No Admin Privileges on New Computer

Hi Chen, I have the same problem as Blake, used my Microsoft Office 365 account to log into my laptop out of the box but that account doesn't have administrator privileges. I read your answer above and followed your suggestions to activate the hidden Administrator account.

Unfortunately, after exiting the command prompt and restarting windows, there is no Administrator account shown. There is an "Other account", which I select and enter Administrator into the e-mail prompt, leave the password blank, and enter, but it responds with "Your account has been disabled. Please see your system administrator".

Any suggestions?

Hello Blake,

Thank you for posting question on Microsoft Windows Forum.

Based on your issue description, your account was likely created as a Standard User which has limited privileges for security. This is a common issue with new Windows setups. To fix this, you need to enable the hidden built-in Administrator account, use it to give your own account admin rights, and then disable it again for safety. You can try the following steps.

1.Access Advanced Startup Options.

• Since you can't perform administrative tasks while logged in, you need to restart your computer in a special mode.
  1. Go to the Windows login screen. (You can get there by pressing Windows Key + L).
  2. In the bottom-right corner, click the Power icon.
  3. Hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and, while still holding it, click Restart.
  4. Keep holding the Shift key until a blue screen appears with the title "Choose an option".

2.Enable the Built-in Administrator Account.

• Now you'll navigate through the blue-screen menus to open a Command Prompt.
  1. On the "Choose an option" screen, select Troubleshoot.
  2. Next, select Advanced options.
  3. Finally, choose Command Prompt.
• Your laptop will restart and open a black Command Prompt window. Type the following command exactly as shown and press Enter:
• net user administrator /active:yes
• You should see the message "The command completed successfully." This command activates the default, hidden administrator account. Now, close the Command Prompt window and click Continue to exit and start Windows 11 normally.

3.Change Your Account to an Administrator.

• When your PC restarts, you will see a new user account on the login screen named Administrator in addition to your own.
  1. Click on the Administrator account to log in. It has no password by default, so it should log you straight in.
  2. Once you're on the Administrator desktop, right-click the Start button and select Settings.
  3. Go to Accounts > Family & other users.
  4. Click on your own account name and then click Change account type.
  5. In the new window, change the setting from "Standard User" to Administrator.
  6. Click OK.

4.Secure Your Computer.

• Logging out of the Administrator account and back into your own is the next step. For security, you must disable the built-in Administrator account.
  1. Log out of the Administrator account and log back into your normal account.
  2. Click the Start button, type cmd, right-click on Command Prompt in the results, and select Run as administrator.
  3. Because you are now an admin, you'll see a User Account Control (UAC) prompt. Just click Yes.
  4. In the Command Prompt that opens, type the following command and press Enter: net user administrator /active:no

Hope the above information is helpful!

Im having the same exact issue with new Lenovo for small business.

What do you have showing when you go to sign into your computer?

Example image. This should show at bottom left at sign in and be upright.