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Author Topic: "Admin" Account Suddenly Has No Admin Powers  (Read 7393 times)

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Beak_Hookage

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    "Admin" Account Suddenly Has No Admin Powers
    « on: July 16, 2008, 07:01:13 AM »
    OK, I have a Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop running Windows XP. I have Zonealarm and AVG antivirus - the registered version. But for some reason I still ended up with a virus on my system. I have no idea how it happened, but it coincided with my reinstalling Firefox 2 after Firefox 3 pissed me off by running at a snail's pace.
    I still have no idea what the virus was, but my dad and I spent an entire evening trying to figure out. He eventually tracked down a .dll file with a gibberish name we couldn't find anywhere on the internet. It was creating bogus files willy-nilly and was somehow protecting itself from being deleted, so we eventually resorted to using a different computer to hack into my harddrive and get rid of the piece of *censored* that way.

    Everything went back to normal after that, except I noticed I'd lost some data in the process; Windows updates had disappeared, and at least one of my programs refuses to run anymore.

    So I went to reinstall that program, and ran into a brick wall.

    While fighting the virus, we'd created a second user account on my computer, given it admin privelages and changed my own account to the limited version. After the fuss was over I got annoyed by having to switch between accounts all the time, so I changed my original account to admin again, and tried to delete the other one.

    The computer wouldn't let me, claiming I didn't have "permission". So I changed the other account to limited, and then tried to delete it.

    No dice.

    Then today, when I tried to uninstall a program while logged into my regular account, Windows suddenly started claiming that I didn't have admin powers. My User Accounts list claims that I do. Everything else says otherwise.

    I tried the other account, but, oops, it's now limited and can't do anything. My other (supposed admin account) won't let me change that setting again.

    End result: neither of my logins will let me install, uninstall, change account setting or, in fact, use any admin powers whatsoever. I'm locked out of my own frigging computer.


    Please for the love of gods, does anyone have a suggestion that isn't "reinstall Windows and lose everything", or "hurl computer out the window"?

    Sid



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      Re: "Admin" Account Suddenly Has No Admin Powers
      « Reply #1 on: July 16, 2008, 07:21:53 AM »
      If you open the Management Console (In the Run dialog box type "mmc" and press enter), and add the Local Users and Groups snap-in (file - add/remove snap in - "Add" button - find "Local Users and Groups" and double click - "Finish" button - "Close" button - "Ok" button), expand the drop down menu in the left hand pane, and select Users.

      Now, Double click "Administrator" in the right pane.  That opens the properties box for the built in Admin account.  Clear the "This account is disabled" box, and click "ok".  Now right click on the admin account and set the password to something you'll remember.

      Now I'd reboot into Safe Mode (rapidly press f8 as your computer loads, just after the bios hands over the machine to Windows...where the screen goes black) and log in as the Administrator and you should be able to give your account it's privilages back.  It might be worth running another virus check while in safe mode before rebooting and logging back in as your main profile.

      Also, you needn't move between a limited account and an admin account to do stuff as an admin, you can "Run as Admin".  Normally, if you hold shift and right click something the option becomes avail.  Just pop in the Admin credentials and you're away.  Probably a good idea to adopt this approach instead of constantly running around as an admin for the 10mins when you need to install/config something.  Might prevent future problems with viruses.

      Let us know how you get on.

      Sid

      Beak_Hookage

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        Re: "Admin" Account Suddenly Has No Admin Powers
        « Reply #2 on: July 16, 2008, 07:24:20 AM »
        Dear gods that is like the fastest reply EVER.
        Dude, you're the man. I don't care if this works or not; you're still the man.

        I'll give it a shot! Thanks a heap!   :-*

        Beak_Hookage

          Topic Starter


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          Re: "Admin" Account Suddenly Has No Admin Powers
          « Reply #3 on: July 16, 2008, 07:35:50 AM »
          OK, I've tried the first part of what you suggested but the thing told me something like "this snapin cannot be used with Windows Home Edition please use the User Accounts menu in the Control Panel".

          Should I go on and try the second part anyway?

          Sid



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            Re: "Admin" Account Suddenly Has No Admin Powers
            « Reply #4 on: July 16, 2008, 07:48:24 AM »
            OK, I've tried the first part of what you suggested but the thing told me something like "this snapin cannot be used with Windows Home Edition please use the User Accounts menu in the Control Panel".

