How do I make myself always administrator?

juanantoniod said:

Hello,

I am so tired of being prompted to either allow administrator rights or being told that I cannot do something because I do not have administrator rights. I own this darn computer, why can't I do what I want with it?

For example, I was trying to run SFC /scannow from a command prompt window. The system said it would not let me because I did not have administrator rights.

How can I make myself permanently the administrator of my own computers?

At the very least, how can I elevate myself to run sfc /scannow?

Thanks!

For some commands, you have to run as administrator even if you are an administrator. Simply right click on the command prompt and click Run as Administrator. Also, turn off UAC if you dont want the annoying UAC popups.

Ok the quick and dirty answer (maybe not that quick )

this operating procedure is to not protect the user from the computer but to protect them from themselves. I am talking about the average user here who just wants a system to work and be safe.

The hidden Administrator in Windows is equivalent to Unix/Linux's root user and as such is the old Sysadmin from networked systems.

OK, established best practice for years has been to run as a standard user and either use runas or a separate log-in for system tasks. When installing a system the sysadmin would create multiple accounts to facilitate this.

Unfortunately not all users have the knowledge to work like this, and many in the XP era just created a single user, (which logically has to have admin rights), Microsoft in an attempt to control the possibility of malware gaining admin access to the system, developed the UAC system.

This uses a token system to run the user as a standard user until admin access is required and then prompt the user to elevate to admin. It uses a barrier system that prevents a program from elevating.

As for user rights - again to prevent users accidentally damaging system files - these are given admin only permissions - the file you are having a problem with is in system32 and thus can only be accessed by an admin account - win7 should prompt you to elevate to access this file but does not always - A bug of sorts

If you switch off the UAC then you will always run in the elevated state and should then have sufficient access to do what you want.
I say "Should" as a deeper level of protection applies to certain areas where permissions are given to a "TrustedUser" account and not the administrator account. This is why the Hidden administrator exists.

If you wish you can, as the hidden Admin, (which is never hindered by UAC), add any permissions you wish to your user account, which will add permissions to the standard user token and thus stop the requests for access permissions.

I actually find the UAC causes me less work as I am old school and in XP used to run as a standard user, the auto elevate prompt means I can have just the one account, The same applies with Ubuntu although the system does require a password for elevation.

If you need specific answers to issues please post and we will try to answer them specifically (if the information you need to provide is security related then we have the Private message system,)

I guess I have a better understanding of this, but I will still read the recommended information.

However, I was able to run the sfc /scannow, and it create a txt log file. But, I cannot open it, because when I double click on it, it says, "Access Denied!" How can I get this to open?

Thanks a lot!

Take Ownership Shortcut

Well, thanks to you all, I did actually find that I created an Administrator account. Although I am going to use my Macrium images to a cleaner, sleeker install, I will still add the Administrator account again after doing so. I can use it for having a stable platform for troubleshooting. The only issue I need to figure out is how to protect this accont with my fingerprint scanner, but that should be easy enough to figure out. I also finally opened the sfc /scannow log, and it was basically not a user friendly read, so that was a bust anyway. But, if you have any input on the following needs I still have, I would appreciate your help with the following.

I finally figured out how to get my system to recognize the Macrium Images I previously made, so I am going to restore to a clean system restore I made before I started having problems, then re-do making the Data partition, and moving the files appropriately. So, I am good to go. There are a couple of things that would still help though:

1. A Windows 7 OS save settings/export settings tool which would save the customizations I have made since the clean, stable install;

2. An Outlook settings transfer tool, which would transfer or export the email setups, as well as all of the Outlook Options I have personally configured; and

3. A way to determine what changes I have made to my system since the Macrium Image was created. That way, I can pick and choose which apps I want to reinstall and which ones I do not. I tried going in to the System Restore settings, and it turns out that, when I created the Data partition and moved the files, it turned off the System Restore. Nevertheless, there were many changes made before that, which may have created restore points that I could use to identify the changes that need to be re-made. If there is a 'back door' into the System Restore log, or another system change log, it would be very advantageous to have.

So, if anyone can help me with any of these, I would have the utmost gratitude. Bill2 was kind and diligent enough to locate a superb tool for exporting my Internet Explorer settings, so that will prove most helpful. If I had such a tool for Outlook [2010], and Windows 7 OS settings, I would be ecstatic!

