[SOLVED] Once again, Microsoft has made a dumb change to their OS

bntheman

Distinguished
Mar 11, 2014
17
0
18,510
I have 2 PC's, both running Windows 10. My first PC, which is able to connect to the internet, is 3 or 4 years old, and my second PC is 4 months old. With my new PC, I just recently moved my original Administrator Account to a new Administrator Account, so I can have the original account to be set as a Standard Account. Let me tell you, this was a huge mistake to do. I thought I would be doing a good thing, as back in the past, it was always recommended not to be logged in as an administrator. It kind of makes sense, since administrators have rights to install software. However, since yesterday, I have been unable to connect to the internet. I am now in the process of trying to fix the internet connection, but I am a huge problem with the Administrator Account. So far, I have tried the following...

I tried logging into my newly created administrator account, but I got an error stating an internet connection is required to log in. WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If the newest OS update requires an internet connection, then how in the hell is it possible that I can connect to my Standard Account without an internet connection??????????? I do not know how this is even possible, but so be it, and I have moved on to my second attempt.
I thought I could work around this problem in safe-mode by holding the shift key and click on restart. After restarting the PC, it booted into the Windows recovery tools, where I could choose "start in safe-mode without network", and "start in safe-mode with network." I first tried "safe-mode without network." The PC had rebooted, and it asked me to choose an administrator account. I had picked the Administrator Account, and then it asked me for the password, but the PC stated that the password is incorrect. Not only did I check my spelling, I had even triple-checked
the spelling and made sure that the online account was not hacked, which everything seemed kosher to me, and I was able to connect to the online account from my older PC.

I then tried booting into safe-mode with network, but this only booted my PC to the login screen, where I could log into either my Standard account or Administrator account. So, I first picked the Administrator account and clicked on sign-in. It told me to wait one moment, but it took more than one minute, and then I got the same f***ing error as when I tried logging in as normal boot. However, oddly again, I was able to log into my Standard account without the internet, which by the way is password protected as well.
That really baffles me, but anywho, I continued to take further actions, by looking for help online. My first findings from other people having the same issue said I should be able to reset the password locally, by clicking on I forget my password. Unless I am blind, I can't it find anywhere on the login screen. Then, I found, another user stating to try turning on Windows 10 system Administrator Account, by doing the following...
1. Log in to your Standard Account, and run cmd as Administrator. I did that and got the User Account Control, but there was no option to enter the Administrator Account password. All I could do is click on NO. So, I tried following the next step anyway, which is to type in the following...
net user "Administrator" /active:yes. However, sure enough, because I did not have elevated rights, I got a system error 5, Access Denied.

I tried doing a system restore, but that wanted me to log in to the Administrator Account as well, but once again it said that the password is incorrect

5. run Windows startup repair. and that needs an administrator and password as well.
... and that is what I did so far. So, I am asking the community at Tomshardware, if it is possible to turn off log in with the internet. I am trying to avoid reinstalling Windows, because I do not want to lose my Standard Account, which has all my pictures and documents and so forth. I was thinking that maybe I can hack my PC since hackers can make fake Administrator accounts, so why can't I, but from what I understand it can only be done with software

So I need your help badly!!!
 
Solution
Having a Standard user as your day to day operation is strongly recommended.
Admin accounts only for admin functions.

But the very first account is of course the Admin, and should have been left like that. Add the Standard person after, and move any data over if needed.

You mentioned a rootkit. How was that resolved?
I'd seriously consider starting over with this system, with a fresh install. Of everything.

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
It seems you've done something badly wrong, probably starting with:
"I just recently moved my original Administrator Account to a new Administrator Account, so I can have the original account to be set as a Standard Account. "


I have local Admin and local Standard users on most of my systems.
As well as a MS attached account, if/when I need to manage the license or interact with the MS store.
 

bntheman

Distinguished
Mar 11, 2014
17
0
18,510
It seems you've done something badly wrong, probably starting with:
"I just recently moved my original Administrator Account to a new Administrator Account, so I can have the original account to be set as a Standard Account. "
huh????Since when????

