Changing Computer Administrator

Terri Ferro 0 Reputation points
2026-09-03T21:11:44.28+00:00

I am trying to change the administrator on my computer. I believe the current administrator is my husband and he is now deceased. Unfortunately, I don't have what his login information was. I am at a stand still with being able to do certain things on my device because of this issue. Is there anything I can do to get the administrator changed to me?

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Security and privacy
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  1. EmilyS726 264.5K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-09-03T21:48:37.3533333+00:00

    Hello,

    I am sorry for your loss.

    Because you don't know his log in information and your user is not admin type, there's unfortunately no way to crack it or bypass it.

    Your only option is to back up all of your files to OneDrive or external drive for now, then perform a clean install to start over.

    To perform a clean installation of Windows 10 using the Windows Media Creation Tool. You do need to get access to another computer so you can download the Windows installation files into a flash drive, then use the flash drive to help your computer. Hopefully you have a spare computer, or you can have friend or family help you.

    The following steps should be done on a working Windows computer:

    Download the Windows Media Creation Tool from Microsoft's official website. https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows10

    Run the tool and select "Create installation media for another PC."

    Choose your language, edition, and architecture (32 or 64-bit) and select "Next."

    Choose "USB flash drive" as the media to use for the installation and select "Next."

    Connect a USB flash drive with at least 8 GB of free space to your computer.

    Select the USB flash drive you want to use, and then select "Next."

    The tool will then download the required files and create the installation media.

    =====================================================

    Now these steps will  be done on your problematic computer:

    Go to the computer's BIOS boot menu to have it boot from the USB drive.

    Follow the on-screen instructions to install Windows 10, making sure to choose "Custom install" and select the option to delete all existing partitions.

    Once the installation is complete, you'll have a clean installation of Windows 10 on your computer.

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