System: Windows Vista x64 Ultimate
So, here's what happened...
I wanted to bypass having to enter a password on the login screen (which I now know is a poor decision anyway)while keeping a password on the account for remote access reason. So I followed a tutorial on how to use: netplwiz.exe or control userpasswords2 to make it happen. I used the latter and it appeared to work, but after logging out as it asked and logging back in I noticed my account was now only a Guest instead of an Admin. I had access to nothing! That was the only active Admin account on the computer. (Which I now know is another bad choice on my part). I guess Vista Ultimate disables the hidden Admin account by default. Guess what, without Admin access, you cannot enable the deactivated Admin account (through CMD prompt) to get your other Admin account back. Now, this is a horribly inconvenient unintentional glitch, I believe. I at no time asked for my account to be downgraded to Guest access, yet it did it automatically when activating a completely different option. There was no disclaimer that this would be the result if you chose that option. As careful as Windows is about you changing major options that might affect your PC negatively, it didn't warn this time. I can't see this being an intentional result. So.... my question is this...
Is there an EASY way to fix it?
I searched the 'net for 2 hours tonight trying to find an answer and either kept finding answers that required Admin access to begin with, or ended in a Microsoft employee saying 'password circumvention is not allowed.' Password circumvention is not the case here... the case is MS Windows did this, now I need a way to fix it.
I am writing this so that others may hopefully find an answer to this in the future, and not have to go through what I did.
I did eventually find a way to get it back, via System Restore with a Recovery Disc, but good luck having that sitting next to you. Here's a user's post to obtain a Recovery Disc if you have to:
"If logged in as an administrator, that box doesn't require a password - you just need to press continue. Something else must be wrong.
Boot to the recovery disk or the Vista Installation Disk and run System Restore from the recovery/repair options there.
If you don't have either disk, you can make a bootable Recovery Disk usinghttp://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/ along with burning software like:http://www.snapfiles.com/get/active-isoburner.html and, of course, a blank CD (perhaps made on a different computer).
I hope that helps.
Good luck!
Lorien - MCSE/MCSA/Network+/A+ --- If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster."
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Anyway, good luck if you find yourself in this situation, and here's to someone suggesting an easier solution (besides never trying what I did in the first place!)
-das8nt