I have local Admin and local Standard users on most of my systems.
As well as a MS attached account, if/when I need to manage the license or interact with the MS store.
Okay, now you are really confusing me. In the above quote, you just said it was a bad idea, and I should not of done that. So then how in the world are you having both an administrator account and a standard account? Are you saying that I should of left the original account as an administrator, and made a new standard account? If I did that, then it would of defeat the purpose of why I wanted that account to be a standard account, since a few years ago, I got severely slammed with a rootkit. This rootkit attacked all my programs, and the entire user account thanks to Google software, such as Google Earth and their browser. Everyone thinks, that the Google software is safe, but it is not. Maybe this was true when Internet Explorer was the most vulnerable browser, but now a days, it is so easy to be piggy backed by a hacker. All you have to do is think that downloading Google software is a reputable product, and install it on your system, by keep on clicking next, next, next, without reading the instructions, and bam!!! And worst yet, Google spends thousands of dollars to advertise that their Chrome Book is the most safest PC. I have to LMAO at that one until I see pigs start to fly.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
On ALL of my installs:

The initial account is the main Admin.
I then create a Standard user account. This is what I use for every day operation.
There is also a MS account associated, that is ONLY used if I need to interact with MS.
When I want to install something, or access any admin functions....it asks for the Admin password and I input it.

Have been doing this for many many years.

After your rootkit endeavor...did you do a full wipe and reinstall?


"moved my original Administrator Account to a new Administrator Account "
How, exactly?
Why didn't you just create a new Standard user?
 

bntheman

Distinguished
Mar 11, 2014
17
0
18,510
... Have been doing this for many many years.

... Please do not take my comments offensive. I really do believe you, and that is is why I am here. I normally get by with some help from the internet, but I am not very savvy in computers. People have come up to me and say, how did you know how to do that, and I just tell them that I learned it from having the same issue before. So, I usually go with the flow and learn from my mistakes, and some of the words that you are using are still new to me, such as Microsoft Account and Local Account. I thought they are the same thing, No? To me it is just like when a I connect to a network, and Windows asks, "Do you want this network to be discoverable by other PCs and devices? We recommend allowing this at home... yada yada....." This always confuses me, because I need my other pc, which sits roughly 5ft apart, to connect to my network for internet access, but I use a public mobile hotspot for internet. So I am kind of using a home network, but my internet is public. So I usually take a guess, and keep trying until I get connected.

Anywho, I have a new update. Despite that I still have a user account issue, I had discovered that the Administrator account is permanently set to sign in with the Internet only. This really baffles me, as I have never had to sign in that way in any other versions of Microsoft. That's why, in my title, I said Microsoft had made another stupid move. Not everyone will always have an internet connection

I had discovered this issue, after realizing that my older PC is having Network bridge issues, and that is why I could not connect to the internet. So after doing a network repair and made a new network bridge, it was working for the last 2 days, and the internet went down, and all the troubleshooter could tell me was that my network adapters did not have a valid IP address. Now, I do not know what made me to look in the event viewer, but I did, and I discovered that there was a problem with my DHCP client. The errorr I was getting stated....

Your computer was not assigned an address from the network (by the DHCP Server) for the Network Card with network address xxxxxx. The following error occurred: 0x79. Your computer will continue to try and obtain an address on its own from the network address (DHCP) server. I had looked that up, and a few Windows forum users have stated that it sounds like your WMI repository is corrupted. I almost followed through the process of fixing it, but I caught another site stating.. it is best to never have to rebuild the WMI repository, unless you absolutely have to, because you could cause more errors, including the system not being able to access the root folder or something to that statement..,., So I am not sure if I should move this topic to a new topic about internet connection issues. However, I would also like to resolve the original problem that I am facing, which is not being able to sign in to the Administrator account. I am open for suggestions.


"moved my original Administrator Account to a new Administrator Account "
How, exactly?

I will answer this to the best I can, starting from the day I made the new account.
First, I looked at some Youtube videos on adding a new user in Windows 10, and most of them show that you do it by going into settings->Friends and Family->Email and Accounts. From there I clicked on create a new Microsoft Account, and finished the process by following the steps it asked me, and at the end I had a choice to make the new account as an administrator or a standard account. I picked Administrator, and clicked OK. Doing this, now made the PC to initially have 2 Administrator accounts. Then I changed the original administrator account to be standard, by going to Windows+R->typed Control Panel->User Accounts->Change user type-> and then clicked on the original administrator account, which then opened window dialog for me to choose standard account from the drop down list and clicked on OK.

Why didn't you just create a new Standard user?

