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No Administrator account ON MY COMPUTER AT ALL WINDOWS 8.1

Anonymous
2014-07-23T19:33:27+00:00

I attempted to set up a 'user' or 'guest' account, which would be restricted and unable to make any changes or downloads to my computer, under my administrator account. So I revoked the administrator status of all accounts I didn't want to have it, the first two times I did this it didn't work still giving all accounts the admin abilities. I decided to just delete and recreate them as users instead, well what happened was I removed all accounts except the new 'user' restricted  account I just made. I have tried everything I could find for methods of recovery or whatever online and through live service chats, NOTHING WORKED!!! When attempting to refresh my PC to a earlier point, before these changes, I was brought to the list of admin accounts on my computer to choose from and login to and at this screen it said and I quote:

                    "You must be logged in as an Administrator to . . . . There are no Administrator accounts on this PC."

 Is there any other suggestions on what I can do? Oh yeah and when I updated to Windows 8.1 the wireless keyboard that came with this PC stopped working with it and no new ones I have purchased work fully either leaving me with only the onscreen keyboard making it unable for me to do any key commands on restart etc.

GOOD LUCK!! PLEASE HELP!!

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Security and privacy

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  1. @CmdrKeene 90,616 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2014-07-23T19:35:30+00:00

    If there are no Administrator accounts on the system, you can boot to Safe Mode to access the Built-in Administrator account.  From this fail-safe account, you can force-reset your account's password.

    1. On the login screen, click the Power Options icon, then hold down the Shift Key while you click the Restart option. Keep holding shift until the screen says it is restarting.
    2. On the first screen that appears, select Troubleshoot, then select Advanced Options. Finally pick Startup Settings and click the Restart Button.
    3. On the next screen, press the Number 4 Key to choose Safe Mode.

    Now that you are in safe mode, you can use the built-in backup Administrator account to perform you necessary recovery. The built in Administrator account should not be used for any other purpose, or it won't be available in situations like this when you need it.

    1. At the login screen, click the Arrow Icon and select the Administrator account.
    2. After Safe Mode starts, press +W and open Control Panel / User Accounts.
    3. Select Manage another account and select the account you wish to change to an Administrator account. You can also use the Change Password option here to reset the other account's password.

    When you're done, restart the computer normally.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-12-30T13:28:56+00:00

    So both myself and my husband have attempted the exact instructions above and once in safe mode on the login screen what arrow icon are you referring to? The only one we could find is the enter button for after a password is entered. There is no option to change users or a built-in admin account either. Is there somewhere I can just take the computer in that they can show me or just do it for me? Somewhere in Phoenix AZ?

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  2. @CmdrKeene 90,616 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2014-12-30T13:43:02+00:00

    Hi Nunn2121$,

    It's not a guarantee because even the built-in account can be disabled (either by a person or, yes, by a virus that intends to block you from removing it).

    If you can't get into that to reset it from Safe Mode, the next official option is to erase the computer back to factory-new conditions, so you can setup your own chosen password again fresh and set it up like it's the first day out of the box again.  This may or may not sound acceptable to you.  If you do want to do that, you can do steps 1 and 2, choose Troubleshooting, then "PC Reset".  This will lose all your files though.

    There are ways to crack into a computer, but it's against policy (and technically against the law thanks to the USA's DMCA law), but we can't post it here.

    If you want to take it to a repair shop you can.  Microsoft has stores in many areas, you can find the ones in Arizona here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/locations/.  That support won't be free if you didn't buy your computer there, but you can also contact the computer manufacturer for free support (which again because of policy and the law, they will only help you erase the computer back to defaults, they can't help you actually crack into the password).

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  3. @CmdrKeene 90,616 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2014-08-06T13:18:37+00:00

    All of this can be done with the on-screen keyboard.  I did it on a Dell 8" tablet just perfectly.

    The keyboard can be opened from the "accessibility" menu on the login screen.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-08-06T13:14:25+00:00

    Did you read the part that since I updated to Windows 8.1 the wireless keyboards (ones that came with computer and aftermarket purchased in hopes to work) no longer work with this PC? So how am I suppose to do this with the onscreen keyboard?

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