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Logged out of Vista after attempt to increase administrator rights RRS feed

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    Hi

     

    I recently bought a Dell laptop with factory loaded Windows Vista. The system is intel core duo, 2 GB RAM, and 160 GB HDD, partitioned 60/100.

     

    I recently tried to install two different programs on the system which were easily installed and happily working on my other Desktop with windows XP. During one of the installs, there was an error message of 'not having administrative rights / power user' (despite being logged in as an administrator) and the installation of the second one failed repetedly during creation of some .NET registry.

     

    So, I went to the microsoft help centre, and found that the even when logged in as an administrator, the user in windows Vista does not enjoy all administrative rights. So in one of the blogs on microsoft site, there was a step by step guide to expand / increase the administrative rights of the user and an alternate was suggested to download a program (about 100 kb), and to run it from the desktop. I downloaded the program and ran it as advised and was prompted to restart the system. But after restart, the system didn't accept my login password. I tried a few combinations, including the original factory default, but to no avail. So I went back to Dell user manual, which had detailed a system restore option in case of irreversible system problem (it seems a dead end for me). I tried doing the restore, but at the prompt of password, a message appears, which mentions disabling of administator account.

     

    Now, I am locked out of the system and anything remedy which can be done after system boot is not an option for me. I seek advice about how to go about solving the problem.

     

    I realise that the details of the problems I've mentioned and the software which I'd downloaded and installed which caused this failure, are not enough. But without logging on to the system and viewing my internet browsing history, I cannot remember any more details.

     

    Help

     

    Piyush

    Sunday, December 16, 2007 3:50 PM

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    Hi Piyush,

     

    Thank you for the post.

     

    The default Administrator account is disabled if an account with administrator privileges exists.

     

    Now let’s try the following method to logon the default Administrator account:

     

    1. Put the Windows Vista installation disc in the disc drive, and then start the computer. 

    2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD …". appears.

    3. Select a language, a time, a currency, and a keyboard or another input method, and then click Next. 

    4. Click Repair your computer. 

    5. Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next. 

    6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt. 

    7. Type the following line and press Enter:

     

    net user administrator /active:yes

     

    Note: There is a space between “administrator” and “/active:yes”.

     

    8. Restart the computer and logon the default Administrator account.

     

    Can we logon it now?

     

    Hope it helps.

     

    Best regards,

    Tim Quan

    Microsoft Online Community Support

    Tuesday, December 18, 2007 5:51 AM
    Moderator