Introduction
If for whatever reason you must login Windows Vista with the Administrator account this guide will show you how it’s done.
Warning: Running as Administrator in Windows Vista bypasses all security (UAC) and is NOT recommended. If you decide to use the Administrator account don’t complain when you start having problems.
Enable the Administrator Account
- Open the command prompt with Administrative privileges by opening the Start Menu, and typing cmd in the search box, and then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter or click the Start orb, All Programs, Accessories, right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
- Type the following in the command prompt and press Enter after:
net user administrator /active:yes - Restart your computer and logon as Administrator.
Note: You might want to set a password for the administrator’s account for at least a little protection.
Disable the Administrative Account
To disable the Administrative account run the Net User command demonstrated above while logged on an account with administrative privileges but not as the Administrator account and replace yes with no.
Still need help? Ask Your Computer Question Now.
46 Responses to “Logon Windows Vista as Administrator”
Follow this guide's comments via RSS.
Comment pictures provided by Gravatar.
July 4th, 2007 at 3:45 am
Thanks a lot for your hint, saved me a lot of trouble. I am still amazed what Microsoft did with this admin account, which is actually needed by some applications.
November 24th, 2007 at 8:37 am
Thankkks a lott man u r tha best ;)
December 27th, 2007 at 11:30 am
This does not work what a hoax.
December 27th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
@Paul If you’re having a problem, try asking for help next time instead of trying to discredit this guide.
I’ll be more than happy to help you out Paul.
January 2nd, 2008 at 3:57 pm
This article was clearly explained and was very useful wen cracking into my friends system (in front of him to show off ;)) Thank you very much
January 3rd, 2008 at 10:01 am
i do not understand the ctrl+shift+enter it doesnt work to open can u explain it more clearly like do i have to select it first then do it or what
January 3rd, 2008 at 10:09 am
Type cmd in the Start Menu’s search box and then press and hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard. While holding down the Ctrl key press the Shift key. While holding down both Ctrl and Shift keys press the Enter key (Ctrl+Shift+Enter).
January 4th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
How do you set a password?
January 4th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
@Rob http://www.maximumpcguides.com/create-a-new-user-in-windows-vista/
It shows you how to set a password halfway down the guide.
January 9th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Don’t know what that dude PAUL is complaining about. Worked on the 1st try for me.
Thanks!
January 14th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
another way for admin prompt
type cmd (right click it)
open as administrator
follow above as required.
the above works indeed, as ive just done it, and
ive got whitnesses lol
but this method is for the less button pressing alternative.
good tutorial
p.s paul? if this is ur site id just delete the post
as they clearly dont follow instructions and become
moronic user afterwards.
aka (him: it doesnt work you:how? him:i dunno…)
laters
January 15th, 2008 at 12:31 am
Worked like a charm. Thanks!
January 18th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
im trying to get into administrator just so i could download something, apparently im not administrator im im affraid that its goin to ruin my computer if i try this out.
what kind of problems could you get?
January 21st, 2008 at 7:44 am
Do you need administrative rights to download and install software? You can give your user account admin rights by following this guide:
http://www.maximumpcguides.com/add-or-remove-administrative-rights/
Enabling the ability to log on as Administrator won’t hurt anything. Once you’re logged on as Administrator all protection like UAC is disabled leaving your computer wide open.
January 25th, 2008 at 5:22 am
Man!!! This is a nice move i appreciate the hint it save my day. May i have your mail for more discussions.
January 25th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Is there someway to hide the admin account like on windows xp. On windows xp pro you type ctrl+alt+delete two times and you can then type in the administrator account, but it’s not a button on the login screen. That’s how I want it on my vista machine.
Thanks.
February 8th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Does this only work with a certain version of Vista? I have home premium and it still says access denied when i try to enable… I’m new to vista, but i’ve been around microsoft and previous versions for a long time.. thanks.
February 9th, 2008 at 6:02 am
This does work on home premium.
It might not be working because you’re not opening the command prompt with admin rights.
February 25th, 2008 at 7:45 am
i have a problem… i can’t open the prompt with adminn rights.
the ctrl+shift+enter combo doesn’t work and the right-click->”open as admin..” doesn’t work.
do i have to be on an admin account to do this?
February 25th, 2008 at 8:02 am
No, but it will ask you for the password of an account with admin rights in order for those admin rights to be temporarily passed to your account.
If you don’t know the password you’re out of luck.
