How do i change administrator accounts?

[christina92]

I know this sounds like a basic question, but I have tried just about everything and have had no success. access is always denied. Somehow the guest account was changed to an administrator account, and im trying to change the guest account back and make another account they administrator account.
Things ive tried that HAVENT worked:
1. accessing user accounts via control panel.(nothing happens when I change it)
2. accessing user accounts via advanced user accounts(netplwiz )- access denied.
3. changing user accounts via elevated command prompt.(access denied)
4. accessing user accounts via the local users and groups(lusrmgr.msc)-snapin isn't used with this version. Should I try to enable it??

so any suggestions?? They will be much appreciated.
Thank you
~ Christina~

 

[Brink]

Hello Christina, and welcome to Seven Forums.

You will not be able to change the account type of the account that you are currently signed in to.

You will have to sign in to another administrator account first. Afterwards, you will be able to change the account type of the other account back to be a guest.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/103538-user-account-type-change.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[christina92]

There is no other administrator account.

and let me clarify im logging into the admin/guest account now, im trying to change another account to admin.

 

[Brink]

What account was used to change the "guest" account to be an administrator?

There had to have been another administrator account to have been able to do this.

 

[christina92]

The other account, my account. there are only two accounts on the computer. mine(Christina) and the guest account( which was renamed Mom). what I believed happened was that my mom logged in to my account made the guest account the admin, then changed my account to standard user. my mom was the one who did this btw so I have no idea what she exactly did. and I don't know if this is related, but I cant create another account either. when I try to it keeps saying "Specified account name is not valid because of invalid characters", when there are no invalid characters. so it kinda makes me think there might be a virus but there are no viruses detected, ive ran Norton 360 and malwarebytes.

 

[Brink]

Christina,

At this point, it may be best to back up anything you do not want to lose, then reinstall Windows 7.

 

[christina92]

damn. I was hoping I wouldn't have to do that. could you give me a step by step process of how to do that.

 

[Brink]

If this is for the Dell in your specs, then:

How To Restore or Reinstall Microsoft Windows on a Dell Computer | Dell US

and

http://www.dell.com/support/trouble...bedCodeParam=w0eGdrNTq-GSBBGt27XlcZPkj7lHufPk

 

[AddRAM]

If the guest account is now an admin account, why can`t you use it to change your account back ?

Unless she downgraded it.

There is another option, but I`ll let Brink make that call.

 

[Layback Bear]

Just a thought. Why not ask Mom what she did and why? Mom just might have a reason for doing such a thing.

 

[DavidE]

When you do get this straightened out you should Password protect your Admin account.
Let Mom use the Guest account, or create a Standard user account for her.
That way she won't have Admin rights going forward.

Also, use System Backup Imaging so you can easily recover from problems without needing to reinstall.