How to log in as administrator in Windows 7

[jyeh74]

Anyone know how to log in as admin in Windows 7? I go to START and try to log off user, hoping that there will be an "Admin" as one option to select but I only see one name.

[guns1inger]

Check to see if other users actually exist, and what level you user is.

Start -> Control Panel -> User Accounts -> Manage another account

You should see all the accounts listed, including any other administrator accounts, and the guest account. You will also be able to see what level each account is set to, and if they are turned on or off.

[redwudz]

W7 also has a hidden administrator account: http://blog.eches.net/windows-7/how-to-enable-windows-7-hidden-administrator-account/

You can also get to User Accounts by L clicking your account icon on the main menu.

[jyeh74]

Going to the Control Panel, and then "Add or Remove User Accounts" it only shows my name (administrator). So it seems like I am automatically running as administrator.

I am needing to run as Admin in reference to this post
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/314192-What-is-the-Recovery-file-for/page2

[thymej]

Open CMD prompt

Type:

Net Users This will show the list of users including disabled users.

net user administrator /active:yes This will enable the admin account.

net user administrator /active:no This will disable the account.

If you enable the administrator account, it does not have a password. Its very important that you change its' password if you leave it enabled. But you should not leave it enabled.

To do the above, you must right-click and run the cmd-prompt as administrator.

ThymeJ

[jyeh74]

thymej, if I do not do this in the cmd, does it mean I am not actually running as administrator even though it says I am in the control panel? This is for my laptop running the new Windows 7 Home edition.

On a side note- I tried right clicking cmd (run as administrator) on my other computer, which is a desktop running the older Windows XP. It gives me a pop up that says "Logon failure: user account restriction. Possible reasons are blank passwords not allowed, logon hour restrictions, or a policy restriction has been enforced" No idea, as this Windows XP desktop is pretty new- I reformatted about a month ago.

[thymej]

The 'net user' is command line only so it can only be used in a command (cmd) prompt. Since you have Win7 Home, Win7 does not have the user security stuff in the Computer management tool. So the cmd prompt is the only way I know of that one can enable the administrator account (but you dont need to, see next).

You do not need to use the administrator account to use the convert x: /fs:ntfs (where x: is the drive letter you want to convert to ntfs). But your ID does need to have admin access. In Win7, even with admin access (as you see you are in control panel), you will still have to right-click the cmd and 'Run as administrator' to use the convert command. Once you have a cmd opened as 'ran as administrator', you should be able to use the convert command.

For your XP question, without seeing your XP PC, my first guess is the account you are logged in with does not have admin access, witch would lot allow you to open a cmd as administrator.

[guns1inger]

The way security has been implemented in Windows 7 is a lot closer to that of Linux/Unix than XP. Even though you are logged into an account that is an Administrator, certain functions still require elevated privilege to at least make you acknowledge that you want to do something. You can run a CMD without using Run as Administrator, and you can still execute certain instructions and commands and see certain information. However some command will only run correctly or show all the information if you use Run as Administrator and acknowledge the prompt. It is like doing an su to the root user in Linux for temporary elevation. XP, on the otherhand, does not need this. If you are logged into an administrator account, you have full administrator privileges.