Logging in as Administrator

[Larkspur]

I purchased a custom-built Windows 7 computer back in 2018. At the time, there was no discussion of how to log in as an Administrator, nor was any password ever set. I tried unsuccessfully to log in as Administrator the other day and Windows insisted I input a password. I did not have an empty thumb drive with which to create a mechanism to reset the password, so instead I went through a fairly complicated method of getting in as Administrator using the command prompt. During that procedure, I did type in a password. I successfully did manage to get myself in as Administrator and accomplish the task at hand. I had hoped that setting a password while in the command function would reset the password for the usual method of logging in as Administrator. No such luck.

I really do not want to go through that complicated process of using the command prompt to log in as Administrator each time I wish to do so. Usually just taking ownership of a file will allow me to do what I want. But the newer versions of Windows seem to make it harder and harder to mess with files Windows does not want you to mess with (Example: each time I upgrade to a newer version of Windows I immediately swap out every instance of notepad.exe with my own replacement notepad. (and periodically a random Windows update will insist on putting the damned thing right back again). I did manage to accomplish this with notepad, but Windows 7 would not let me replace the stupid ribbon version of mspaint with the classic version.

So to get back to my original question: No password was ever set for logging me in as Administrator and I do not want to go out and buy a blank thumb drive to reset a password that never existed. Is there any reasonable workaround that will not require me to type all sorts of stuff into a DOS window? Last time I had to deal with DOS was 1990, for goodness sake.

Any assistance would be much appreciated,

Larkspur

 

[torchwood]

Hi Larkspur,

have a read of this tutorial,,, also check the related ones at the bottom

https://www.google.com/url?client=i...4QFnoECAAQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3BT4kDWJy_T7Mo-aJ8fACB

 

[Larkspur]

I don't know if this makes a difference, but I went into user accounts after posting above and discovered that the single user on my computer is ALSO the Administrator. Since it's been nearly four years since I bought the computer, I had forgotten that I had instructed the person who built it to set myself as Administrator.

Only problem is, something happened a few days ago that has completely messed things up. Now I am being repeatedly told I need Administrator privileges while that never happened before. I strongly suspect all this happened after I uninstalled and reinstalled Chrome a few days ago. (I never let Chrome auto-update itself. I wait until I am good and ready to update it (usually every four months) and then I download and install a standalone version of it.)

While Chrome should have nothing to do with any other programs, I noticed immediately after the reinstall that notepad had reverted to the Windows version, Paint had reverted to the ribbon version, and Wordpad had as well reverted to the ribbon version. In addition, my copy of RegEditX suddenly stopped working. At this point I would like to wring someone's neck at Google.

Why am I now being denied Administrator privileges when I was never denied before?? And is it worth returning to a Restore Point I created four days ago (on the 8th) before the Chrome uninstall/reinstall? There was a critical update for Windows on the 10th, but I am sure I noticed the changes to notepad, paint and wordpad before the 10th -- also I just noticed that I posted the above on the 9th, the day BEFORE the Critical Update. When I check System Restore to scan for affected programs caused by the Chrome reinstall, it does list Classic Paint 1.0. Seems to me returning to the Restore Point is the only feasible option to determine exactly who the culprit is.

Larkspur

 

[samuria]

It may just be the UAC asking for it which is normal for some operations

 

[Larkspur]

Problem solved. First I went back to the Restore Point Windows created just before the critical update on the 9th. That did not solve the problem. So I went back to the Restore Point I created before my uninstall/reinstall of Chrome. That did the trick. All four programs affected went back to functioning normally, though I cannot for the life of me imagine why installing Chrome would have messed with my settings for notepad, wordpad and paint.

As for the Administrator problem, I will have to reinstall Windows sometime in the near future. At that time I will set a password for Administrator and assume that will solve the Administrator problem as well.

The only reason I have not upgraded to Windows 10 is because of the Pandemic, together with another consideration. I intend to keep Windows 7 so I do not have to spend hundreds of dollars upgrading programs that will not run on 10; I will then install 10 on its own partition so that I can safely surf the web without worrying about the fact that 7 is no longer supported.

Thank you for your replies. Don't know where I'd be if I did not have a Windows support forum to go to when needed.

Larkspur

 

[MisterEd]

When a Windows computer is first set up at least one user has to be type administrator. Otherwise, normal things like installing programs would not be possible. Note this is not the same thing as the built-in Administrator. The built-in Administrator account is hidden by default. However, you can unhide this user if you want to.

If you don't feel secure using your administrator account all the time you can create another standard user and use that for normal use if want to.

For example, if you the original user is "user1" and you add a 2nd user "user2" then, your computer would have three users:

• user1 (type=administrator)
• Administrator (type=administrator) hidden
• user2 (type=standard)

 

[Larkspur]

New problem related to troublesome recent Windows updates

I have been using a very simple program for decades called The Paster, by Tech Logic.

It keeps copies of all text that is copied to the clipboard, as well as all images and URLs. It also has some very useful additional features, such having the ability to save custom entries and custom texts.

It has worked flawless through every version of Windows, going all the way back to Windows 95. I do not remember having to troubleshoot compatibility when installing it on Windows 7, probably because the actual executable is so tiny, just 820 KB.

But now, ever since I experienced the problem with Notepad, Wordpad and Paint all reverting to unwanted versions (as well as RegEditX suddenly ceasing to work), The Paster has also stopped working. It will not launch with Windows as it is supposed to, and I cannot get it to clear images that have copied to the clipboard. When I attempted to do so manually, something I could always do before, suddenly Windows pops up telling me I need Administrator privileges to do so. I have used the Compatibility Troubleshooter half-a-dozen times to try and fix the problem, to no avail. It does indicate that there is a compatibility problem which it is unable to resolve. I cannot find a Windows Update that, when I scan for affected programs, shows The Paster listed as an affected program.

