Local user only?

[jools]

Hi,

I've been tasked with managing a laptop that seems to have been configured for local user only. When it boots up it displays the desktop with no need to log in. I've been given an Admin password for said laptop but, so far, I've been unable to find any way to login as Admin, I can't get to a login prompt. Needless to say I'm completely unfamiliar with a PC configured in this way! Any clues as to how I can login as Admin?

 

[Porthos]

Sounds like it has a local account and probably is the Admin account. Have you looked under accounts to see if it is an Admin account?

 

[Moltuae]

Is the current "local user" account an administrator account or a standard account?

Presumably you've tried Switch User / Sign Out?

 

[jools]

It's not an admin account and switch user is not available. A lot of the options that would be available to an admin user are not enabled.

 

[Mike McCall]

Is it in S mode?

 

[phaZed]

You may need to open powershell and

net user Administrator active:yes

That will enable the default, built-in admin account. Log in as Administrator then you can create a new Admin account of your choosing.

Then do a

net user Administrator active:no

to disable the built-in account.

 

[jools]

Is it in S mode?

Okay I didn't know about S mode, but appears not to be in S mode as I can browse with Chrome.

 

[nlinecomputers]

You may need to open powershell and

net user Administrator active:yes

That will enable the default, built-in admin account. Log in as Administrator then you can create a new Admin account of your choosing.

Then do a

net user Administrator active:no

to disable the built-in account.

This by default the Windows Administrator account is disabled and needs to be enabled in order to log in as the administrator. Though it looks from your screenshot that the user you are logged in as HAS admin rights and no password. It is not recommended but it is a valid method of setting up Windows.

Edit: sorry that wasn't you that posted that screenshot. NVM about that part. But do the PS commands/

 

[Moltuae]

It's not an admin account and switch user is not available.

Try these (command line):

Switch user

C:\Windows\System32\tsdiscon.exe

Log off

shutdown.exe /l

Edit: Also, if you run CMD 'as administrator', do you get prompted for an admin user/pass and (if so) do the credentials you have been given work?

 

[jools]

Try these (command line):
ss
Switch user

C:\Windows\System32\tsdiscon.exe

Log off

shutdown.exe /l

Edit: Also, if you run CMD 'as administrator', do you get prompted for an admin user/pass and (if so) do the credentials you have been given work?

Powershell and cmd.exe have been disabled but I was able to run tsdiscon.exe. I couldn't get any further than the login prompt though. I looked under the Users directory and there is apparently a user called localadmin, couldn't login with that though.

 

[Markverhyden]

Powershell and cmd.exe have been disabled but I was able to run tsdiscon.exe.

There's something else going on here. You need to know what version of windows this is. PS and cmd disabled? What message do you get? Did you trying drilling down to the exe files themselves or through the Search tool? Can you access gpedit?

 

[nlinecomputers]

Sounds like you are going to have to kick in the back door into the machine:

Here is a method to access the command line from a bootable Windows CD or USB thumb drive.

Enable Hidden Administrator Account in Windows 10 without Login

If I can't log in to Windows 10, can I enable the hidden administrator account to log in? The answer is Yes. Now this post shows you how to that without hassle.

www.isumsoft.com

If you have PCUNLOCKER you can use it to create and activate an admin level account.

 

[britechguy]

It mystifies me why anyone would configure a machine with a standard account, with "auto log in" enabled, and not have also created an admin account that the standard user would not even know existed.

I have, on a couple of occasions for some of my senior clients (and with their consent), set up their machines with a standard account for their daily use and an admin account that I can log in to whenever I need to do later service on their machines (and for which I do not give them the password, as the purpose in this arrangement would be defeated if they had access to an admin account).

 

[Howie Johnson]

If you have PCUNLOCKER you can use it to create and activate an admin level account.

I didn't know that a boot PE could ADD a user account to an offline system. Good to know

 

[jools]

Thanks for all the advice, I've been busy elsewhere so haven't been able to get back to this problem. Might get some time this week.

 

[HCHTech]

I don't think I would trust the installation at all at this point. Save the data, N&P, restore the data, profit.

 

[Mick]

If it's purely a local account that exists, you can also use NTPassword on it.
PS Meant to add: That will also let you promote the existing user to admin if you want.