RunAs problem

[ChaosTheEternal]

I just had this problem spring up on me yesterday, and I am completely
stumped by it.

I try to do a runas command as I have done a lot in the past from my
Power User account to run cmd.exe as the Administrator, and I get this:

] Attempting to start "cmd.exe" as user "Administrator"...
] RUNAS ERROR: Unable to run - cmd.exe
] 5: Access is denied.

I know I entered the password correctly, because I also tried running
the runas as the account I was logged in as, and I got the same error.
The problem isn't stuck around runas, either. Even doing the Run As
option from Windows gives me an error, even if I have the password
right.

Even logged in as the Administrator and trying to runas gives me the
error. I've even tried restarting and specifying the domain (it's a
stand-alone Windows 2000 install, not connected to Windows Server),
restarting the service, and the problem still exists. I'm stumped.

Ran a virus scan and a spyware scan, came up with nothing. I don't
know how to fix this, and I don't want to have to log in as the
administrator to do some things all the time.


Thank you for your time and help.

 

[ChaosTheEternal]

Never mind. I found out my problem.

Windows Update was waiting to install something, so it apparently
disabled my runas until it installed. Last time I had a Windows Update
waiting to install, it prevented me from using a web browser.

The thing that confuses me is that I shouldn't have had a Windows
Update waiting. I only have it set to check for Windows Updates once a
week on Sunday night, and it's nowhere near Sunday night.

 

[ChaosTheEternal]

And now the problem is back, and there's no Windows Update waiting.

Every user account, including the Administrator, cannot run any runas
command, regardless of who they're trying to run as.

I'm now stumped once again.

If anyone knows how to fix this, I'd be grateful.