Administrator Issues-- Windows XP Home Edition

[GCurry]

I once had administator privileges, but apparently when I added a password to
my user acct, something must have gone wrong. There are 3 users on my pc and
none of us has administrative status. The message i get when i open the "SET
UP PROGRAM ACCESS AND DEFAULTS" is " You donot have permission to set program
access....". When I open the Control Panel and click on user accounts, the
only task available is "CHANGE MY PICTURE" and when I click on "pick a
control panel icon", I can only change my password, change my picture or
change my .NET Passport and my user account icon reads the name of my user id
and "limited account". With no one listed as administrator privileges, how
can I get my status back, as I am the owner and should have administrator
status. I have alreay tried the safe mode option, but not sure what I need to
be doing in safe mode. There are several options of safe mode to choose...
I have also tried going to the Start Menu , All Programs, Set Programs
access and
defaults and right clicking on the folder and choosing "run as " option
which opens up a box that reads " which user account do you want to, use to
run this program?"
and I have tried both options in the box, even selecting the "the following
user" option and typing in "administrator" as well as my name as the
administrator, but the only result I get is "You donot have permission to set
program access....".
Please Help!!!!! GCurry

 

[Leonard Grey]

The only way for an account to 'lose' Administrator permissions is for
someone to remove those permissions. If you did not do that yourself,
then someone else did. That person could be anyone who had physical
access to your computer...or a hacker who has infected your computer.

Boot to Safe Mode and log in to the Administrator account. It should
have no password. The Administrator is a system account that is used to
configure the system. Do not use this as a user account!

Once you have logged in to the Administrator account, go to Control
Panel and assign Administrator permissions to your account only.
Password protect your account with a strong password!

You have to consider the possibility that your computer has been hacked.

 

[John Wunderlich]

I once had administator privileges, but apparently when I added a
password to my user acct, something must have gone wrong. There
are 3 users on my pc and none of us has administrative status.
The message i get when i open the "SET UP PROGRAM ACCESS AND
DEFAULTS" is " You donot have permission to set program
access....". When I open the Control Panel and click on user
accounts, the only task available is "CHANGE MY PICTURE" and when
I click on "pick a control panel icon", I can only change my
password, change my picture or change my .NET Passport and my user
account icon reads the name of my user id and "limited account".
With no one listed as administrator privileges, how can I get my
status back, as I am the owner and should have administrator
status. I have alreay tried the safe mode option, but not sure
what I need to be doing in safe mode. There are several options of
safe mode to choose... I have also tried going to the Start Menu ,
All Programs, Set Programs access and
defaults and right clicking on the folder and choosing "run as "
option which opens up a box that reads " which user account do you
want to, use to run this program?"
and I have tried both options in the box, even selecting the "the
following user" option and typing in "administrator" as well as my
name as the administrator, but the only result I get is "You donot
have permission to set program access....".
Please Help!!!!! GCurry

The first step would be to see if you really did lose administrator
privileges. Right click on "Start". If one of the choices that
appear in the pop-up menu is "Open All Users", then you do have
administrator privilege.

HTH,
John

 

[Richard]

I once had administator privileges, but apparently when I added a
password to my user acct, something must have gone wrong. There are
3 users on my pc and none of us has administrative status. The
message i get when i open the "SET UP PROGRAM ACCESS AND DEFAULTS"
is " You donot have permission to set program access....".

When I open the Control Panel and click on user accounts, the only
task available is "CHANGE MY PICTURE" and when I click on "pick a
control panel icon", I can only change my password, change my picture
or change my .NET Passport and my user account icon reads the name of
my user id and "limited account". With no one listed as administrator
privileges, how can I get my status back, as I am the owner and should
have administrator status. I have alreay tried the safe mode option,
but not sure what I need to be doing in safe mode. There are several
options of safe mode to choose...

I have also tried going to the Start Menu , All Programs, Set
Programs access and defaults and right clicking on the folder and
choosing "run as " option which opens up a box that reads " which
user account do you want to, use to run this program?"

and I have tried both options in the box, even selecting the "the
following user" option and typing in "administrator" as well as my
name as the administrator, but the only result I get is "You donot
have permission to set program access....".

Please Help!!!!! GCurry

Hi "GCurry",

Start your computer in safe mode by pressing F8 key. Press Alt+Ctrl+Delete
to activate the special logon menu. Type "Administrator" (without quotes)
and leave the password box blank unless you created a password for that
hidden Administrator account. You then should be able to fix one or more of
your user accounts with Administrator privileges.

Besides Control Panel> User Accounts

there is also:
Start> Run> control userpasswords2

HTH. (Hope This Helps.
--Richard