I have a company laptop (a Lenovo T540) running Windows 10. I am using a domain user to access the computer. That user has administrator privileges. A few days ago, Windows did a Windows Update, rebooted and then failed to start. After the Lenovo splash screen the screen stays black with no further progress.  Holding Shift+F8 during boot shows the Windows 10 recovery menu. However, trying to do any action gives the following error:     You need to sign in as an administrator to continue, but there aren't any administrator accounts on this PC.   Using a recovery USB created from another Windows 10 machine does allow all of the actions from the recovery menu to start, but they all give an error.  At best I would like to use the System Restore to go back to before the Windows Update was installed.  I have some important files still on the drive of the laptop, and would rather not have to do a clean reset of the Windows 10. Is there a way to work around that error?
2759
I accidentally disabled my admin account.  After I login to another account I found I can not get admin rights, because all admin accounts on my computer are disabled.  I clicked on 'run as administrator' but only see a smart card choice (all the admin accounts are disabled so no choice provided)    I don't want to re-install my OS, help!    Details:  I have account A on my computer.    I got a new computer so I want to give the old one to my mother.    Creating a new user account B for her and disable account A.    Logout and restart.    Successfully login B, now I found I could not get admin rights because no account choice is provided.    More informations about my machine:  OS is Windows 10 and my admin account is a Microsoft Account.  I have an arch-linux installed on my computer and dual-boot it using GRUB, so maybe I can not use safe mode.
30714
We've got a Windows 10 installation running in an environment where it can occasionally lose power and restart. However, this sometimes leads to corruption of files.  I've had a look at Windows "To-Go" but this seems to be persistent. And I've also checked out virtualisation, but that would require us to run a non-persistent Windows 10, in another Windows 10 environment.  Is it possible to install Windows 10 as a "non-persistent live CD"? So that a user will have a seemingly fresh Windows 10, but doesn't require to re-install it at each startup?
107485
I have a Lenovo laptop which upgraded from Windows 8.1 Home to Windows 10 Home.  I have a (legitimate) Windows 10 Pro key which I ran through the "Change Product Key" wizard.  After a reboot I get an error which states "We couldn't upgrade your edition" and asks me to try again or seek help from my system administrator (me!) or Microsoft.  There is nothing in the event logs except Info entries in the Setup log stating it failed to change the installed state to Pro Edition with a hex error code (I don't have access to the laptop right now, I will update later with the full log details)  Googling the hex error code led me to a Windows 7 KB Article regarding Windows Update failure due to locked files. The article stepped through using MSCONFIG to perform a clean boot which I did, but still got the error.  Any pointers on how to upgrade this laptop? Or will I have to get the sledgehammer out and do a clean install?
89967
I got a new laptop; it came with an existing Windows installation, but I wanted to migrate my current backup to the new machine. I dd-ed the new machine's partitions to an external drive:  /dev/nvme0n1p1 /dev/nvme0n1p2 /dev/nvme0n1p3 /dev/nvme0n1p4   and afterwards move my current partitions to the new machine. What followed was a medium-sized nightmare. The new machine would boot, but the wireless network drivers were not recognized and later found out (to the best of my knowledge) they couldn't be installed. I tried:   booting from the console and running:  sfc /scannow chkdsk C: /f /r /x   both seemed to have completed successfully, but now the machine would get stuck in a startup repair loop. I tried resetting the machine (whilst keeping my files), but this failed halfway through. now the machine's still stuck in the loop and decided to try and repair it externally using a bootable Windows&nbsp;10 . It's likely that I'll need the new machine's Windows&nbsp;10 key. I'm not sure if it's stored in the BIOS (it came with Windows&nbsp;10  preinstalled) or somewhere on the partitions.   How can I get the key from the partitions (if it's there at all) while booting from a Linux image?
119559
how can I reset a lost administrative password ,considering that Ubuntu and windows7 are both installed on the computer , considering also that "Boot up the machine,and after the BIOS screen, hold down the left Shift key." didn't logged me to any thing, just continue the loading of the system as normal??
88842
I just tried to install some updates for my laptop, and now it is stuck in an automatic repair loop. From what I've been able to find so far in the logs, I believe it is some problem with the registry.  The system restore tells me that there are multiple restore points available, including one it created just before attempting to install the updates. However, it tells me that I can't restore my C: drive because "You must enable system protection on this drive".  Is there a way that I can enable system protection on my drive through the command prompt? Failing that, is there a way to restore just the registry (either manually or automatically)? I've been able to open up regedit, though I have no clue what part of the registry is corrupted.  Update:  Here's the only relevant thing the SrtTrail.txt log has to say about the issue:  Root cause fount: --------------------------- Registry is corrupt.  Repair action: System Restore Result: Failed. Error code = 0x1f Time taken = 588875 ms  Repair action: Registry roll back Result: Failed. Error code = 0x3 Time taken = 0 ms   Update 2:  I booted using the legacy boot and managed to surface a new error:  Realtek PCle FE Family Controller Series v1.27 (10/31/11) PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable    Looks like this is a red herring. This just means that I can't boot from the network.
33791
I'm running Win 7 x86 on a Lenovo Thinkpad Z61m in dual boot mode with Win XP, both OSes are running on separate partitions. I have a faulty battery and if left unplugged my laptop shuts usually down within 10 minutes. Last night, it shut down due to this, but after plugging in AC power and starting back up I'm stuck at the "Starting Windows" screen, I'm unable to boot into safe mode or into recovery mode(XP boots fine).  I believe I had installed some Win 7 updates the same/previous day. From one of the boot options I was able to see that Windows 7 is getting stuck on CLASSPNP.SYS  How can I go about fixing this?  I do have a complete Win 7 Restore CD that I created after setting up my machine, I'm unable to boot into this either.  Please help!