            Should I go on and try the second part anyway?

            It might be worth seeing if you can get into the built in admin account in safe mode.

            It certainly won't hurt.

            *censored* windows "home"...

            I only replied so quickly cus I was online.  But thanks for the props!  :P

            I'll have a play with my XP Home install later on tonight and see what can be done.

            Beak_Hookage

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              Re: "Admin" Account Suddenly Has No Admin Powers
              « Reply #5 on: July 16, 2008, 08:05:08 AM »
              ...Well that's odd; all of my admin powers suddenly came back after I did a reboot and pressed ctrl-alt-del at the welcome screen. Someone else suggested that I might still have malware on my system, though, so I'm going to take some steps to get rid of it.

              Thanks a billion for your help!

              Broni


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              Re: "Admin" Account Suddenly Has No Admin Powers
              « Reply #6 on: July 16, 2008, 12:01:48 PM »
              Your computer may be still infected...

              Print these instructions out.

              1. Download SUPERAntiSpyware Free for Home Users:
              http://www.superantispyware.com/

                  * Double-click SUPERAntiSpyware.exe and use the default settings for installation.
                  * An icon will be created on your desktop. Double-click that icon to launch the program.
                  * If asked to update the program definitions, click "Yes". If not, update the definitions before scanning by selecting "Check for Updates". (If you encounter any problems while downloading the updates, manually download and unzip them from here: http://www.superantispyware.com/definitions.html.)
                  * Close SUPERAntiSpyware.

              PHYSICALLY DISCONNECT  FROM THE INTERNET

              Restart computer in Safe Mode.
              To enter Safe Mode, restart computer, and keep tapping F8 key, until menu appears; select Safe Mode; you'll see "Safe Mode" in all four corners of your screen

                  * Open SUPERAntiSpyware.
                  * Under "Configuration and Preferences", click the Preferences button.
                  * Click the Scanning Control tab.
                  * Under Scanner Options make sure the following are checked (leave all others unchecked):
                        o Close browsers before scanning.
                        o Scan for tracking cookies.
                        o Terminate memory threats before quarantining.
                  * Click the "Close" button to leave the control center screen.
                  * Back on the main screen, under "Scan for Harmful Software" click Scan your computer.
                  * On the left, make sure you check C:\Fixed Drive.
                  * On the right, under "Complete Scan", choose Perform Complete Scan.
                  * Click "Next" to start the scan. Please be patient while it scans your computer.
                  * After the scan is complete, a Scan Summary box will appear with potentially harmful items that were detected. Click "OK".
                  * Make sure everything has a checkmark next to it and click "Next".
                  * A notification will appear that "Quarantine and Removal is Complete". Click "OK" and then click the "Finish" button to return to the main menu.
                  * If asked if you want to reboot, click "Yes".
                  * To retrieve the removal information after reboot, launch SUPERAntispyware again.
                        o Click Preferences, then click the Statistics/Logs tab.
                        o Under Scanner Logs, double-click SUPERAntiSpyware Scan Log.
                        o If there are several logs, click the current dated log and press View log. A text file will open in your default text editor.
                        o Please copy and paste the Scan Log results in your next reply.
                  * Click Close to exit the program.
              Post SUPERAntiSpyware log.

              RECONNECT TO THE INTERNET

              RESTART COMPUTER!

              2. Download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware: http://www.majorgeeks.com/Malwarebytes_Anti-Malware_d5756.html to your desktop.

                  * Double-click mbam-setup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
                  * At the end, be sure a checkmark is placed next to Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, then click Finish.
                  * If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version.
                  * Once the program has loaded, select Perform full scan, then click Scan.
                  * When the scan is complete, click OK, then Show Results to view the results.
                  * Be sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.
                  * When completed, a log will open in Notepad.
                  * Post the log back here.

              The log can also be found here:
              C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\Logs\log-date.txt
              Or at C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\Logs\log-date.txt

              RESTART COMPUTER!

              3. Download HijackThis:
              http://www.snapfiles.com/get/hijackthis.html
              Post HijackThis log.


              DO NOT make any other changes to your computer (like installing programs, using another cleaning tools, etc.), until it's officially declared clean!!!