Desktop Administrator Account Lost

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I set up a Windows 10 desktop computer for personal use.

This had been my office computer connected to the company network/domain which now no longer exists since the company was dissolved.

Now for every setting I try to change it asks for an Administrator account for authorization.  But my previous credentials no longer work since it isn’t connected to the previous domain.

I tried to set up a new Administrator account but that requires Administrator privileges!

How do I eliminate this restriction?

Retired Rocket Scientist

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I would reenable the built in admin account so you can get into the “account” console and remove the domain.  Given that you don’t have admin rights, I would use a third party tool like https://www.4winkey.com/ to boot under the OS and reenable the built in admin account.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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How about old trick with utilman.exe?

1. Boot live system (like Windows PE) from removable medium (CD/USB stick),

2. Determine drive letter of the volume with target Windows installation,

3. Rename [drive letter of volume with target Windows installation]\system32\utilman.exe into utilman.exe.bak,

4. Then, copy [drive letter of volume with target Windows installation]\system32\cmd.exe into [drive letter of volume with target Windows installation]\system32\utilman.exe,

5. Restart, booting from the same drive as usual,

6. Click “Ease of access” on Windows logon screen

7. Type (to add new admin account):

“net localgroup” to determine name of administrators group

net user /add [new_username] [new_user_password]

net localgroup [name of adminstrators group, ex. “Administrators”] [new_username] /add

8. Alternatively (to enable built-in Administrator account):

net user Administrator active:yes

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anonymous wrote:

How about old trick with utilman.exe?

The classic renaming of cmd.exe to utilman.exe does not work directly anymore in new versions of Windows.

…

In newer versions of Windows, extra steps are required. Here is the entire process:

How to reset Windows 10 account passwords

Windows 11 Pro version 22H2 build 22621.2361 + Microsoft 365 + Edge

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Do you have a backup image or flash drive copies of files on your computer before proceeding?

There is hope and you now officially have ownership of the computer so it is only okay remove the password on your own computer or one for which you have permission to do so. (To ease your mind even Oracle has an example article, though we will not be following those instructions.)

You will need a spare computer or know somebody who does, and it does require a spare USB flash drive and to read all of the instructions for the Hiren’s Boot CD.

https://www.hirensbootcd.org/

(Sandisk & PNY brands do support booting a computer maybe more.)

Print out the instructions for resetting the Windows Password on the HOWTOs page.

Once you (or your benevolent helper) have this boot-able USB flash drive made, check it for malware, let us know if you have an issue. (Maybe some tools can be detected and present a false positive for infection.)

If the flash drive passes that test it is time to test boot the flash drive. Read the TenForums Windows tutorial below to do this within Windows and see also if your computer is listed in option 2 and has instructions to cold boot from an USB drive.

(https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/21756-boot-usb-drive-windows-10-pc.html)

Some brands of computer you may have to press a key or even find a hidden button. From experience: HP, you will press the Escape key to see a menu or F9 repeatedly get to a boot device menu. Older Lenovo computers F12 would show a boot device menu.  Newer models have a Novo button (a hidden button, check the sides of the computer) that you need a thin pointed pin or paper clip to press that button. The computer will boot and you should see a menu option to select a boot device.

The F11 key may work on your brand of computer.

If you see the brand name of your flash drive select that one and follow those printed Hiren’s Boot CD Windows password reset instructions. Remove (blank) the passwords for the accounts you need to use. (Please note any possible errors and let us know…)

Test the changes, and if that worked then proceed with this tutorial to remove it from the defunct domain.

Windows Pro: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/90107-remove-windows-10-pc-domain.html

1 user thanked author for this post.

AlphaCharlie

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Susan Bradley wrote:

I would reenable the built in admin account so you can get into the “account” console and remove the domain.  Given that you don’t have admin rights, I would use a third party tool like https://www.4winkey.com/ to boot under the OS and reenable the built in admin account.

Susan,

Would you suggest the $40 version of this software?

It looks really perfect to solve my problem rather than buying a new computer!

Retired Rocket Scientist

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There is no need to buy a new PC. The hardware is fine, all you need is Windows to behave.

I’d try the Hiren’s method first as it’s free. If you can’t get it to work you can just re-install Windows from scratch – also free.

cheers, Paul

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