Admin Rights in Vista/Windows 7

[KSoD]

Alright time to get this over with once and for all. Here is the clarification on how to get Admin rights.

*NOTE*

These are not steps that should be taken to keep your PC fully protected. They are just measure to stop UAC prompts. In no way shape or form am I saying that this should be done. This is a do at your own risk suggestion. UAC is there for protection. Disabling it can adversely affect your system and these suggestions are not endorsed by me, Microsoft or Tech-Forums in any way.

I said that cause i have to. People might get the wrong idea and think that this is a good thing. It is not. It is just how to work with UAC if you think it is over bearing. These steps can allow drive by downloads to happen and your system get infected.

Now this is USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

There is NO need for full admin rights at all times. No matter who you are. I am a power user and a Beta Tester and I dont need full rights all the time. So there is no way that people can say that they need full rights every seconds of every day. It isnt true. You can get by with UAC and the rights you have. This is just to help people understand what all this is.

Okay now when you install Vista or Windows 7 you will see that your account is marked as Administrator. But then you get prompted to give Administrator rights to certain tasks. So you are saying to yourself "Why is that? I am the Admin and only user of this PC?"

Let me clarify this.

You are a Admin of the PC. But you are a limited Admin. There is still a Hidden Administrator account which has full elevation and full powers. While your account does not. Which is why it is prompted for UAC rights to elevate. Many times you will hear me reference this account as a Power User account with Admin Rights. Cause that is basically what it is.

This was added to Vista and Windows 7 cause of how easy it was for hackers, spyware and virus makers to gain access to a PC cause the Administrator was live and active when you accessed Safe Mode. Now the Full Admin account is Disabled. So even if you do boot to Safe Mode you still will NOT see it as a account that you can log into.

Now these steps provided will help you work with UAC. Even i have UAC on. So it isnt that bad.

The first step is to enabled the Hidden Admin account.

This can be done a couple of ways. The first is the method i use with Busienss, Ultimate or Enterprise Editions of Vista/Win7.

First Method: Secpol.msc

In the start menu search for secpol.msc:



Now enter that screen. Here you will see this:



Now go under Local Policies>Security Options. there you see this:



I have already highlighted in Yellow the option you need to change. As you see my account is already active. But it is not in use. I needed it at this time for something else.

Alternative Options

There is also more options toward the bottom.



Now you see i have 4 items highlighted here.

Option 1

The first is to keep the UAC PRompts from happening in the Admin account.

Option 2

The 2nd one is the most useful one. That is the one to use with your account you currently have. That one will Elevate a program without asking for rights every time.

Option 3

The 3rd option should NEVER, EVER, EVER be changed. End of story.

Option 4

The 4th option is same as above. DO NOT DISABLE this option. If you do it is on you. I have not suggested it and will not. Furthermore i will not even explain what it does. Cause it should NEVER be disabled.

I think i got my point across with those settings.

Now many of you are sitting there saying to yourself "But Mak you suggested that i get Home Premium which this doesnt apply to!"

Correct. There is another method that works no matter what version you are using.

Method 2: Using the Command Prompt

First click Start. There type CMD into the search bar. Right click on it and select Run as Admin.



Now in there you will type in this:

net user administrator /active:yes

This will enable the Admin account. So when you logoff you will see the Admin account listed as accounts that you can log into. There is no password set by default. So you dont have to worry about typing in a password. Just click the account and go.

Now if you wish to disable the account it can be done as well.

net user administrator /active:no

That will disable the account.

Using Vista Home Basic/Home Premium:

Step 1:
Click Start, and type "cmd" in the search area, right click on "Command Prompt" and select 'Run as Administrator".

Step 2:
In the command prompt type "net users Administrator /active'" (Note the capital "A" in Administrator) and press Enter, you will get a confirmation as "The command completed successfully".

Step 3:
Click Start, and type "regedit" in the search area and click Enter, navigate to: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Policies\System]
Double click on "FilterAdministratorToken" and set it to "0"

Information taken right from the Vista Discussion page where i had it posted before.

Now with all of that said i will say this now.

Additional Information

This is a NEW ACCOUNT. So if you already have your desktop setup to your liking and everything working accessing this account and using it all your work will be LOST. You will have to redo your personalizations for this account.


*NOTE*

These are not steps that should be taken to keep your PC fully protected. They are just measure to stop UAC prompts. In no way shape or form am I saying that this should be done. This is a do at your own risk suggestion. UAC is there for protection. Disabling it can adversely affect your system and these suggestions are not endorsed by me, Microsoft or Tech-Forums in any way.

I said that cause i have to. People might get the wrong idea and think that this is a good thing. It is not. It is just how to work with UAC if you think it is over bearing. These steps can allow drive by downloads to happen and your system get infected.

[Fat.Clown]

nice write-up!

[KSoD]

Thank you. Always nice to hear feedback.

[carnageX]

Nice one, Mak. Hopefully will clear up questions as well.

[CntdwnToExtn]

nice write up and layout.
visuals are always an excellent tool to include.
it's always a cheeze off when your following instructions and wondering "where the heck is that? i don't see!"

just an FYI if your picky

Option 2

The 2nd one is the most useful one. That is the one to use with your account you currently have. That one will Elevate a program without adking for rights every time.

[KSoD]

Thats for the catch. Fixed now.

[Akubane]

Clean, quick and to the point, and the highlighted visuals made me happy.

Also it's nice to be able to turn UAC back on as well. I couldn't deal with that propt every time I wanted to do anything. It's like a nagging little sister second and third guessing every action I take lol.

Great write up mak, thanks ^_^

[bilbus]

Not true, i have legecy apps that require admin rights all the time to run. the UAC will prevent them from running.

Sometimes there are execptions

[KSoD]

Those are easy to fix. There is a Compatibility Mode where you can check a box to have it Run as Admin without turning off UAC. So you dont get prompted every time.

So you can still be secure while still running you apps. Plus i dont consider a right click>Run as Admin that difficult to accomplish to run those legacy apps. Not so much that i would want to compromise the security of my whole system.

[Burn]

isn't there a faster way to do this? in vista, along with windows 7, this is what i do:
1. Right click my computer, click manage.
2. On the left, navigate to 'Local Users and Groups'.
3. Double click on 'Users'.
4. Right click on 'Administrator', click Properties.
5. Uncheck the box 'Account is disabled'.
6. Done.


That does the same things right? This method can be kind of annoying, as it also creates a completely new user, unless you do it when you first install windows. Anyways... just thought i would give my 2 cents...


edit: nevermind, lol, using cmd is faster