thought I’d make the machine even more secure by removing the admin privileges from my user account. Doh! Now I don’t have privilege to either activate the Admin account or restore admin privileges to my user account, so cannot run anything that wants to make any changes to my device. Is there any option other than a clean reinstall of Windows?”

Well done you Glyn, the above provides most of the information needed for AI to get a grip, avoiding that well known trap “Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer”!

I won’t repeat what ChatGPT suggests here for a very good reason.  If ChatGPT’s first suggestions are unclear or don’t work, you can, and should, ask it to clarify.  You can also refine your question and add more detail etc, plus what happens when particular suggestions are followed.  Usually done via a second search box at the bottom of the result page:

 

ChatGPT remembers the original context. making it possible for the human and AI to collaboratively home in on the answer.  There’s a certain amount of skill in it.

Dave

 

[Glyn DaviesParticipant @glyndavies49417]

Many thanks for the replies. I’ve now spent hours going round and round trying to get the command prompt to activate the Admin account and every way I try gets me an access denied error. Tried from the start up menu and the boot recovery menu. Aaargh!!!

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

I have not used this but worth a try to recover a deleted admin account in Win 10

https://www.google.com/search?q=admin+account+deleted+windows+10&oq=admin+accoumt+fdeleted&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0i22i30l2j0i5i13i30l2j0i8i13i30l5.13460j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

[peak4Participant @peak4]

The second method here looks like a good possibility if you have access to another machine.

https://www.isumsoft.com/windows-password/accidentally-deleted-administrator-account-on-windows-10.html

Bill

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Try:- start/run/whatever-> cmd, right click on icon and select ‘run as administrator’. If that works, type compmgmt.msc in the command window.

 

If not, you are probably looking at a re-install.

Next time, don’t disable the administrator account. Give it a password you can remember. Just in case.

[Glyn DaviesParticipant @glyndavies49417]

The Isumsoft idea sounded good, but beware- I downloaded the software onto my wife’s laptop and burned a USB stick as per the instructions. Set my PC to boot from the stick but no joy. And the USB stick is now unreadable in File Explorer so cannot format it. I think Microsoft has every ploy covered! Looks like it’s time to reinstall Windows.

[peak4Participant @peak4]

Depending on your confidence levels, you could have a read of this.
I believe there are other ways to access the hidden admin account; there is, or at least was, a hidden admin account in recovery mode.
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2969-enable-disable-elevated-administrator-account-windows-10-a.html#option5

e.g. this may work, but the shown means of accessing safe mode, via shift re-start, may have been disabled depending on the Windows build.
You may need to interrupt the boot process three times consecutively to access safe mode, but do check up on that

Bill

[mark costello 1Participant @markcostello1]

My own personal disaster was changing font color to white. White font on a white back round means You have to remember where everything was and try to find it.

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