Administrator/Not??????

Not sure where to address this question so I'm putting it here.:confused

My grandson just bought a new computer, an E Machine with Vista Home!! I had never heard of it ( the computer, not Vista ) but then there is much I don't know about when it comes to computers, that's why I turn to you.

His problem: after changing the name in the administrator part to his and registering with Microsoft He finds he can not download anything. He gets a prompt that says he isn't the administrator!! It's as if he is locked out like a child!!

He has tried everything he knew and could find in his books, even his father tried and he is pretty savvy about computers but they still haven't had any luck.

Needless to say he isn't getting support from the company that put out the machine.....seems they are very hard to get a hold of!! :confused

Your input would be greatly appreciated on this problem as I feel the brains for computers answers are here among all of you, you have saved me more times then once!

Thanks so very much for your time and trouble.:wave

 

Most computers running windows come from the factory set a default on administrator. go to control panel click on users and see if there is still an administrator account under that tab. there should be a tab on that same page that says change the way you log on to windows. click fast switching, then when you log on next time type in administrator and see if that will help you get to the internet. (this is all depending on if you have located the administrator tab under user accounts.

 

You can log on as Administrator this way
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.
Restart your computer and logon as Administrator.

 

He can get on line, that's not the problem. He just cant install software he tries to download as the prompt tell him he does not have administrator rights.

I will however pass this answer on to him as I may be misunderstanding you here. Thanks for your efforts, will let you know results.

 

my thinking is if he logged in as an administrator, then try to download software as an administrator. if it worked then the problem is when he set up his user account the computer did not automatically give him admin privileges.

 

Thanks Buggabear, :wave

I have been on line looking for more info and came up with very interesting info......seems Microsoft controls just how much administrator rights one has by sitting up a hidden administrator that has main control. Check what I found at this link, let me know what you think. Somehow this just doesn't seem right to me that one doesn't have complete control over their computer.

http://www.rlslog.net/make-yourself-a-real-administrator-in-vista/

Also check out Microsoft TechNet, they give a deeper insight to this hidden administrator in Vista. Not everyone will have a problem but every once in awhile some one will, like my grandson.

 

There is only 1 administrator account on any given computer. It is the account with the User ID of administrator and belongs to the Administrator User Group. All other User Accounts have limited administrative privileges, unless they are placed in an User Group with lower privileges.

All User Accounts on Windows Vista, by default, have limited administrative privileges. To elevate privileges to that of administrator, when installing some software, you must right-click on the program you are trying to run and select "Run as Administrator".

 

I got this from Microsoft ThecNet:

QUOTE:
To help prevent malicious software from silently installing and causing computer-wide infection, Microsoft developed the UAC feature. Unlike previous versions of Windows, when an administrator logs on to a computer running Windows Vista, the user’s full administrator access token is split into two access tokens: a full administrator access token and a standard user access token. During the logon process, authorization and access control components that identify an administrator are removed, resulting in a standard user access token. The standard user access token is then used to start the desktop, the Explorer.exe process. Because all applications inherit their access control data from the initial launch of the desktop, they all run as a standard user as well.

 

That is an overly technical description of what UAC does, and not completely accurate.

Microsoft's implementation of UAC is an attempt to emulate Unix/Linux operating systems in that a Standard User has no administrative rights. That is inaccurate with Windows Vista. In Windows Vista a user account is automatically placed in the Administrative User Group. UAC prevents a user from executing administrative functions without granting permission first. In Unix/Linux you must physically supply the root password to elevate permissions from a standard account, and you can restrict which accounts can elevate privileges. In Windows Vista you do not have to supply a password to execute administrative tasks from a Standard User Account. However, you must log on to an account in the Administrative Group to execute administrative tasks from a Limited User Account.

 

Thanks so much for the help, as I said I don't know much myself about correcting computer problems but knew you would come up with answers that would help my grandson....... I have passed on each message from here to him.......hope he is running smoothly soon.

 

My mistake here, he can't download anything! Ever time he tries computer tells him he is not the administrator and wont do the download, when he is. :confused

Really a problem as he cant get his firewall, or other programs to keep his computer protected when on line.

He and his dad have gone back over the steps to sit up administrator privileges and password. They even tried sitting up a 2nd account with adm. privileges but too no avail.

 

Setting up an administrator account in Vista will not solve the problem as the administrator privileges work totally different in Vista. He should follow my previous post to access the administrator but a small word of warning “Do not set an administrator password” as there are some versions of Vista that will corrupt if this is done. Microsoft recommends that you do not run Vista as administrator for general use.

If this does not work PM me and I will send you other methods of how access.

 

Is this computer connected to a Network?