Because, when I got the new PC for Christmas, I had to follow the steps for the PC to be ready for use, which forced me to run Windows Update before I could use the PC, and I initially forgot that I had to create a standard account. Then by the time I remembered to do this, the original user account had about a GB worth of data and I wanted the data to only be accessible to me, and when I needed to be an administrator, I could access what I wanted with a password. It sounds wasteful, since hackers can still find ways to work around it, but I look at as, it is another step that the hacker has to crack.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Having a Standard user as your day to day operation is strongly recommended.
Admin accounts only for admin functions.

But the very first account is of course the Admin, and should have been left like that. Add the Standard person after, and move any data over if needed.

You mentioned a rootkit. How was that resolved?
I'd seriously consider starting over with this system, with a fresh install. Of everything.
 
Solution

847

Prominent
Sep 15, 2020
40
1
535
I have 2 PC's, both running Windows 10. My first PC, which is able to connect to the internet, is 3 or 4 years old, and my second PC is 4 months old. With my new PC, I just recently moved my original Administrator Account to a new Administrator Account, so I can have the original account to be set as a Standard Account. Let me tell you, this was a huge mistake to do. I thought I would be doing a good thing, as back in the past, it was always recommended not to be logged in as an administrator. It kind of makes sense, since administrators have rights to install software. However, since yesterday, I have been unable to connect to the internet. I am now in the process of trying to fix the internet connection, but I am a huge problem with the Administrator Account. So far, I have tried the following...

I tried logging into my newly created administrator account, but I got an error stating an internet connection is required to log in. WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If the newest OS update requires an internet connection, then how in the hell is it possible that I can connect to my Standard Account without an internet connection??????????? I do not know how this is even possible, but so be it, and I have moved on to my second attempt.
I thought I could work around this problem in safe-mode by holding the shift key and click on restart. After restarting the PC, it booted into the Windows recovery tools, where I could choose "start in safe-mode without network", and "start in safe-mode with network." I first tried "safe-mode without network." The PC had rebooted, and it asked me to choose an administrator account. I had picked the Administrator Account, and then it asked me for the password, but the PC stated that the password is incorrect. Not only did I check my spelling, I had even triple-checked
the spelling and made sure that the online account was not hacked, which everything seemed kosher to me, and I was able to connect to the online account from my older PC.

I then tried booting into safe-mode with network, but this only booted my PC to the login screen, where I could log into either my Standard account or Administrator account. So, I first picked the Administrator account and clicked on sign-in. It told me to wait one moment, but it took more than one minute, and then I got the same f***ing error as when I tried logging in as normal boot. However, oddly again, I was able to log into my Standard account without the internet, which by the way is password protected as well.
That really baffles me, but anywho, I continued to take further actions, by looking for help online. My first findings from other people having the same issue said I should be able to reset the password locally, by clicking on I forget my password. Unless I am blind, I can't it find anywhere on the login screen. Then, I found, another user stating to try turning on Windows 10 system Administrator Account, by doing the following...
1. Log in to your Standard Account, and run cmd as Administrator. I did that and got the User Account Control, but there was no option to enter the Administrator Account password. All I could do is click on NO. So, I tried following the next step anyway, which is to type in the following...
net user "Administrator" /active:yes. However, sure enough, because I did not have elevated rights, I got a system error 5, Access Denied.

I tried doing a system restore, but that wanted me to log in to the Administrator Account as well, but once again it said that the password is incorrect

5. run Windows startup repair. and that needs an administrator and password as well.
... and that is what I did so far. So, I am asking the community at Tomshardware, if it is possible to turn off log in with the internet. I am trying to avoid reinstalling Windows, because I do not want to lose my Standard Account, which has all my pictures and documents and so forth. I was thinking that maybe I can hack my PC since hackers can make fake Administrator accounts, so why can't I, but from what I understand it can only be done with software

So I need your help badly!!!
Backup all your files to an external hard drive, and reinstall windows.
Anyway, you should be doing backups because any storage device can fail.
But since all of your files is on the standard account, if you can't backup ALL your files, you can take out your hard drive on your computer, connect it to your second computer and backup your files like this, then connect the hard drive back to your computer, and reinstall windows.
I am sorry that you're in this situation. Microsoft does make some dumb changes to windows 10. That's why Windows 7 is better, but it ended support last year.