[Peelymonster]

We have a pc that was purchased with Vista on it. Something happened to the User Accounts password functionality - I am the administrator and it's not letting me make changes. For example I want to install the latest version of iTunes. I type in my password, it accepts it and then nothing happens. I thought maybe the password was wrong, but if I type something else it tells me the password was incorrect.

I've tried to go in on my screen name and make changes to the User Accounts (since I am the admin), but they are all grey'd out. The only option insists I give the password, which I type in and it just reverts back to where I was. I've searched the Windows forum and couldn't find anything.

Please let me know what other information you need, and any suggestions on how to fix.

Thank you!

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Hello, and welcome to Geeks To Go.
Please try this.
Credit goes to Psychposse who posted this info.

Quoting psychposse


Even though you log in as an Admin with the account you have, it has limits. This is something Vista did to protect you from yourself. In other words, you don't have full administrator priveleges.

You can log on as a full admin a few different ways. One way is to simply unhide the true admin logon in a cmd.

click the start menu.
In the bottom search bar type cmd (don't hit enter)

cmd will show in the list on top .. right click on it and click to run as administrator

the command panel will open
type this command exactly as it appears here.. or just copy and paste it in the cmd panel

net user administrator /active:yes

hit enter and it should tell you it completed successfully.

close the cmd panel and log off of windows.

When you log back on you should have a new Admin log on.

Log on as admin and try to run your program that way.

It might be a good idea to keep your regular user logon and use that for normal functioning.
You might also want to create a password for the admin logon and only use that for technical purposes.

Hope that works for you.

Also, when you do log on as Full Admin, it will be like the very first time you ever logged onto your computer. You will have to set up the profile, desktop, settings and all that good stuff. It is just a separate account and it has it's own settings. You may also have to approve firewall settings to get online, etc.. All of your programs will still be in the program list. All of your pictures, music, documents etc. will be under your other account profile, but you can access them as admin. So don't panic if you log on as admin and you can't find your documents etc..

Edited by hfcg, 29 January 2008 - 04:26 PM.

[hfcg]

Hello, and welcome to Geeks To Go.
Please try this.
Credit goes to Psychposse who posted this info.

Quoting psychposse


Even though you log in as an Admin with the account you have, it has limits. This is something Vista did to protect you from yourself. In other words, you don't have full administrator priveleges.

You can log on as a full admin a few different ways. One way is to simply unhide the true admin logon in a cmd.

click the start menu.
In the bottom search bar type cmd (don't hit enter)

cmd will show in the list on top .. right click on it and click to run as administrator

the command panel will open
type this command exactly as it appears here.. or just copy and paste it in the cmd panel

net user administrator /active:yes

hit enter and it should tell you it completed successfully.

close the cmd panel and log off of windows.

When you log back on you should have a new Admin log on.

Log on as admin and try to run your program that way.

It might be a good idea to keep your regular user logon and use that for normal functioning.
You might also want to create a password for the admin logon and only use that for technical purposes.

Hope that works for you.

Also, when you do log on as Full Admin, it will be like the very first time you ever logged onto your computer. You will have to set up the profile, desktop, settings and all that good stuff. It is just a separate account and it has it's own settings. You may also have to approve firewall settings to get online, etc.. All of your programs will still be in the program list. All of your pictures, music, documents etc. will be under your other account profile, but you can access them as admin. So don't panic if you log on as admin and you can't find your documents etc..

Edited by hfcg, 29 January 2008 - 04:26 PM.

[Peelymonster]

Hi - thanks for getting back to me. I made the change as noted above. However, when it was time log off Windows and re-boot, Windows updates popped up to be installed upon the restart. I did that and since then, I can only get to SAFE MODE. I don't know what messed up the system - the steps above, or the Windows Update, as each was done at the same time. I've tried everything I know to boot normally and have not been successful.

This is what I've tried so far:

System Restore - I restored several times, as far back as 4 weeks and it still comes up in SAFE MODE
F8 on startup, then selected Safe Mode with Networking (but still can't get an internet connection)
F8 on startup, then selected Repair Your PC - Tried all the options except restore to factory settings. Nothing worked.

Any ideas on what may have happened and how I can fix it?

I appreciate any help you can offer.

Thanks!

[hfcg]

Hello,
The updates being installed at the same time may have caused a problem
You can back up all of your Data while in safe mode (to external media like CD\DVD) and then select restore to factory settings.