Windows 7 Windows 7 admin password glitch AArgh!
- Thread starter kmiklas
- Start date
You may need to go here:
Type Control userpasswords2 in the run box. If the option on the top "Users must enter a use name ...etc.." is ticked, untick it. When you apply, another window will pop up asking you to put a password in. Leave it blank. Try your operation again.
Type Control userpasswords2 in the run box. If the option on the top "Users must enter a use name ...etc.." is ticked, untick it. When you apply, another window will pop up asking you to put a password in. Leave it blank. Try your operation again.
reghakr
Essential Member
First, try turning off UAC
If the solution is not solved by the previous postings, you can activate the true Administrators account by going to Start > Run and type cmd and hit Enter, then type the following:
net user administrator /active:yes
To turn it off, type in net user administrator /active:no
If the solution is not solved by the previous postings, you can activate the true Administrators account by going to Start > Run and type cmd and hit Enter, then type the following:
net user administrator /active:yes
To turn it off, type in net user administrator /active:no
robertototototo
New Member
im having this exact same problem...i never had a password on my windows 7 before, and after a quick reboot...windows decided to make its own password for my account. i really want to try the things you guys are telling the OP but...i cant even get passed the login screen...
reghakr
Essential Member
Don't know if this will work on Windows 7, but here's a link to the Offline NT Password Recovery:
Link Removed - Invalid URL
It can be run from a USB or burnt to a CD.
Hang on until I test it.
No, it didn't work on Windows 7. I get a error message stating Volume has unsupported flags. I then typed the path to the SAM database it could not locate the registry directory.
Link Removed - Invalid URL
It can be run from a USB or burnt to a CD.
Hang on until I test it.
No, it didn't work on Windows 7. I get a error message stating Volume has unsupported flags. I then typed the path to the SAM database it could not locate the registry directory.
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Just ran into the same problem when I needed the administrator account because Adobe Reader install could not deal with my mapped directories. I actually just needed any account with default directories but administrator would do.
If you did not specify a password at install then apparently you cannot get into the administrator account - it will not accept your blank password field.
The fix is super-easy.
1. Type cmd in Start-Search
2. Right-click cmd result and "Run as administrator"
3. Enable administrator account if you have not aready done so by typing:
net user administrator /active:yes
4. Set administrator password by typing:
net user administrator mysekritword
(Replacemysekritword with your desired password)
5. Done! Switch user to administrator account. When done you may want to turn administrator off with net user administrator /active:no to avoid the login screen at boot if you only run one user account on the computer.
Putting this here because this <strike>fail</strike> seemingly unresolved thread showed up high in my Google search.
If you did not specify a password at install then apparently you cannot get into the administrator account - it will not accept your blank password field.
The fix is super-easy.
1. Type cmd in Start-Search
2. Right-click cmd result and "Run as administrator"
3. Enable administrator account if you have not aready done so by typing:
net user administrator /active:yes
4. Set administrator password by typing:
net user administrator mysekritword
(Replacemysekritword with your desired password)
5. Done! Switch user to administrator account. When done you may want to turn administrator off with net user administrator /active:no to avoid the login screen at boot if you only run one user account on the computer.
Putting this here because this <strike>fail</strike> seemingly unresolved thread showed up high in my Google search.
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Hmm, maybe. But OK, I just tried that and the administrator account is not even active so you would still have to go to the cmd window and I am not so sure that the administrator password will not still be required. So no, davehc's solution does not work even if only because it did not activate the administrator account.
Main point is that this thread shows up high in Google for the problem and it did not include a clear and workable solution. Now it does
And I just tried the davehc solution with the administor account activated and nope, no go - the password is still required. You are not going to turn off the administrator password from that dialog box. You have to follow the steps I outlined.
OK, my last on this. I went back in and yes, you can accomplish this through the control panel but you need to go to the advanced settings and uncheck "disable account" on the administrator then play with the original checkbox and password reset until you get it to work. One advantage of doing it that way is that you can strip the password off the administrator account entirely.
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I had the same problem. I KNEW that I did NOT set an *administrator* password. Tech support was NO HELP. They had me do a restore to set my computer back to the factory settings. This was not a big deal because I had the computer all of 30 minutes when this happened. I was setting it up for first use! I did the restore and the administrator account STILL had a password! I started going back, step by step, and realized that I had been asked earlier to set up a "Windows Password". I tried that password and it worked!
They should give better instructions when setting up and let you know that this will be your *administrator* password. And HP tech support had NO CLUE what the "problem" was. They tried telling me that the store I purchased this computer from must have created the administrator account!! HELLO - the computer was brand new and in a factory sealed box.
So the answer is - the *administrator* password is the password you entered at setup as the *windows* password!
My situation is as follows:
1. I had Windows Vista, but did a full install using the upgrade 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium. Microsoft will let you do this, but it takes about an hour on them with the phone as they verify your previous versions and painfully walk you through the process.
2. I then upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate. That was a piece of cake (just type in the code).
3. The primary administrator account is turned off by default. No worries, as when I loaded, I did so using an administrator-level account I'd created and had been using daily for four months, now. I created a second administrator-level account as a backup, and wrote both usernames and passwords in a book I keep in the vault (requires both combo and a key to access it). Finally, I created a user-level account for both myself and my son.
