Login as administrator in windows 8.1. Local groups and users

When a user is working with Windows 8, regardless of whether the administrative account is enabled or not, all applications will work as before. With the new updates, the developers decided to change the settings of these accounts. Now the user will not be able to have a full set of rights, as was possible with Windows XP. These steps were taken to avoid running malware. However, if the user needs to get full administrator rights, then there is nothing complicated about it.

Regardless of what operating system the user has, the meaning of the administrative record is to either allow or deny access to various applications. This means that without this account it is impossible to give the file a different name, delete any system application, etc. Moreover, this entails a number of inconveniences, since a number of programs will not be able to run.

It’s worth figuring out whether the average user needs this. If he has just acquired a new Windows 8/8.1 system, he may decide to upload personal archives, materials and documentation there. If you accidentally enable sharing, you can change the settings. Thus, hackers can easily gain access to everything that should not be shown to other people, including permanently deleting it.

Reference! Another common situation is the accidental download of a virus that deletes important system folders. Many system recovery actions become impossible to perform.

As an example, consider deleting the system folder:


However, the user will not be able to do this, as a window will appear asking for administrator permission and asking to try again.

Reference! When using Windows 8, it was possible to hide the account. The developers provided this to prevent the user from accidentally deleting important applications.

How to get rights in Windows 8/8.1

Obtaining administrative rights through "Local Users and Groups"

First of all, you need to consider the method of obtaining rights through local groups. To do this, you will need to follow the following algorithm:

  1. At the same time, find and press the “Win” + “R” keys on the keyboard until the “Run” window appears.

  2. Next to the “Open” indicator you must write the following: “lusrmgr.msc” (without quotes). The user then needs to click OK.

  3. In the left column “Local users and groups” you need to find the “Users” folder. In the central column, the first one in the list is “Administrator”, which you need to right-click on and then click “Properties”.

  4. A properties window will open where the user will need the “General” section. There will be a checkbox next to “Disable account” by default; you need to remove it. The final action is “OK”.

Obtaining administrative rights through the Local Security Policy utility

This method is also quite effective and does not take much time. You will need to do the following:

  1. As in the method described above, you need to open the “Run” window by simultaneously pressing “Win” + “R”.

  2. Next, you need to enter the following value without quotes: “secpol.msc”, after which the user presses “OK” or the “Enter” key.

  3. On the left, in the “Security Settings” section, the user needs to find the “Local Policies” folder, which includes an important folder to open, namely “Security Settings”.

  4. The user will need exactly the file where it says “Administrator account status”. By clicking on it, you will need to select “Properties” from the drop-down list.

  5. The Local Security Option tab is required. You need to change the option from “Disabled” to “Enabled” by checking the box next to the corresponding item and clicking “OK”.

Obtaining administrative rights through the Command Line console

This method is also quite effective. It is enough to do the following:


Important! Experts recommend using administrator rights only when you need to solve a problem. If the situation does not require action from the administrator account, it is best to leave the previous mode. After all the actions taken, it is advisable to change the mode to the one it was.

Video - How to get Administrator rights on Windows 8 and 8.1

other methods

In rare cases, the methods described above do not help, so you have to resort to the help of third-party programs. “Win8 Admin Enable Boot Disk” will help solve the problem, which will help you obtain administrator rights. The user will need to download it from .

  1. As soon as the utility has been launched, you should press the “Y” key in the black window, and then press “Enter”. The PC will immediately restart, and the user will now work in administrative mode.

  2. In the lower left corner you need to find the “Start” menu, right-click on it, and from the drop-down list click on “Control Panel”.

  3. The computer settings settings will open, where the user will need to click on “User Accounts”.

  4. Using the utility, you logged in with administrator rights, therefore, this window will open. You need to find “Manage another account.”

  5. The existing user records will open. From the list you need to select the one that needs to be changed.

  6. Then click on the “Change account type” link.

  7. By default, the checkbox will be next to “Standard”. You need to change to “Administrator” and save the changes by clicking on the “Change account type” column.

  8. At the very top of the screen you can disable the administrator. By clicking on the corresponding icon, just click “Yes, I’m Done” and then restart your PC.

    Click on the “Yes, I’m Done” button

The latest instructions are suitable for both Windows 8 and later versions thanks to a single algorithm of actions. Knowing how to enter and enable this entry, it becomes easy to change, delete and configure various files and applications at your discretion.