Does it make any sense that a program that has been functioning flawless on Windows 7 for three years should now suddenly be identified by the Compatibility Troubleshooter as an incompatible program? Is Windows even allowed to suddenly, capriciously decide that it will no longer run a program that it has run without incident for three years?

Needless to say, this program has never been updated by the original author since I first purchased it. But I figured that it would keep running indefinitely for the very reason that it is a bone simple, 820 kilobyte executable. A novice hacker could probably rewrite it so that it could run on any version of Windows.

I'm just furious that some idiotic Windows update would capriciously cause it to stop functioning.

Larkspur

Postscript: In earlier versions of Windows, if you could not find a Restore Point listed in the System Restore list, one could go into DOS and retrieve such an earlier restore point. Is this still possible? Since I will be updating to Windows 10 in the near future, and will be keeping Windows 7 on its own partition safely sealed off from the Internet, it ought to be possible to take Windows 7 back to a stage where it would continue to run all those legacy programs I still have.

 

[torchwood]

as EOL has been reached NO updates are generally offered apart from MSRT.....
If this problem is after you have recently been updated then you are likely using a "patcher" program/hack

If you are not using a patcher then WU is not causing the problem

 

[Bree]

As for the Administrator problem, I will have to reinstall Windows sometime in the near future. At that time I will set a password for Administrator and assume that will solve the Administrator problem as well.

For your own safety you should never use the built-in account named Administrator as you main account. There is a difference between the Administrator and a user account that is an administrator.

An administrator account is subject to UAC control, and you will be asked to confirm any action that requires admin privileges. The Administrator account is not so restricted, and would give any malware you may pick up while signed in as Administrator unrestricted access to your system.

In fact, when you clean install Windows Administrator is disabled by default, and you are asked for the name of the first user account you want to create, this will then be made a member of the administrators group.

 

[Larkspur]

as EOL has been reached NO updates are generally offered apart from MSRT.....
If this problem is after you have recently been updated then you are likely using a "patcher" program/hack
If you are not using a patcher then WU is not causing the problem

I take serious exception to your implication that the program I said I PURCHASED way back when I was still using Windows 95 could have been a patched version. It was shareware, and I liked it so much I paid for it. I cannot reconstruct when or why Tech Logic stopped updating the program. I always assumed that no updating was ever needed, because the executable is so bone simple.

- - - Updated - - -

For your own safety you should never use the built-in account named Administrator as you main account. There is a difference between the Administrator and a user account that is an administrator...

Bree,

Thank you for the advice on what I must do when reinstalling Windows 7. The fellow who custom-built the machine for me was strong on hardware but less so on software. We should have had a discussion about how best to set up the Administrator for this OS, but never did. So now I am paying the price. He also talked me into installing Windows XP on a virtual machine. That showed signs of serious (graphic) hardware acceleration problems from the start and then just quit working after only three weeks. I never bothered to try to fix it. That is why I intend to put the two operating systems (Windows 7 and 10) on their own partitions, since the sandboxing solution was such a bust.

 

[torchwood]

I NEVER SAID ANYTHING about the >>>Paster<< program you bought

READ what i said again... it was purely about the Windows Update >>>>Patcher<<<< tool

put your glasses on

 

[Larkspur]

I NEVER SAID ANYTHING about the >>>Paster<< program you bought

READ what i said again... it was purely about the Windows Update >>>>Patcher<<<< tool

Please explain. What you wrote is Chinese to me.

I am not necessarily blaming a Windows update for my woes. I first noticed the problem just after uninstalling/reinstalling Chrome (and that observation was borne out by clicking "Scan for affected programs" caused by the Chrome install which listed notepad as one of the programs affected). The day after, there was a Windows update. When I went back to the restore point created by the Windows update, the problem was still there. It was only when I went back to the pre-install point I manually created before uninstalling/reinstalling Chrome that everything went back to the way it was regarding those four programs I cited (notepad, wordpad, paint and RegeditX).

However when I once again uninstalled/reinstalled Chrome, this time those changes (to notepad etc.) did not come back. I noticed that even though I reinstalled Chrome from a standalone setup file, the result was a slightly updated version, not the one that appeared in [chrome://version] the first time. I can only conclude that when one installs from a standalone, perhaps Chrome automatically installs the next version.

Nonetheless, I am left with the mystery of why a program that was performing flawlessly for three years before any of this happened should suddenly stop performing correctly, and when I tried using the Compatibility Troubleshooter, for the very time it indicated there was a compatibility problem that had not been there before.

I am just trying to figure out how this happened and what the probable cause was.

 

[torchwood]

Hi

I made mention of a 3rd party Windows update (patcher) tool, because of 1 line you included in post #3

There was a critical update for Windows on the 10th

MS has NOT issued a Critical Update to NON ESU users since reaching EOL. there are only 3 scenarios where this could have occured
1) Your OS was way out of date (the KB number of the critical update would be handy)
2) you are using a "patcher" tool, ie ESU Bypass
3) System (re)Install

notes
ESU is an annual MS subscription windows update scheme primarilly for business users, and not cheap
during the original OS setup there are generally 3 User profiles created
Standard User (with Admin priviledges) - Guest - Admin User HIDDEN and Dissabled ...not for day-to-day use
Taking control of files and folders is not a good idea, basically for troubleshooting and then reversed
Making multiple changes to the Registry is also not a good idea

we can investigate further, if so run the tool in this thread.... ignore the title it provides a wealth of info
Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions

i wouldn't mind seeing the 2 reports generated from this tool as well
Download Farbar Recovery Scan Tool