Windows Vista Administrator account off but on?

[Guest]

I logged on to an account in my administrators group to install a few
programs. When they were ready to install, i got a message saying,

"As a Restricted User you do not have adequeate windows operating system
rights to use this program to install software. Please Contact your system
administrator for help."


I am on the administrator's account, and the hidden administrator account is
turned off. Can anybody help me?

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

You should be able to avoid this error message if you simply right click the
programs installation file ( usually Setup.exe ) and select the "Run As
Administrator" option. Do this if you trust this program.

In Vista, even though you are using an Administrator account, you still are
running with Standard Privileges. When a program asks your permission to
elevate it to administrator privileges, then you can either allow this to
happen or deny the request. Some programs that are not yet Vista compatible
will not ask for permission.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply, but I am trying to download Real player, and there is
no way to run as administrator. Am I just missing something?

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

If you just download the installation file, you should be able to select the
run as administrator option? Are you selecting to install from the website
instead of downloading first?

 

[I. M. Curious]

How about completely ELIMINATING this annoying and useless "feature"
It's denying me access all over the place
Frankly I'm so sick of it, I'm seriously considering moving back to XP or
even installing some variant of Linux

Hell, I can't even do a
dir *.*/s >filenames.txt
Without getting and access denied message


I don't need this level of idiot hand-holding in the name of nanny-state
security

I am the sole owner,
I am the sole user
I am the sole administrator of this box

I don't need this program to constantly tell me that I don't have the
authority to do the things I've been doing before Vista came along

 

[eclipseujano]

I am having the same problem. I am an administrator and when i was
downloading something from a disc, it said that i do not have
administrative rights. How to i fix it?

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

I.M. Curious

If it really bothers you THAT much, why not just turn it off?

 

[Guest]

Hello Ronnie, Thanx for the info on this. I see that, myself, and some 700
others on blog sites have the same problem of Vista 64 not loading the driver
for Sony dvd 720A.
When I try to flash the updated driver Vista says no matched drive detected.
But in system manager it says it sees the sony dvd 720A with a !warning on
the driver.
Should I simply buy a new drive and put this one on an xp pc or is their a
fix?

i invite you to consider this

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Rquest

If you have a place to use that drive, you may be better off doing just
that. Like you, I did some research on this and it doesn't look like Sony is
very intertested in fixing the problem.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the follow-up. Another Admin question please: When I click on
"Administrator" instead of "Ron" in the administrator group, it asks for my
full name, but I see no place to add a password. If I reboot after adding the
full name, will I see Administrator "Name" and will it then ask for a
password, or will I get locked out as administrator? I am a little confused
about this.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Rquest

I'm not sure where your seeing this? Are you in Control Panel / User
Accounts?

If you are seeing an account that is named "Administrator" this is the
built-in administrator account that is created during the Vista
installation. This account is hidden, by default when it is created and
should not be visible in the User Accounts component.

Could you provide more details, please.

 

[Guest]

Yes when trying to do some things rquiring administrator approval, it says I,
as an administrator, am not a high enough authority, that only
"Administrator" can approve that. When I go to manage, groups, administrator,
it lists 2; myself, and Administrator,
like this:
Administrator
Ron

When I click administrator it asks for a full name, but there is no place to
enter a password. So, if I fill in my full name as administrator (it would be
the same as the full name for Ron) and reboot, I assume I will see
Administrator or "My Name" as a third login entry (there are two current
login users). Does it ask for a new password at that point, or, since I could
not supply one (there is no place for it), would it supply one of its own and
lock me out of the Administrator login?

I invite you to consider this

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Rquest

What do you see when you click Start and then click on the picture at the
top of the menu. This should open the User Accounts with your account
displayed. It will show your name, what group you are a member of, Standard
or Administrator and whether your account is password protected.

If you click the Manage Another Account option, you should see all of the
other accounts on the system, with the same information displayed.

The system does not set passwords on accounts, only you can do that.

 

[Guest]

I see my name and when I click on it, I see the folders associated with my
name. Address Book, Desktop, Links, etc., nothing about User info. When I go
to My Computer, Manage, System Tools, Local Users and Groups, Groups,
Administrators: I see two Administrators listed. "Administrator" and "Ron"
(Myself).
What is the function of the generic "Administrator? Do I need to supply my
full name to this account to acquire the highest level of authority since I
do not have the highest level authority with Administrator Group Name "Ron"?
I am an Administrator but cannot change windows system files. It says I need
a higher authority than my self, although I am an administrator. For example
it will not let me flash the latest cd.sys driver acquired from Sony. It says
I do not have highest level authority. I hope I have made myself clear enough
to you. Essentially, what is the function of the generic administrator in
administrator group? what does it do, if anything, and why? should I add my
full name there or not? Please explain. Thanx.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Rquest

What is the function of the generic "Administrator?

This is the built-in administrator account. It is used as a safety net in
case all of the other administrator accounts are deleted or are corrupted.
If all other administrator accounts are deleted, you can restart in Safe
Mode and this account will be visible to logon and fix the problem.

Do I need to supply my full name to this account to acquire the highest
level of authority since I
do not have the highest level authority with Administrator Group Name
"Ron"?

You do not want to rename this account. If you are having problems, you can
unhide this account visible and use it to log on to the system. To unhide
this account and make it visible on the logon screen when you reboot perform
the following.

Go to Start and type cmd.exe In the results, right click cmd.exe and
select the Run As Administrator option. When the command window opens type
the following command.

net user administrator /active:yes

Press Enter

Exit the command window, go to Start and type user account In the
results click User Accounts. On that screen, click "Manage another account"
this should show all of the accounts on the system, including the
Administrator account. Click the Administrator account and select the Create
A Password option. Create a password for the account.

Exit everything and reboot the computer. The Administrator account should
appear on the login screen.

 

[Guest]

How can this be turned off?
--
Patrick

I.M. Curious

If it really bothers you THAT much, why not just turn it off?

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Patrick

Go to Control Panel / User Accounts. You will see the option there.

Just don't forget the first law of security.

If a bad guy can persuade or trick you into running his program on your
computer, it's not your computer anymore.