Thanks to all who contributed to my dilemma. I cannot express in words how grateful I am for you sharing your knowledge and insights with me. I will be "awarding rep" later today, after things settle out and I find out which posts I can give the rep to. This forum kind of limits the rep I can spread around, but I will try to give as much credit where it is due.

With utmost appreciation,

Barman58 said:

Ok the quick and dirty answer (maybe not that quick )

this operating procedure is to not protect the user from the computer but to protect them from themselves. I am talking about the average user here who just wants a system to work and be safe.

The hidden Administrator in Windows is equivalent to Unix/Linux's root user and as such is the old Sysadmin from networked systems.

OK, established best practice for years has been to run as a standard user and either use runas or a separate log-in for system tasks. When installing a system the sysadmin would create multiple accounts to facilitate this.

Unfortunately not all users have the knowledge to work like this, and many in the XP era just created a single user, (which logically has to have admin rights), Microsoft in an attempt to control the possibility of malware gaining admin access to the system, developed the UAC system.

This uses a token system to run the user as a standard user until admin access is required and then prompt the user to elevate to admin. It uses a barrier system that prevents a program from elevating.

As for user rights - again to prevent users accidentally damaging system files - these are given admin only permissions - the file you are having a problem with is in system32 and thus can only be accessed by an admin account - win7 should prompt you to elevate to access this file but does not always - A bug of sorts

If you switch off the UAC then you will always run in the elevated state and should then have sufficient access to do what you want.
I say "Should" as a deeper level of protection applies to certain areas where permissions are given to a "TrustedUser" account and not the administrator account. This is why the Hidden administrator exists.

If you wish you can, as the hidden Admin, (which is never hindered by UAC), add any permissions you wish to your user account, which will add permissions to the standard user token and thus stop the requests for access permissions.

I actually find the UAC causes me less work as I am old school and in XP used to run as a standard user, the auto elevate prompt means I can have just the one account, The same applies with Ubuntu although the system does require a password for elevation.

If you need specific answers to issues please post and we will try to answer them specifically (if the information you need to provide is security related then we have the Private message system,)

We need a Pinned combined (my posts and others) version of this so we don't have to keep typing this over and over and over again. I Add REP!!!

Okay, guys, please excuse me for my ignorance, but I'm a little confused...

I thought that my one and only account on this computer, "Antonio", was the Administrator. Until, I got error messages telling me that I did not have administrator rights or privileges, and was denied access to view even simple TXT files. Then, following instructions on this forum, I "enabled?" the Administrator account, and after a couple of reboots, another login Account appeared on my Windows login screen, besides just mine. So, does this mean that I actually was not the Administrator, and did not have Administrator rights, but by creating the Administrator account, this account had them? Besides Windows limiting a "users" access to their own files, and wanting that, from a day-to-day standpoint, can you give me some examples of how I would use a separate Windows Administrator account?

And, just for clarification, can you please confirm that there are actually 3 different types of Windows Accounts, 2 of them being called "Administrator"? There is the User Account Administrator, the System Administrator Account, and the User Accounts, right? The User Account Administrator can create and modify User Accounts, but does not have System Administrator Privileges. Am I on the right track here in understanding this?

Thanks for your patience.

solarmystic said:

Switch off that pervasive P.I.T.A UAC in the Users bit in Control Panel.

Aside from it's original implementation with Vista, I don't find UAC all that annoying.

solarmystic said:

P.S. It's highly recommended you do that right after the installation, before you install any programs to prevent any untoward behavior.

I would recommend to NOT disable UAC with Windows 7, but rather adjust to the way it works. Why would we want to go back to the way that Windows XP was?

Antonio Not quite:

I think what you need is to review 2 excellent books. There is a lot to the Administrator Account(s). If you worked a lot with Windows XP you will have a basic understanding of it, but MS changed a lot when it came to Vista and Windows 7. UAC maybe causing you issues too, so you need to catch up on several areas.

Here are those books, I own both and they are fantastic.

Amazon.com: Windows 7 Inside Out (9780735626652): Ed Bott, Carl Siechert, Craig Stinson: Books
Amazon.com: Windows 7 Resource Kit (9780735627000): Mitch Tulloch, Tony Northrup, Jerry Honeycutt: Books

Enjoy.