February 27th, 2008 at 7:37 am
Hi guys, i opened the cmd fine…but when i go to type in and hit enter it says *System error 5 has occurred.* * Access is Denied* :(:(:(, can someone PLEASE help me?!, i don’t get why it wont work…i am typing it in correctly.
February 27th, 2008 at 8:04 am
Did you run CMD as Administrator?
February 27th, 2008 at 10:14 am
yes i did :/
February 27th, 2008 at 10:21 am
When i do the above instructions, i get that error *System error 5 has occurred.* * Access is Denied*…even when i restart still says the same.
February 27th, 2008 at 10:29 am
You might have a firewall issue, or the Admin account is already enabled.
This might help: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555644
February 28th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
great post…looked all over got bad info or info that only worked in vista ultimate. worked like a charm first time in home premium.
March 8th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
I was able to log-on as adminstrator but I still can’t delete the user folder (costco majors). This is an hp portable purchased at Costco. I deleted all the files in the folder but can’t delete the actual folder.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:44 am
i’m locked out of my vista laptop already.. somehow someone managed to tap into my laptop and changed the password with me knowing.. ideas?
March 17th, 2008 at 5:59 am
Try this:
http://www.maximumpcguides.com/reset-a-forgotten-administrative-user-account-password-in-windows-vista/
March 19th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
This worked so perfect and fast!! Thanks A Lot. In other words you can break into anyones vista system just by using the provided net user ad in the Dos command and being logged in as a only a guest? WTF?
March 20th, 2008 at 6:54 am
@ Brian: No. It’s not that easy. If you would have read the guide you would have read that you need to be logged in as a user with administrative rights to enable or disable the admin account.
Enabling and disabling the Administrator account is nothing new. This has been available in numerous previous versions of Windows. The only difference is that Vista is the first client version of Windows with the Administrator account disabled by default.
March 20th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Thanks Brent. I had already discovered my error after writing my post. This did work for me and I was able to delete files installed from a program I downloaded that was not Vista compatible. I was unable to do this from my own acct. So is there any way to change my named account to an admin account ( I have only one account on my computer) and if not what is the reason for this? This is a bit confusing!! Again Thanks for your help!!!!!!
March 26th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Very Useful, but in reality the reboot/restart is not needed. All that you have to do is Switch users or Log off of the currently logged in account. Pressing Windows+L will allow you to switch users.
March 30th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
anybody have a problem about login 2 administrator Win vista?
cause i was success login it, and shown administrator while log on. I am used vista home basic.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:38 pm
It worked when I navigated to \Windows\System32 and right clicked on CMD(.exe) and chose Run as administrator. Then the net user command shown at the top worked.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Doesn’t work for me either. Putting ‘cmd’ into search results in nothing?
April 5th, 2008 at 6:15 am
Thanks for help.Through your help I am able to logon with administrator account
April 10th, 2008 at 6:28 am
Easy instructions to follow. I found that it is important to follow the instructions of how to access CMD line in the original post. Windows key+R and then type “cmd” in Run box gets you to a different path (C:/User/username vs C:/Windows/system32). The first path leads to failure. The second, and correct one, leads to success.
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:48 am
you must first disable the UAC. Then only go to the command prompt and type in “net user administrator /active:yes”. Then restart your machine. The “administrator” will automatically appear.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:43 am
You DO NOT have to disable UAC to enable the Admin account. You have to open the command prompt with admin privileges though.
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:44 am
Wtf when I do the:net user administrator /active:yes. to windows system32 it just says: username can’t be found ftw??? please help me. I really need to log in as administrator.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:17 am
I even copied the net user text and attached it to commandprompt please help me :( not fun.
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:02 pm
What version of Windows are you using?
April 26th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Beware that if UAC is turned off you will not be asked for credentials or permission when trying to run as administrator, and therefore the above will not work. It happenned to me and it took me a little while to figure it out - I have UAC turned off as the pop-ups are too annoying. I was able to active the administrator account when logged in with a logon that has administrator privileges alright, but when tried to log in as “guest” and tried the above, didn’t work because of the UAC being turned off. Hope this helps.
May 6th, 2008 at 1:27 am
I have a problem in that I have no active users with Administrator rights, so cannot enable UAC or active the Administrator account. Any advice?
May 6th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Steve adds:
Sorry - Further to above: The user which DID have Admin rights was demoted to Power User (as a security measure!) This was before I found out that the default Administrator was disabled. There seems to be no way back!