locked out administrator
Windows 7 has locked all my permissions, and I have no idea how to fix.I've been to all the obvious places and the shield is in place, disabling access. I've looked at the account and it's definately an administrator account.i'm wondering if it went wrong when I tried to set up a homegroupany suggestions how to take the security off - the Locked folder Access thread isn't relevant as the shield prevents me from changing any security settings.
July 23rd, 2009 4:16pm

Can you take ownership of the files?
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
July 24th, 2009 6:42am

no. which is the weird thing I think I've deleted the administrator group, but not sure how
July 24th, 2009 11:44am

Lock22,What do you mean (or experince) if you say:Windows 7 has locked all my permissionsAnd can you do a whoami /all in the a normal command prompt. And copy and paste that information back here?Kind RegardsDFT IM me - TWiTTer: @DFTER
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
July 26th, 2009 1:41am

I had a similar issue, I could see files in my "C:\users\usernamehere" folder, but when I tried to open them it told me I didnt have permission. I suspected a virus and formatted but thankfully I had backed up. I'd be interested to see the solution given that Windows 7 doesn't offer to create an "administrator" account like XP did. Jeffy
July 26th, 2009 6:58am

net user administrator /active:yes
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
July 26th, 2009 4:30pm

whoami /all works and gives me loads of info. however, I can't save to put in here as I cannot connect to the internet from that PC.However, key pointsall groups appear ok& enabledPriviledges are differentall disabled (including take ownershipof files and other objects)except -create global objects-bypass transvers checking-impersinate client after authenticationI think it's this take ownership that is stopping me regain control through the administrator login. also there is a linked threadhttp://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itprosecurity/thread/8e9eee80-c171-4d94-b91e-6797e1f96e49with other peoples actionsI was attempting to backup via wireless network (as the hard drive just replaced on this (XP) machine) so the information is vital but not backed up anywhere
July 27th, 2009 12:13am

net user administrator /active:yes works perfectly, but see point above. administrator locked out!!!
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
July 27th, 2009 12:14am

If you have the Windows 7 RC Ultimate version then there was a reported problem (a big one). There is a program to run to fix most of the problems in one of the updates. However, this program must be run immediately after installation of Windows 7 RC Ultimate which you may not have permission to run. The only way out of the issue for me was to reformat the hard drive and reinstall Vista again and reload all programs.This is not a problem with Windows 7 RC but with whoever was responsible for sending out the RC. The other versions do not have this problem.
July 27th, 2009 7:22am

other threads I've found that have people asking the same question and still not getting an answerhttp://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itprosecurity/thread/b5c0e9bc-f6b1-4134-a2b2-be3a033b287bhttp://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itprosecurity/thread/e294b551-82d6-4d83-8890-003c049358afhttp://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itprosecurity/thread/c3366c2f-b6db-4e0b-a000-fd05d271a27fWhat's surprising is the number of times that people have given up and reformated.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
July 27th, 2009 3:51pm

after long investigations, the answer is reformat!I've used a propriety data recovery software to recover the information fromthe hard drive, recoverying 99.5% of all files and 100% of the family pictures/movies.I don't see this as a real solution, but as an example of a huge flaw with the RC. you should never be able to remove the permissions of the administrator!Windows 7 will not be re-installed!
July 28th, 2009 9:24pm

I am having this exact problem. I can't run system restore, or change any permissions because my account was somehow turned from administrator to guest. Now I have NO administrator account active in order to fix the problem! Very frustrating. Someone has to know a way to get around this besides reformatting...
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
August 14th, 2009 9:04pm

Oops...proposed answer to previous post. I just acquired this problem today, and was able to restore the drive to an accessible mode by booting to Safe Mode, then re-adding myself to the security tab of the drive in question (all users had been deleted from the list). This appears to have restored full functionality to the drive.
August 29th, 2009 6:47am

"Windows 7 has locked all my permissions, and I have no idea how to fix. I've been to all the obvious places and the shield is in place, disabling access. I've looked at the account and it's definately an administrator account. i'm wondering if it went wrong when I tried to set up a homegroup any suggestions how to take the security off - the Locked folder Access thread isn't relevant as the shield prevents me from changing any security settings." Lock22, I recently had a similar problem. I could no longer access my external hard drive and was unable to take admin permission of the drive. I wanted to get my files off the drive before I formatted it, especially five years worth of photographs. The solution was simple. I downloaded and burned Ubuntu (Linux) onto a bootable cd and ran Linux on my computer. Linux doesnt recognize Windows Admin privalges. I was easily able to access my external harddrive and copy my files onto my desktop. I restarted my computer with Windows and re-formatted my hardrive. The last step was simply to cut and paste my files back into my external drive. Everything works perfectly after I formatted the drive and I was able to keep my files. I know that its too late for you, but this could help someone else who is having a similar problem.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
January 27th, 2010 3:43am

This topic is archived. No further replies will be accepted.

Other recent topics Other recent topics