Enable the Built-in Administrator in Windows 10/11 via Windows RE

windows recovery options

There are situations where you’ll need to activate and use the built-in Administrator account in Windows. The built-in Administrator account is disabled by default. If your existing admin user account profile gets corrupted (and you have no alternate user account with admin privileges), you’ll need to enable and use the built-in administrator account to fix things up or create a second administrator account.Read more

Fix: Windows Defaults to Safe Mode, Can’t Boot into Normal Mode

windows 10 defaults to safe mode

The Safe mode is used to troubleshoot problems on your PC. It is a mode wherein Windows starts in a basic state, using a limited set of drivers. For example, if the problem doesn’t happen in safe mode, you’ll know default settings and basic device drivers aren’t causing the issue. Here is how to start Windows in Safe mode.
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Lost Administrator Rights in Windows 10/11? Regain Admin Rights

UAC Yes Button Missing

Summary: This article tells you how to restore your user account’s lost administrator rights and privileges in Windows 10 and 11.

This article discusses the “lost administrator rights” issue caused by tampered user account group membership. Like the ‘lost password’ scenario, losing your account’s administrator rights & privileges is an awkward lock-out situation where the user can’t run anything that requires elevation.

If your user account has lost admin rights, it may have been caused by malware. Or you may have inadvertently set yourself a “Standard User” via Account settings or incorrectly configured the Local Security Policy or user account group membership.

This means you can’t return to the User Account settings page and set yourself as administrator. In such cases, the Yes button in the UAC dialog will be missing or grayed out.

UAC Yes Button Missing

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How to Edit the Registry Offline Using Windows Recovery Environment

windows re bcdedit osdevice

Sometimes, you may need to edit the Windows registry offline to rectify a situation where Windows doesn’t boot after modifying some settings recently. Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) is a handy platform that provides various system recovery options to diagnose and repair an unbootable Windows installation.
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How to Run System File Checker (SFC) Offline in Windows 10/11 & Earlier

The System File Checker (sfc.exe) is a useful tool that lets you scan the integrity of Windows system files and repair corrupt or missing system files. Numerous cases have been resolved by running the sfc.exe /scannow command.

However, there are situations wherein a corrupt or missing system file prevents Windows from booting normally or prevents Command Prompt and console programs like Sfc.exe from being launched. In such cases, Sfc.exe can be run offline via the Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) in all versions of Windows, including Windows 11.Read more