103340
I have just got a new laptop with Microsoft Windows 10. My previous laptop ran Windows 7.  I'm trying to get applications to "run as administrator" by default, so that I'm not constantly having trouble saving/overwriting files, etc. The priority here is to be able to modify my own files on an external hard drive; I wouldn't have expected that I'd have to do anything special to be able to do this. My user account on the laptop is an "Administrator" account, and I have set the User Account Control setting to "Never notify". I thought that this would achieve the effect I want (as also suggested in  in relation to Windows 7).  Here's a screenshot of my setting to disable UAC in Windows 10:   Still, Notepad++ (for one) is not automatically starting with administrative rights. What else do I need to do, or what am I overlooking?  Thanks  PS. I'm aware that what I'm trying to do is a security risk, but that's not the point of this question; whether I should or should not do something is different to whether I can or cannot do something.
38885
When I installed the last Windows update, all seemed fine except it got stuck doing the restart.  I waited about 5 minutes then used the power button.  Startup was normal.    But then when I told it to shut down it closed the programs then went to the "Shutting Down" screen and just stays there.    Disk activity lights aren't showing any activity.  Here is a screen grab of the most recent updates:    Before I do anything I wanted some input.  Question:  Any ideas of how I can figure out how to fix it?
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My account, david, is in the Administrators group on a Windows 7 machine.  I am still having problems with programs that I should be able to use, such as SQL Server. Specifically, my account seems to not have correct permissions when I am working.  I know with an Administrator account I should have full access. How can I force my account (david) to act like an admin account and have full access to everything?
9481
I had problems launching windows 8, every time I start the PC, it hands in the start menu, and I can't do anything (Open desktop or any other application), so I booted in linux, and i cleared the windows 8 registry Rundirectory, and i cleared theC:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu`, well it helped, and i can now open windows, but all the application and tiles in windows start menu, are disappeared, i can't even do a search in the start menu, and i couldn't do a restore cause i had no restore point :(.   any idea how to fix this?
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The Start Menu in Windows 10 is not working anymore.  I click, and simply nothing happens.  I could use Cortana, build 9926, but when I click on the Cortana search bar, nothing happens again.  Do you know a trick to restore the menu?  Is it something to uninstall or to install to have again the menu working?  It's not fun to navigate into Explorer every time I need to launch software!
34593
I have been a Linux user after switching from Windows 98 and never looked back. However, a friend asked me to set up their brand-new Lenovo ThinkPad with Windows 10. I was totally startled at how terrible the out-of-the-box UX is. Adware all over the place and no luck getting rid of it the gentle way.  So, this question is not about removing adware per se, but about getting a clean install of Windows 10 going. The two things I'm hesitant about are:   Where do I get an ISO image for Windows 10? Where do I find the OEM license key? Back in the day they used to put stickers on the machines.
40030
I am having this error for quite a few months. When the problem occurs, my windows freezes at boot time with black screen. After few reset attempts, sometimes it shows the entitled error. after few attempts, the windows starts but everything become slow. If I again restart, it works well. But at a point windows never starts and I have to reinstall it. I have already reinstalled 3/4 times in the past 2/3 months. I checked for any HDD errors with EASEUS Partition Master Home Edition with surface test, chkdisk at boot time etc for my C drive and F drive but no errors found. Startup repair also fails to solve the problem.  Windows Boot Manager   Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause.   To fix the problem:  &nbsp;&nbsp;1. Insert your Windows installation disc and restart your computer.  &nbsp;&nbsp;2. Choose your language settings, and then click "Next." &nbsp;&nbsp;3. Click "repair your computer."  If you don't have this disc, contact your system administrator or computer manufacturer for assistance.   &nbsp;&nbsp;File: \Boot\BCD  &nbsp;&nbsp;Status: 0xc00000e9  My laptop's info:  Model: Dell n5110 corei5 OS: Windows 8 PRO 64 bit Anti-virus:  Avast Home edition  Additional info: My Program Files, Program Files (x86) and Users directory is located at F drive and linked with symbolic link (mklink). Also I have changed these basic locations from regedit. I also use eclipse android intelx86 emulator, virtualbox and Genymotion emulator most often.
28835
What is the best way to access a laptop's hard drive to recover data (assuming there is still intact data) when the OS (Windows XP) won't boot?  EDIT: I've tried booting from a disc, but that failed as well.
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I set up Windows 10 and have been using it for months on a spare laptop.  When installing, I did not use a Microsoft account to enable all of the app connectivity because I don't need that functionality.  I do not want these features active on this device, and I used a simple user name during the install.  Everything was going fine until I read about the Linux/bash features that are available in the anniversary update.  I decided to try them out and entered my Microsoft Insider credentials to enable the features in the developer options of the Control Panel.  I didn't realize the primary account on this device would now become linked to that Microsoft account.  Is there a simple way to disassociate the Microsoft account from the local account, or are they now linked forever in an unholy union?  I can set up a new local account, but I'd rather not lose all the settings and folder preferences prior to my gaffe.
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I have Windows 8 Enterprise x64. It's installed a virtual machine. After trying to update VMWare's guest extension it black screened. After resetting it, now the virtual machine won't boot. It just says "automatic repair couldn't repair your PC"   Everything I do ends with an error or it coming back to this screen. If I go to Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Start up settings and then go to Safe Mode, all it will do is say "preparing automatic repair" and then "diagnosing your PC" and then will come straight back to the "automatic repair couldn't repair your PC" screen. It's as if it doesn't even attempt to go into safe made.   Is there anything else I can do before I reformat?