No administrator rights after upgrading to Windows 11

[theConjurian]

I updated from Win 10 to Win 11 at the end of December and have since discovered that I have no administrator rights. This is a single desktop machine with no other users.

There are only two accounts on the machine:
administrator
owner

Neither have passwords.

The last thing I checked/found was under Computer Management/Local Users and Groups where the Administrator account was disabled. The Owner account is listed under the Administrators Group.

Any ideas on how to recover administrator rights?

 

[mikrom]

Isn't it possible to change account type to administrator account ?

 

[theConjurian]

No, it is not possible to do. The account is already in the Administrators group.

AND it is not possible to log into the Administrator accout. It was never created with a password and now it appears to want one.

 

[mikrom]

Is the Administrator account enabled or disabled ?
If it is disabled, then you can enable it:

https://pureinfotech.com/enable-administrator-account-windows-11/

 

[goombawaho]

I don't understand. You say your user is already in the administrator group, but you have no rights. What rights do you NOT have?

What mikrom said - this is what I always use to enable the administrator account. This will get you into the admin account with no password. But I don't understand what the root of your problem is.
net user Administrator /active:yes
I have never used the quotes around administrator though.

 

[spamjim]

Is it possible that administrative functions are disabled because these accounts do not have passwords? Maybe Windows OS now recognizes the user error and is not letting you do some admin actions without setting up a proper admin account (which will have a password). Empty passwords seem very odd/reckless.

 

[mikrom]

Thank goodness I don't have to use Windows 11 yet,
but it should be possible to remove or change the password:

https://pureinfotech.com/remove-login-password-windows-11/

 

[theConjurian]

Clarification ... It is not possible to run ANY programs as administrator.
For example, select cmd from Search box and try to click on "Run as Administrator" ... nothing happens.
For example, right click on any desktop icon ... nothing happens.

 

[mikrom]

It seems to be a known problem - look here:

https://techloris.com/run-as-administrator-not-working/

https://www.techpout.com/run-as-administrator-not-showing-in-windows/

 

[spamjim]

It seems to be a known problem

It is more of an "issue also experienced by others" more than a "known problem". "Known problems" are more commonly understood as bugs that have not yet been resolved. This is not a bug. Windows is behaving as designed.

For example, right click on any desktop icon ... nothing happens.

Standard users should be able to at least right click and see a context menu. You have more problems than just an admin access issue. You may want to investigate moving back to Windows 10 while your computer still retains the old system to fall back on. Windows 11 will delete that Windows 10 backup soon. You can do another Windows 11 upgrade and pray that one is successful. While back in Windows 10, you can properly set up the admin account with a real (not empty) password.

it is not possible to log into the Administrator accout. It was never created with a password and now it appears to want one.

You can create a new admin account to clean up this mess. As a local user with direct access to your computer, there are various exploits you can do with a little research on the googles.

 

[goombawaho]

Very strange, but..... those two sites are not what I would call mainstream, so I don't know if it's much of a problem out in the wild. My google search shows a lot of results on non-mainstream sites wanting you to download their "fix everything" tool for this issue. Just being suspicious.

Enable administrator account as per above instructions. See if there is any different behavior when logged in as administrator.

Look in Windows Event Viewer

Run a malware scan with ADWCleaner

 

[mikrom]

...
lot of results on non-mainstream sites wanting you to download their "fix everything" tool for this issue. Just being suspicious
...

I would never suggest to download any unknown fix utility and running it blindly.
Just read the step-by-step instructions carefully, analyze it critically and then try to fix the problem at that way.

 

[mikrom]

Btw, if I were you, I'd follow Spamjim's clever suggestion to switch back to Windows 10 if it's still possible.

 

[goombawaho]

Theoretically, it shouldn't be a Windows 11 bug. But............

 

[mikrom]

> Theoretically, it shouldn't be a Windows 11 bug. But............
... but it seems that the bug occured after upgrading from W10 to W11. So, downgrading back to W10 would be worth of trying

 

[theConjurian]

I did try downgrading to Windows 10 but apparently there is a 10 day limit to this and it too late.

A clean install would be a VERY last resort as there is A LOT of software to reload, some requiring third party configuration support.

And yes, I believe that it is a Windows 11 upgrade bug, but MS hasn't admitted to it. The last MS issue i had took more than 8 months of continuous back and forth before they ADMITTED that there was a change made.

 

[mikrom]

what to say? it's pity ..
maybe, lessons learned:
[ul]
[li]never upgrade to the newer version of an operating system if it's not necessary and the old version is still working[/li]
[li]prefer rather new fresh installation before the upgrading from old to new, because it can fail[/li]
[/ul]

 

[goombawaho]

Another lesson - have an image backup of your computer (you always should) but especially right before an OS version upgrade! CYA > PITA.

 

[spamjim]

And yes, I believe that it is a Windows 11 upgrade bug, but MS hasn't admitted to it. The last MS issue i had took more than 8 months of continuous back and forth before they ADMITTED that there was a change made.

To the extent that Microsoft may not have engineered a workflow for a Windows 10->11 upgrade where the admin password is empty, yes this could be a bug and/or oversight. I'd back it up further to say it could be a Windows 10 (not 11) bug that an admin account would be allowed an empty password.

 

[goombawaho]

I have enabled the administrator user in Windows 10 and left the password blank for some customers and it functions normally. I only do it if they are the sole user of a computer and the computer is in their private home - nobody else around.