Video - How to get administrator rights

When working in Windows 8.1, even if the administrative account is enabled, all programs are launched in the usual way. The developers have made a number of changes to the operating system (OS). Regular user accounts, including those with administrator status, do not have full rights, as was the case, for example, in Windows XP. This is done to prevent the launch of unsafe software, including viruses. If you need to get full administrator rights, then use the simple methods given below.

What are they?

The essence of administrative rights in Windows 8.1, and in any other system, comes down to prohibiting or allowing access to certain files and programs, as well as OS functions. This means that without an administrative account that gives the appropriate rights, you will not be able to rename, delete, edit system and some other files and folders with limited access, you will also not be able to run many programs or change settings.

But are such advanced rights really necessary for the average user? Let's consider this issue in more detail.

You bought a computer with Windows 8.1 installed and immediately wanted to understand the system settings, and before that you loaded personal photos, personal correspondence, and financial documents onto your hard drive. Let's assume that you are already connected to the Internet and have full administrative access to the system. You accidentally enabled sharing of a folder with confidential information by changing the access level. Now any attacker can not only download everything that you would not want to show to strangers, but also simply destroy all the information.

Or, for example, they launched an untested program downloaded from the Internet, and it contained a virus that could infect the entire system and erase system files.

If you don't have full administrative access, you won't be able to do many of the things that might pose a risk to Windows 8.1.

Consider, for example, an attempt to delete a system folder:


Insufficient access level message

Windows 8.1 is designed in such a way that the built-in system administrative account is hidden. This is done to ensure the security of the system from accidental user actions, which can lead to malfunctions of the OS and even its failure.

How to get full administrative rights in Windows 8.1

There are three main ways to get full access to all the functionality of Windows 8.1:

  • through the lusmgr window - “[Local users and groups (local)\Users]”;
  • through the “Local Security Policy” window;
  • using the command line.

Local groups and users

Unlocking an administrator account

Local Security Policy

Enabling the Administrator Account

Command line


Running the Administrator Account Activation Command

In the same way, you can, if necessary, deactivate administrator access using the command net user Administrator /active:no or set a login password by entering net user Administrator password.

To ensure the security of Windows 8.1, use the administrative account only as a temporary one, if it is impossible to solve problems that arise in other ways, then proceed to start the operating system in normal mode.

Obtaining administrator rights in Windows 8.1 (video)

Possible nuances

Sometimes there are situations when it is not possible to enable an administrative account using the methods described above.

But there is an alternative method. This is done using the Win8 Admin Enable BootDisk utility, which must be launched from a bootable USB flash drive.

  1. Once launched, enter Y at the command prompt and press Enter, after which the system will reboot into administrative mode.
    Configuring the launch of an administrator account
  2. Right-click on the thumbnail of the Start menu windows and select “Control Panel” from the context menu.

    Opening Control Panel
  3. In Control Panel, select the “User Accounts” tab.

    Opening a list of user accounts
  4. Since you are logged in under an administrator account, it will open. Here, select “Manage another account” from the list.

    Go to all user accounts
  5. Click on the tab with the thumbnail image of the user whose profile you want to change.

In Windows 8, as in previous versions of the Microsoft client operating system, there is a special built-in administrator account, which is hidden by default. This account (“ Administrator”) is created during system installation and is set to the “Disabled” state. A separate account is created for the user, which also has administrative privileges and is a member of the local administrators group, but if operations requiring administrative rights are performed under this account, a UAC (User Account Control) prompt appears. In addition, a number of system directories and files simply cannot be edited or deleted from under this account, even with elevated rights. To do this, you have to manually modify NTFS permissions on these file system objects.

The built-in administrator account has unlimited rights in the system and allows you to perform any operations in the system without restrictions and UAC requests. The administrator account can (and often should) be renamed, but it cannot be deleted. Enabling the hidden administrator account in Windows 8, as in other Windows systems, may be necessary to troubleshoot any complex problems, diagnose system operation, or remove malware.

The administrator account in Windows 8 is disabled for security reasons, primarily to protect the system from incorrect actions by a user with unlimited rights, and also to make it more difficult for malware to infect and infiltrate the operating system.

In this article, we will look at several ways to activate the built-in administrator account in Windows.

Note. By default, the built-in administrator account does not have a password, so change it immediately to accommodate the password complexity requirement. Activate the built-in administrator only when it is really necessary, and turn it off immediately after performing the required operations. It is strictly not recommended to constantly work under this account!

Enable Windows 8 administrator from the system management console

Enable the built-in administrator account in Windows 8 from the System Management Console (Computer Manager). To do this, right-click on the icon Computer and select item Manage.

The same console can be opened by typing in the search bar or in the quick launch window “ Windows + R» team lusrmgr.msc.

