Using an Administrator: Command Prompt window in Windows 10 - Must Be Administrator Error

Question

The picture below says it all. I open Command Prompt as Administrator, run the netsh command, and it returns the error that I must be an administrator.

This command sequence usually works - but when it gets in this mode a restart is the only way I have found to get out of it.

I would much prefer to correct whatever the problem is.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

Hi,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Community.

You may answer these questions to get more clarity on this issue:

-       Did you make any changes to the PC prior to this issue?

-       Does this issue occur only when you run the netsh command?

-       Is the PC connected to any Domain Network?

You may try these steps to open Command Prompt in admin mode and see if that makes any difference:

Step 1:

Click Start, type CMD and then simultaneously press Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys to open CMD in admin mode.

Step 2:

-       Press Windows key + X and select Command prompt (Admin).

-       Click the Yes button when you see the UAC prompt to run Command Prompt as administrator.

Step 3:

-       Press Windows key + Letter E together to open the Windows Explorer window.

-       Navigate to Windows folder and then open up System 32 folder.

-       Locate the file named CMD, right-click on it, and then click Run as administrator option.

-       Click the Yes button when you see the UAC prompt to run Command Prompt as administrator.

Step 4:

You can also try this command on default user admin.

-       Click Start, type cmd in the Start Search box, and then press Enter.

-       Note: If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type the password, or provide confirmation.

-       In the search results list, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as Administrator.

-       When you are prompted by User Account Control, click Continue.

-       At the command prompt, type net user administrator /active: yes, and then press Enter.

Sign out for the current user profile and sign in to the Default administrator account to see if that makes any difference.

Note: Disable the default administrator, once the troubleshooting is done. You can do that by going to the command prompt in admin mode and at the command prompt, type net user administrator /active: no, and then press Enter.

Waiting for your response.

Regards,

Srimadhwa B

Microsoft Community-Moderator

Answer 2

Hi Srimadhwa, and thanks for your response.

I did not make any changes to the PC prior to this issue. But I just started using the netsh command to evaluate my wireless performance. And as I said, the netsh command usually works just fine.

The netsh command is the only command I have used that requires Administrator privileges - if you have any other commands you would like me to try I would be happy to.

The PC is connected to my internal home network only, and as far as I know it is not a Domain Network. But since I don't know exactly what is meant by "Domain Network" I could be wrong. Could you enlighten me, or point me to an explanation of Domain Network?

That answers your three questions.

Unfortunately I had to restart the computer this morning and the issue has gone away - I've done that before. It will be back. The next time it starts happening again I will try the steps you suggested. In the meantime I will familiarize myself with the default administrator - and don't worry, I won't leave it enabled.

Thanks, and let's leave this open until the problem occurs again, at which time I will try your suggestions and report back/close the issue.

Doug