Discussion Dell OptiPlex 5060 - cannot access Device Manager, boot menu, etc "Blocked by an administrator"

[Kurt Ensam]

I am helping my buddy sort his Dell OptiPlex 5060 SFF which was purchased from "Dell Financial Services" in the UK, as a refurbished machine. The problems are that: it was an ex-employee/Enterprise machine, I believe the Windows licence has expired, so Windows tries to update, but now updates are no longer possible and the error message 0x8000ffff is produced.
It is also not possible to access: Device Manager, Disk Management, Computer Management, etc, from the Windows menu from clicking at the bottom left of the desktop due to them being "Blocked by an Administrator".

So I tried to do a clean install with a Windows 10 USB stick, and the boot menu order options have been disabled too, so it won't boot from USB.

Windows has also gone very slow, and it is like using a PC from 25 years ago, it's that slow to do anything!

Full virus and malware checks have been conducted, and the only things on the system are what it came pre-loaded with, i.e. bare bones Windows 10 Pro, apart from Firefox browser.

So it's possible to install software, including "As Administrator", but Dell have put a "security lock" on this pre-built Enterprise system.

Therefore, could someone please tell me how to dis-activate these 'security measures', which were clearly put on the system to "stop employees in a company messing with the PC", whereas now it is in a standard consumer's hands, who cannot use the machine as intended.

Many thanks and best regards,
Kurt

 

[bignastyid]

You'll need to contact Dell. Forum rules prohibit assisting with the bypassing of security measures.