Tutorial
Updated
Admin Access on any Windows 7 Machine
This one's an oldie, and if you don't have access to the BIOS for some reason then this is perfect. It takes some time, but yeah.
So the first thing you want to do is get the recovery options menu (see below)
There's multiple ways of doing this, such as force shutting down your PC, pressing CTRL + ALT + DELETE until you get it, or holding down the F8 key during boot.
However you manage to get it, you're gonna want to select "Launch Startup Repair" as shown above.
Wait for it to "search for problems". This'll probably take awhile, so just give it a few minutes.If a popup that says "Do you want to restore your computer using System Restore" comes up, press CANCEL.
Wait for the "Startup Repair cannot repair this computer automatically" popup to show. This is where the fun begins!
Click "view problem details" and scroll to the bottom, where there'll be a link to a text file (should look like "X:\windows\blahblahblah"). Click on it and it'll open up notepad with some useless jabber. You can ignore all of this, it's not important.
Now, go to "File > Open". Now go to the "Computer" tab and navigate to "C:\Windows\" and make sure that the file type is changed from ".txt" to "all files". Next, scroll down and locate "cmd.exe". This is the command prompt, and we need this to give ourselves admin access. Next, make a copy of it (right click > copy, CTRL + C, whatever.) and then right click and paste it. This will make "cmd.exe - Copy".
Now, you're gonna want to find "sethc.exe". This is the program that executes the "Sticky Keys" popup (that annoying program that comes up when you press shift too many times). We're going to replace this with our copy of cmd.exe, so instead of the sticky keys popup, we'll get the Command Prompt. Neat, right? So all you need to do is rename "sethc.exe" to... anything that isn't "sethc.exe".
Once that's all done, go back to the copy of cmd.exe you made. Rename it from "cmd.exe - Copy" to "sethc.exe" (make sure it's "sethc.exe", not "sethc.exe.exe"!)
We're done here! Now close out of everything, click "don't send" and then "finish". Restart your machine into regular windows. If any error recovery prompt comes up, select "Start Windows Normally".
Once you're at the login screen, don't log in. You're going to click shift until the Command Prompt window comes up. Success! If it doesn't come up, you did something wrong. Repeat the steps until you get it.
Now, we enable the default "Administrator" account, giving us admin access. We can do this because at the login screen, we're actually using a user account called "SYSTEM" that has full privileges. This is what's used to log users in and some other stuff. (You can type "explorer.exe" into the command prompt and the start menu will show up. Neat!)
Now, let's set a password for the administrator account. Type "net user Administrator *", and enter your desired password.
Now, chances are if you try logging in with the Administrator account and its new password, it'll probably say "the account has been disabled", so we'll have to re-enable it. Bring up your cmd again, and continue.
To activate it, type "net user Administrator /Active:yes". The account will be activated! You can verify by typing "net user Administrator".
That's it! Now log in and do whatever you want to the computer. I take no responsibility for any damage you do to school/work/public property! Have fun!
TL;DR?
No. Read it.
**EDIT**
If anyone wants I'll make a video on it
So the first thing you want to do is get the recovery options menu (see below)
There's multiple ways of doing this, such as force shutting down your PC, pressing CTRL + ALT + DELETE until you get it, or holding down the F8 key during boot.
However you manage to get it, you're gonna want to select "Launch Startup Repair" as shown above.
Wait for it to "search for problems". This'll probably take awhile, so just give it a few minutes.If a popup that says "Do you want to restore your computer using System Restore" comes up, press CANCEL.
Wait for the "Startup Repair cannot repair this computer automatically" popup to show. This is where the fun begins!
Click "view problem details" and scroll to the bottom, where there'll be a link to a text file (should look like "X:\windows\blahblahblah"). Click on it and it'll open up notepad with some useless jabber. You can ignore all of this, it's not important.
Now, go to "File > Open". Now go to the "Computer" tab and navigate to "C:\Windows\" and make sure that the file type is changed from ".txt" to "all files". Next, scroll down and locate "cmd.exe". This is the command prompt, and we need this to give ourselves admin access. Next, make a copy of it (right click > copy, CTRL + C, whatever.) and then right click and paste it. This will make "cmd.exe - Copy".
Now, you're gonna want to find "sethc.exe". This is the program that executes the "Sticky Keys" popup (that annoying program that comes up when you press shift too many times). We're going to replace this with our copy of cmd.exe, so instead of the sticky keys popup, we'll get the Command Prompt. Neat, right? So all you need to do is rename "sethc.exe" to... anything that isn't "sethc.exe".
Once that's all done, go back to the copy of cmd.exe you made. Rename it from "cmd.exe - Copy" to "sethc.exe" (make sure it's "sethc.exe", not "sethc.exe.exe"!)
We're done here! Now close out of everything, click "don't send" and then "finish". Restart your machine into regular windows. If any error recovery prompt comes up, select "Start Windows Normally".
Once you're at the login screen, don't log in. You're going to click shift until the Command Prompt window comes up. Success! If it doesn't come up, you did something wrong. Repeat the steps until you get it.
Now, we enable the default "Administrator" account, giving us admin access. We can do this because at the login screen, we're actually using a user account called "SYSTEM" that has full privileges. This is what's used to log users in and some other stuff. (You can type "explorer.exe" into the command prompt and the start menu will show up. Neat!)
Now, let's set a password for the administrator account. Type "net user Administrator *", and enter your desired password.
Now, chances are if you try logging in with the Administrator account and its new password, it'll probably say "the account has been disabled", so we'll have to re-enable it. Bring up your cmd again, and continue.
To activate it, type "net user Administrator /Active:yes". The account will be activated! You can verify by typing "net user Administrator".
That's it! Now log in and do whatever you want to the computer. I take no responsibility for any damage you do to school/work/public property! Have fun!
TL;DR?
No. Read it.
**EDIT**
If anyone wants I'll make a video on it
Last edited by ,
