Method 1: Enable Built-in Administrator from Command Prompt

1. Press the Windows key + X to open the Quick Access menu, and then select Command Prompt (Admin). If you’re running Windows 11, choose “Windows Terminal (Admin)” instead.

   

2. In the Command Prompt, type the following command and press Enter.
   net user Administrator /active:yes

   

3. As soon as you execute the command, the super built-in Administrator account is enabled, and you can access it by switching the accounts.

Method 2: Enable Built-in Administrator from Computer Management

1. After opening the File Explorer, right-click on “This PC” (or “This Computer”) on the left navigation pane, and then select Manage.

   

2. When the Computer Management window opens, expand System Tools > Local Users and Groups > Users.

   

3. In right-side pane double-click on Administrator account. It’ll open its Properties window. Uncheck the “Account is disabled” option.

   

   Click Apply and then OK.

Method 3: Enable Built-in Administrator Through Local Security Policy

1. Press Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type secpol.msc and hit Enter.

   

2. When the Local Security Policy window opens, expand Local Policies > Security Options. In right-side pane, double-click on the policy “Accounts: Administrator account status” and set it to Enabled.

   

   Click Apply and then OK.

Note: Local Security Policy Editor is not available on home editions of Windows.

Method 4: Enable Built-in Administrator without Logging In

All the above methods are fairly simple, but they work assuming you can still log on to Windows 10/8 with admin rights. What to do if you’re locked out of your computer? Follow the procedure described below and it allows you to activate the built-in Administrator account without logging in:

1. Boot your problematic computer from Windows installation DVD. Make sure that your PC’s BIOS (UEFI) Setup is configured to boot from a DVD and that UEFI and Secure Boot are disabled.

   

2. After booting into the DVD media, you’ll see the Windows Setup screen.

   

   Just press SHIFT + F10 to open a Command Prompt.

3. In the Command Prompt, type the following commands one by one, press Enter after each. That will make a copy of the utilman.exe file, and then replace utilman.exe with cmd.exe. In most cases, Windows 10 or 8 is located on drive d:\. If that’s not your case, make sure you replace d:\ with the drive letter of the partition where Windows 10/8 is installed.

   copy d:\windows\system32\utilman.exe d:\
copy /y d:\windows\system32\cmd.exe d:\windows\system32\utilman.exe


   

4. Now type wpeutil reboot and hit Enter to reboot your computer. Eject the DVD media and let your computer boot from local hard drive.
5. Wait until Windows boots to the login screen. Click the Ease of Access button in the lower-left corner of your screen.

   

   Since we replaced the utilman.exe with cmd.exe, a Command Prompt should open now.

6. At the Command Prompt, type the following command to activate the built-in Administrator account:
   net user Administrator /active:yes

   

7. Close the Command Prompt and reboot your computer. You can sign in to Windows 10/8 with the newly activated Administrator account.

I have Windows XP Media Center. Unfortunately I disabled the user account (which I think might have been the admin account) for the log on to Windows and can no longer get past the log on screen. Is there anyway to re-enable that account so I can access my computer again?

Have you disabled the Windows administrator account and can’t log on to your computer? Need to enable the the built-in administrator account for troubleshooting purposes? There are many situations that we need to enable or activate Windows administrator account without logging in. Here is an easy fix.

How to Enable or Activate Windows Administrator Account without Logging In?

1. First of all, you need to create a PCUnlocker Boot CD using another computer. Download and install Password Recovery Bundle on the computer. Launch the program and click on “Windows Password” button, it will display a new window which enables you to create a PCUnlocker Boot CD easily.
2. Put the PCUnlocker Boot CD in the optical drive of the locked computer that you’re trying to gain access to. Set your optical drive as the first boot device in BIOS. Start the computer and it will boot from PCUnlocker Boot CD then.
3. After a while, the program inside the Boot CD will launch. It automatically finds all Windows user accounts on your system, and display user account properties for each user: Locked Out, Disabled and Never Expire.
4. Choose your administrator account that is disabled, and then click on “Reset Password” button. The program will enable the administrator account and also remove the password.
5. Restart the computer and remove the PCUnlocker Boot CD. You can then start your computer and log back in to your administrator account with a blank password.

Conclusion

So that is how can you enable / activate Windows administrator account without logging in. It’s very useful when you’re unable to log on your computer, or you can only log in with Guest account but don’t have administrator privileges. If you can log in to Windows with administrator privileges, then you can enable / disable Windows administrator account easily from Command Prompt.

1. Click Start button or Windows key.
2. Right click on Command Prompt and click on Run as administrator.

Type the below command in the Command Prompt:

c:\> net user administrator /active:yes

Log off from that user account or restart the system and now you can see the hidden administrator account in the Windows logon screen. If you want to disable that account just execute this command at the Command Prompt:

c:\> net user administrator /active:no

If you forgot Windows login password on Windows 7/Vista/XP, you can use Password Recovery Bundle to reset lost administrator/user passwords, unlock any Windows account which is disabled or locked out.