UAC prompt won't show up anymore

Question

Hi everybody,

some time ago the UAC prompt stopped working for me. Everytime I need elevated rights the OS is not asking me for admin credentials. Instead it shows me an error. See the example picture I provided. I click on a button that indicates an program/the process needs more rights (1) and after clicking it all I get is an error (2). 

I have the latest updates installed. It might be worth mentioning that my home PCs are managed via an local AD instance. Lets call the domain "home". Within that domain there is no admin. Instead each PC has its own local admin. So there would be no home\admin but an .\admin. I can run programs as .\admin using the context menu of for example a .exe file and click "run as different user". "run as administrator" is also not working.

Does anybody have a hint for me?

KR

Steven

Answer 1

Hi! stev-io

I'm James, An Independent Advisor, and I will help you with this issue

Try to change you perms using the command prompt:

1. Search for Command Prompt in the Start menu, right-click the Command Prompt shortcut
2. net user administrator /active:yes in the elevated Command Prompt
3. Check if the problem persists.

Try to change the account type with the PowerShell, follow the steps below:

1. Open the Start Menu.
2. Search for PowerShell and select the Run as administrator option.
3. Type the following command to change the account type to Administrator and press Enter:

Add-LocalGroupMember -Group "Administrators" -Member "ACCOUNT-NAME"

Note: In the command, make sure to change the ACCOUNT-NAME for the actual name of the account that you want to change.

4. Restart and check if the problem persist.

Try to change account types with Command Prompt, follow the steps below:

1. Open the Start Menu.
2. Search for Command Prompt, and select the Run as administrator.
3. Type the following command to change the account type to Administrator and press Enter:

net localgroup Administrators "ACCOUNT-NAME" /add

4. Type the following command view the account type and press Enter:

net user ACCOUNT-NAME

5. Restart and check if the issue persist.

If you need more help with this issue, just let me know and I will help you.

Answer 2

If you cannot add your user to the management group, it is because you are already in the administration group or the command prompt didn't work, you can check if you are an admin in the Users Account window, follow the steps below:

1. Open the Start Menu.
2. Search for netplwiz and click on "User Accounts".
3. Select your account.
4. Click the Properties button.
5. Click the Group Membership tab.
6. Select the Administrator account.
7. Click the Apply button.
8. Click the OK button.
9. Click the Apply button again.
10. Click the OK button again.
11. Restart and check if the problem persist.

Fix the Windows corruption errors with DISM & SFC tools.

This will help you to repair the Windows 10 system files and check for any issues, follow these steps below:

1. Open the Start menu, in the Search box type cmd or command prompt.
2. Right-click on the command prompt and select Run as Administrator.
3. When you Open it type the following command & press Enter:

Dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth

Be patient until DISM repairs component store. When the operation is completed, (you should be informed that the component store corruption was repaired), give this command and press Enter:

sfc /scannow

4. When SFC scan is completed, restart your computer.
5. Check if the problem persists.

You can try creating a new local user or administrator account and see if the problem persists.

https://support.microsoft.com/article/20de74e0-...

I will be here to help you, have a great day!

Answer 3

Hi James, thank you for answering. Here is what I found out:

C:\Users\steven>net user administrator /active:yes

The command completed successfully.

-> Seems to be nothing special here. The error still occured if I tried to do something that needed elevated rights. So I moved on with the command prompt:

C:\Users\steven>net localgroup Administrators "workmin" /add

System error 1378 has occurred. The specified account name is already a member of the group.

-> No change so far. 

My question now is: You did not mean to add "steven" (the current standard user that does not get UAC prompts if needed) to the admin group, did you? That command should ensure that my current admin account is in the admin group, correct?