Admin Account Locked Out in Win XP

[koppsh]

First time posting...I have a big problem. I tweaked a couple of user rights assignments and thought the tweaks were innocuous therefore I didn't write down what I changed. My admin account is now hosed. Here are the symptoms:

1) The taskbar at the bottom of the screen is gone
2) When I do a Ctrl-Alt-Del and click on the User tab, no user is listed as being logged on
3) My network connections are all gone and I can't re-establish them
4) I get an "ICS" error message when trying to access the Windows Firewall
5) I am unable to modify and settings within Local Security Policy, Computer Management, etc. When I double click or right click - Properties, nothing happens.

My limited user accounts seem are experiencing all of the above (some of which is normal, since they are limited user accounts) except #1. They still have the taskbar but obviously I can't make changes to settings from a limited user account.

I remember that I removed the right for anyone to log in through terminal services and also disabled remote desktop and remote assistance. I am pretty sure I removed the Admin group from a user right it needs and that is where my problem is. However, the exact right and how to restore is what I don't know. Help ?!?!?!?

[koppsh]

I should also state that when I open a cmd prompt I am logged on as:
C:\Documents and Settings\Admin

Even though I have disabled the admin account, renamed it, and created a different (named) admin account. The system doesn't recognize the account I created for admin and even though I authenticate as that user via password, I am being logged in as the user Admin, which is disabled. Confused?? Me too. Any help/insight would be immensely appreciated. Thanks.

[Lillebror]

This is a very unusual problem I've ever heard. Restoring the admin options can be done only through a member of admin group. If no other member created as admin can be logged in as you said, its seems like almost impossible to restore the admin options.

Which OS are you using? Have you tried extending the limited user rights to admin user?

[Dr. V]

Yes, try extending limited user rights to admin users. It seems that new users created will not solve your problem. Since those users were already present before the problem started, they will get the admin rights that might accessible.

Also try all these things through Safe Mode.

[koppsh]

Thanks for responding. I am using XP. How do I get into safe mode? Could you explain with a little more detail what you mean by extending limited user rights? Thanks.

[Lillebror]

Extending user rights means adding the existing user to admin group. You can do it easily. In XP, go to control panel -> User accounts. Then select 1 of the existing user and select the option "change account type". In that, make it an administrator. Then see if that user can access the admin options.

I hope u got it

[Calvin K]

I am using XP. How do I get into safe mode?

To go into safe mode, keep pressing F8 till a window with various options appear. In that you will find 'Safe Mode' option. Select it and it loads a strange looking Windows desktop with the words Safe Mode in the four corners. Then log in through the same way with same users as in normal mode.

[Yogesh]

Safe Mode is a special way for Windows to load when there is a system-critical problem that interferes with the normal operation of Windows. The purpose of Safe Mode is to allow you to troubleshoot Windows and try to determine what is causing it to not function correctly. Once you have corrected the problem, then you can reboot and Windows will load normally.

There are several things that happen when Windows boots in Safe Mode that differ from a standard boot:

• Safe Mode does not run the autoexec.bat or config.sys files.
  
  
• Most device drivers are not loaded. A device driver is the software that Windows uses to interact with a piece of hardware, such as a printer or scanner.
  
  
• Instead of the normal graphics device driver, Safe Mode uses standard VGA graphics mode. This mode is supported by all Windows-compatible video cards.
  
  
• Himem.sys, which is normally loaded as part of the config.sys script, is loaded with the /testmem:on switch. This switch tells the computer to test the extended memory before continuing.
  
  
• Safe Mode checks the msdos.sys file for information on where to find the rest of the Windows files. If it finds the files, it proceeds to load Windows in Safe Mode with the command win /d:m. If it does not find the Windows files, it will run command.com to bring up a C: prompt.
  
  
• Windows boots using a batch file called system.cb instead of the standard system.ini file. This file loads the Virtual Device Drivers (VxDs) that Windows uses to communicate with the standard parts of the computer.
  
  
• Windows now loads the regular system.ini file plus win.ini and Registry settings. It skips the [Boot] (except for the shell and device lines) and [386Enh] sections of system.ini and does not load or run any programs listed in win.ini.
  
  
• The Windows desktop loads up in 16 colors and at a resolution of 640 x 480 with the words "Safe Mode" in each corner.

Safe Mode starts up automatically if Windows does not boot on the previous attempt. You can also invoke Safe Mode by pressing F5 or by pressing F8 and selecting it from the boot menu.

Almost all of the drivers are off in Safe Mode. So many of the problems, which cannot be solved through normal mode, can be solved through safe mode.