In the computer management console that opens, expand the item System Tools->Local Users and Groups. In the right pane you will see the administrator account.

Right click on the account Administrator and select from the menu Properties.

In account properties, uncheck Account is disabled. Next, do not forget to set a complex password (if you forget the password, you can always reset it, more details in the article) for the built-in administrator account (RMB on account -> Change Password). After this, you can log out of the system and log in as an administrator.

Enable admin from the command line

You can also enable or disable local administrator in Windows 8 from the command line. To do this, run the command:

Net user administrator /active:yes

Disable the administrator account with the command:

Net user administrator /active:no

Activating the built-in administrator by local policy

Another way to control the built-in administrator in Windows 8 is the local security policy. This technique will only work on Windows 8 Professional/Enterprise. To do this, open the directory in the control panel Administrative Tools and select the element Local Security Policy.

In the left panel of the snap-in that opens, expand the element Security Settings->Local Policies->Security Options. In the right pane, select Accounts: Administrator account.

Double click on the item and to enable the administrator account, select the option Enabled.

Here are three ways we found to activate the built-in administrator account in Windows 8.

In this article, you will learn what administrator rights are in Windows 8 and why they are needed. The fact is that many PC users have already appreciated all the advantages of the new operating system, however, they were also able to notice some inconveniences.

One of them is the fact that when installing certain applications, or when performing certain actions, Windows requests administrator rights. And sometimes it completely prohibits the action.

What are administrator rights?

These are full rights that allow you to make absolutely any changes on your PC without restrictions. It is worth noting that users get full access to all files. This means that such rights are granted only to advanced users who know the PC well enough. Otherwise, you may harm your computer.

It is for this reason that developers do not provide administrator rights, hiding this function from inexperienced users. You can use it in several ways. The simplest is to download the administrator profile. Let's look at what it is.

Administrator account

It is worth noting that an administrator account is created automatically when Windows 8 is installed. However, in order to protect the system from unauthorized changes to settings that could pose a threat to the system, this profile is disabled and the user is prompted to create a new one.

Thus, the account remains, but is not active, and there is no way to download it. We'll talk about how to get administrator rights in Windows 8 a little later. Now let's look at why it is needed at all. This is a special feature for advanced PC users who are involved in administration and settings. Remember that it is recommended to set an administrator password in Windows 8. This is necessary to protect against intruders and unauthorized access.

At the same time, it provides full access to all files and the ability to manage other profiles, creating them and deleting them if necessary. It is with the help of this profile that the system is configured and managed. So we come to the main question of how to get administrator rights in Windows 8.

How to get administrator rights in Windows?

As mentioned above, the easiest way is to download an administrator profile. But in order to do this you will need to activate your account. You can do this in several ways:

  • Using the command line;
  • Activation in the management console.

It is worth noting that the command line must be run as an administrator. This is easy to do, you will learn about it below. The first option is a little simpler, but if for some reason you cannot use it, then you can resort to the second. Let's take a closer look at them.

How to activate a profile using the command line

First, let's start the necessary service with administrator rights. To do this, go to the desktop and move the mouse cursor to the upper right corner. After this, a pop-up menu will appear in which you need to open the search. Next, write “command line” in the search bar, right-click on the result and open the service with administrator rights.

In the window that appears, enter the required command: netuseradministrator /active:yes. Press “Enter” and close all windows. Now you can restart your computer and launch the desired account. It is worth warning that this profile is disabled in order to secure the system and prevent some user actions that could disrupt the correct operation of the PC. It also reduces the threat of spreading the virus. Therefore, you should think again about whether to activate the administrator account.

How to enable the administrator account in the management console

If for some reason you are unable to use the command line, there is another way to enable the administrator account in Windows 8. To do this, open Explorer and look for “my computer” in the right menu. Right-click on it and select “Manage”. You can also start this service using the Win+R key combination, and in the window that appears you need to write lusrmgr.msc and press “Enter”.

The window that appears is divided into three panels. On the left side you need to find the “local users” item. Open the folder by double clicking the mouse. After this, you will see two sections “Users” and “Groups”. We are interested in the first. We left-click on the item and see that a list of all accounts available on this computer appears in the middle panel. Here you can rename them, as well as delete unnecessary accounts.

Find the Administrator profile in the list. Right-click on it and select properties. In the window that appears, go to the “General” tab and find the line “Disconnect account”. To activate the profile, simply uncheck the box. Click “apply” and “OK”.

Restart your computer and select the appropriate profile. You are now a Windows 8 administrator, with all rights and full access to system configuration.