4. Three days ago, I could no longer get into my either my primary or backup administrator accounts.
5. I poured over Microsoft's website, and they had more than a dozen different approaches to recover a lost administrator account, nine of which required you to log into at least some administrator account (duh!).
A google search brought me here.
It's been three days, and nothing has YET worked. I am a retired Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator, and used to write for Network World about a decade ago.
I'm stumped.
Let me tell you what DOESN'T work:
Doesn't work from a user account. Error message: System error 5 has occurred. Access is denied.
The second part of this approach (not mentioned by you, but by Microsoft) is to use the command prompt's net user commands to reset the password(s) of the other administrative accounts. Done it many times from Windows NT and XP, both workstations and servers. Not working here!
Didn't work for me, either. I know of five different ubuntuu and Linux iso (boot disk) options which have worked on various versions of Windows in the past, all of which have supposedly been upgraded to, and tested on, Windows 7. Some try to recover the password. Two work to reset it to blank.
None worked for me.
Fail at this point. See System error 5 message, agove.
Here's what else I've tried:
1. Restoring from a system restore point, but it's not finding any. I thought they were enabled by default!
2. Password reset disk doesn't work.
3. Startup and restore finds nothing wrong.
5. Booting from the DVD/CD install disk and enabling the administrator account DOES work, and appeared to be the most promising, but apparently, booting it from the CD denies any further access to the hard drive. It shows only administrator and guest users. It will not allow me to create another administrative user on the hard drive, nor will any changes I make to the administrator.
I have to ask: Is this a case where Microsft was penny-wise and pound foolish, locking ALL back doors we've used in the past to get back into our systems, yet leaving the front door open for a hacker to change the admin passwords of my two admin accounts?
I'm beginning to think so!
If anyone has any other suggestions not previously mentioned, I'm all ears! Heck, I couldn't even tap into Microsoft's online help because it asks to install a program, and as you know, one can't do that from a normal user account.
"If all else failse, reinstall the operating system from scratch," right?
Nope. I tried that, as well. I can access the diagnostic and repair tools on the installation disk. No amount of cajoling will get it to offer me the installation option. When I try, it simply checks the hard drive for a valid copy of Windows 7, then says, "Windows 7 is already installed on this computer."
Anyone else feeling like Microsoft is really fighting back against that joke about "you're in a balloon?"
1. I had Windows Vista, but did a full install using the upgrade 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium. Microsoft will let you do this, but it takes about an hour on them with the phone as they verify your previous versions and painfully walk you through the process.
2. I then upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate. That was a piece of cake (just type in the code).
3. The primary administrator account is turned off by default. No worries, as when I loaded, I did so using an administrator-level account I'd created and had been using daily for four months, now. I created a second administrator-level account as a backup, and wrote both usernames and passwords in a book I keep in the vault (requires both combo and a key to access it). Finally, I created a user-level account for both myself and my son.
4. Three days ago, I could no longer get into my either my primary or backup administrator accounts.
5. I poured over Microsoft's website, and they had more than a dozen different approaches to recover a lost administrator account, nine of which required you to log into at least some administrator account (duh!
).A google search brought me here.
It's been three days, and nothing has YET worked. I am a retired Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator, and used to write for Network World about a decade ago.
I'm stumped.
Let me tell you what DOESN'T work:
[/quote]
Doesn't work from a user account. Error message: System error 5 has occurred. Access is denied.
The second part of this approach (not mentioned by you, but by Microsoft) is to use the command prompt's net user commands to reset the password(s) of the other administrative accounts. Done it many times from Windows NT and XP, both workstations and servers. Not working here!
Didn't work for me, either. I know of five different ubuntuu and Linux iso (boot disk) options which have worked on various versions of Windows in the past, all of which have supposedly been upgraded to, and tested on, Windows 7. Some try to recover the password. Two work to reset it to blank.
None worked for me.
Fail at this point. See System error 5 message, agove.
Here's what else I've tried:
1. Restoring from a system restore point, but it's not finding any. I thought they were enabled by default!
2. Password reset disk doesn't work.
3. Startup and restore finds nothing wrong.
5. Booting from the DVD/CD install disk and enabling the administrator account DOES work, and appeared to be the most promising, but apparently, booting it from the CD denies any further access to the hard drive. It shows only administrator and guest users. It will not allow me to create another administrative user on the hard drive, nor will any changes I make to the administrator.
I have to ask: Is this a case where Microsft was penny-wise and pound foolish, locking ALL back doors we've used in the past to get back into our systems, yet leaving the front door open for a hacker to change the admin passwords of my two admin accounts?
I'm beginning to think so!
If anyone has any other suggestions not previously mentioned, I'm all ears! Heck, I couldn't even tap into Microsoft's online help because it asks to install a program, and as you know, one can't do that from a normal user account.
"If all else failse, reinstall the operating system from scratch," right?
Nope. I tried that, as well. I can access the diagnostic and repair tools on the installation disk. No amount of cajoling will get it to offer me the installation option. When I try, it simply checks the hard drive for a valid copy of Windows 7, then says, "Windows 7 is already installed on this computer."
Anyone else feeling like Microsoft is really fighting back against that joke about "you're in a balloon?"
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