Windows 7 - Administrator account isn't a 'real' administrator :(

Well I had XP SP3 on this box before and was taking care of everything myself and never had any virus, trojans and such on it. Which stills leads me to believe that the biggest and best weapon against that kind of filth is by utilizing common sense and ones mind

You find them in the Group policy editor (Administrative tools).

I have never disabled UAC (and never will). Knowing which software demands administrative rights is valuable information for me.

On Vista I reduced prompts with the Norton UAC tool, here on 7 I lowered the UAC slider a notch and I get only the prompts I do want to see.

Getting back to the original post I have noticed certain inconsistencies with the STD/Admin token handling within the file management part of explorer.exe

One way I have found to counter some of these issues where the system does not ask for elevation, which results in the "contact administrator" type prompts, is to manually elevate the actual explorer process.

In the start search type explorer.exe and right click and "run as administrator", this instance of explorer should not see the majority of prompts.

As these issues are caused by permissions problems the same effect can also be achieved by manually giving your user full rights to the areas concerned, after taking ownership. This can of course present an easier target to any potential malware infection

I was only describing the solution to a question.

I wouldnt suggest disabling UAC, either.

Good, thanks for clarifying.

I think I'm having a similar problem, I'm running a Windows 7 Home Premium edition and when I try to load my Windows 2007 Enterprise it tells me I have to be an Administrator to do it. I tried burning the iso file onto a disc but still the same issue. I tried following one of the tuts above to disable the built in administrator account but the version doesn't have a built in administrator account. Also I am the only one that is an administrator on the PC.

Try running in safe mode.

Your first install, 32 bit, went to D: ?????

I had a computer that was hooked up to the internet for 5 years without a security package and I used daily with no problems then a virus,malware something got in and wrecked havoc. It took a week of lost time and lots of destroyed valuable(to me) data before I was even able to use it. I put a security package on it which took 30 min. or so, it was free, easy to install and came with tools to help me see more details about the system. I used Comodo but I tried a few others and they were just as good it seems but it was easiest for me at the time, I haven't put it on my new computer yet since there is not much to protect on it.

The Administrator problem has bugged me I make someone an administrator and they need an administrator to do things then I look at their status and they have been demoted by the system to a user. What gives?

I moved the slider to the bottom that allowed any program to run without notifying me and any changes made by me to go thru without notify me and when I went to User Accounts and looked at the detail I was still an Administrator, the system had not made me a User again!

Windows 7 Home Premium doesn't seem to have the plug-in installed to edit "Local Users and Groups" or so it says when you enter "netplwiz" without quotes in the search field at the bottom of the page from the "Start" button and click on netplwiz underlined at the top of the page.