How to Login/Switch to Administrator when there is no option to do so?

I ran into a series of problems when trying to remove a defective printer from Devices and Printers, because it says "Access is denied, unable to Remove Device". To remove the printer, also I tried to run print management, and it says "Windows cannot access the specified device, path". And in order to repair the defect I tried to open Printer folder under the Spool folder, but I got the message: "you don't currently have permission to access this folder".

So the problem appears to be that I am not logged in as the Administrator. In User Accounts in the Control Panel, my user (hsmith) is listed as Administrator. Additionally, when I click on Switch User in my Start Menu, I am not able to login as any other user, since none others are listed.

To get Administrator access, I tried to run CMD prompt "as administrator" but it says "Windows cannot access the specified device". When I go to change the Advanced System Settings in My Computer, it says: Access Denied.

I went into Safe Mode, Rightclicked on the c: and d: drives, and selected security, then in the "group or usernames" box, I changed my user setting as follows:
* Users (hsmith-PC\Users) : "full control" (instead of no full control)

However, a problem arose because when it went to apply the settings, it said that Access was Denied for changing permissions for C:/Windows and C:\Program Files



Next, I went back into normal mode and tried to remove the device, but my access was still blocked.

AddRam,

I was able to install the drivers and install the printer now, but only by doing so in Safe Mode. Even though I am listed as the administrator, I don't get access when I try to do them in Normal mode.

It's strange. Perhaps it is related to my having two sets of "Environmental Variables" in my User Accounts settings. I heard that they could cause access problems when there is more than one and they conflict.

I know that my post here is old,but I want to follow up in case others have this problem. I bought a subscription to the Norton Ultimate Help Desk for last month (I am not advertising or promoting their service here BTW) and they worked deep in my computer to fix some of the problem (like getting me permission to uninstall software programs from my control panel). They also suggested that for me to fix more of the problems (like to get me access to my own System Backup and Restore functions), I should buy a Windows 7 DVD and run a repair. They think that there must be a problem with my windows files. I vaguely remember that years ago when I got Windows it was set up with limited permissions so that a novice computer user could not mess up his computer by deleting or changing important settings. But I could be misremembering this.