Elevated Command non-functioning

My win 11 Pro (Version 25H2 os build 26200.7628) will not properly elevate rights (ex: run as administrator), Windows will NOT display a UAC prompt for the standard user to enter the password of an administrator account for approval and confirmation before allowing the action. If signed in as Administrator by default, the built-in Administrator account will not be prompted by UAC and assigns a lower level prompt without Admin rights.

In a similar manner PowerShell will not elevate to admin privileges. The only way to get a command prompt is to do a Cntrl + Alt + Del to bring up the Task Manager and click on Run New Task then type in the command needed and click the box ‘Create this task with admin privileges.

Here are the issues that have been noted for years about PC 9-5900. Access to windows privileges seemed lacking. Recent evaluations have revealed that the Windows Operating System appears to be incorrectly installed or otherwise corrupted beyond MS tools available to the end user.

This PC was built approximately Jun 2020 with Windows 10 installed (Best Buy Microsoft Windows 10 purchase 6/12/2020)

It was upgraded to Windows 11 during the grace period as Microsoft moved to a newer OS (win 11) so it became Home version Windows 11 shortly after the win 10 installation.

The PC was upgraded to Windows 11 PRO on or about 5/18/2024 with a purchase from the Microsoft Store for $107.17 in hopes this would reconcile issues with the PC. (It did not)

While the Best Buy purchase was retail the Windows 11 Pro upgrade was with the Microsoft store. The (personal email account info) account is where the resident bill of sale is located for the Pro upgrade. I have license keys for both the original software Windows 10 and Windows 11 Pro upgrade. NO hardware changes have occurred since building the machine in 2020. (SAME motherboard and SSD drive)

Review of membership of accounts reveal that rhstu account supposedly has Administrator rights (it is listed as administrator) but again will not enter into a command prompt with administrative rights. Also (wife’s Personal email account) is also on the PC with Admin privileges however it too does not respond with admin rights.

The symptoms include no Administrator Command Prompt. In fact, when requesting the Administrator privileges to elevate the UAC (User Account Control) does not even report an error or a message such as ‘access denied’. Furthermore, access to PowerShell and other administrative rights are also affected.

Incidentally the UAC under Settings is set to the second bar down (not extreme max top bar).

Admin Privileges can be attained ONLY by going to the Task Manager and creating a NEW TASK with Administrative privileges. Which was attempted without success to make changes or fix code.

The following attempts to remedy the situation have been unsuccessfully tried and failed.

Sfc /scannow

Dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

The LOG file for the DISM command shows errors early on it the log (Don’t know what they mean)

Attempts to alter via RegEdit the HKEY_Local_Machine Windows\system32\config\SAM\domain\accounts\users\0000001F4 fails to set the value to 11 to 10 (access denied)

Attempting to create a new admin user fails from the elevated command prompt also.

Mounted ISO Win 11 USB from Microsoft and attempted reinstall of the OS from the MS Site. This too failed to remedy the situation.



NOTE: I’m self-taught on Microsoft Windows and do NOT profess high levels of intimate knowledge therefore my observations noted previously may be flawed.

Welcome

Check all is well:


Other related ElevenForum Tutorials:

• Enable or Disable Administrator Protection for Admin Approval Mode in Windows 11
• Enable or Disable Enhanced Sign-in Security in Windows 11
• Enable or Disable UAC for Built-in Administrator in Windows 11
• Change UAC Behavior for Standard Users in Windows 11
• Change UAC Behavior for Administrators in Windows 11
• Enable or Disable Show Administrators in UAC prompt for Standard Users in Windows 11
• Run as administrator in Windows 11
• Check if App or Process is Running as Administrator (elevated) in Windows 11
• Create Elevated Shortcut without UAC prompt in Windows 11
• Enable or Disable Mapped Drives Available in Elevated Command Prompt in Windows 11

You could try a repair install in-place upgrade, keeping your stuff.

Please run Tuneup_plus_log.bat > post a share link (drop box, google dive, Gofile - Cloud Storage Made Simple)

rhstubby said:

If signed in as Administrator by default, the built-in Administrator account will not be prompted by UAC and assigns a lower level prompt without Admin rights.

Click to expand...

If your Built-in Admin [username Administrator] is corrupt then you will not be able to fix the fault. You will have to reinstall Windows.
Backup your own files to an external disk first.
Download Windows 11 ISO file - ElevenForumTutorials
Create Windows 11 Bootable USB Installation Media - ElevenForumTutorials
Clean Install Windows 11 - ElevenForumTutorials

And, afterwards, leave the Built-in Admin [username Administrator] disabled as it is intended to be.

Consider creating spare, Admin, password-protected local accounts ready for any future troubleshooting:-
my ditty - Create two spare local, password-protected Admin accounts [post #2] in Windows 10, 11 - TenForums


Best of luck,
Denis

I've conducted (antspants) and verified the Register on option 2 to run scripts on the UAC activities. Each aligned with the outcome expected. I've conducted an ISO install which was a second suggestion both of these seem not to work unless I'm missing something. I'll try the supplemental log data collection in the next suggestion to see if more details can be revealed on this issue. (Try 3 advises) as Administrator by default, the built-in Administrator account will not be prompted by UAC and assigns a lower level prompt without Admin rights. however I can only execute a local user command prompt (UNLESS I go to task manager and get an elevated command there).
Zookbook your up on deck! Will read and execute this next.

rhstubby said:

assigns a lower level prompt without Admin rights

Click to expand...

I take this to mean that, despite being logged into the Built-in Admin [username Administrator], you cannot run, for example, dism without getting error 740.



Denis

try3: I can run DISM and SFC from my Task Manager [elevated] Command Prompt without error however as administrator I cannot get an Admin Prompt from the search bar (requiring additional prompt to "Run as Admin". My PC just ignores any mouse click on the 'run as administrator'. I get NO user messaging that implies it is accepted or rejected just no response at all. That's when I turn to the Task Manager for an elevated command.
Zbook: I ran the script Tunup_Bat_Log.bat; it executed went through perhaps 1500 or so files then quite. Screen went away as if it encountered a problem and aborted. Not sure if there's a path to where any logs could be stored but I'm at a loss here? Do I try it again or wait for a path to evaluate what went wrong with the batch file??
By the way: I do appreciate all of you for trying to solve this mystery.

rhstubby said:

I can run DISM and SFC from my Task Manager [elevated] Command Prompt

Click to expand...

I was just checking that I had understood what you had posted.
If you just open Terminal
wt.exe
and get to its Command prompt mode [such as by just entering cmd in it]
then enter
dism
you will get error 740 [assuming I have understood your posts correctly].


Denis

try3: Yes that is correct my path clearly implies I'm at the 'User Level' because it does not say System32 it is my rhstu

Now if I go to the Taskmanager and seek a PowerShell with admin it's OK

I asked how it behaved while you were logged into the Built-in Admin

Try3 said:

Built-in Admin [username Administrator], you cannot run, for example, dism without getting error 740.

Click to expand...

It is this account's problems that make me think a clean install is the only solution and that's why I thought it worth asking you to do that dism test while logged into it.


Denis

Try3: Do you mean a clean install: i.e., reformat the SSD, then reinstall win 11 Pro? That's what I has hoping to avoid. That's why I did and ISO install over the old Win 11 Pro. Is there any other choice to this sort of issue. Reset attributes or something like that?

rhstubby said:

That's why I did and ISO install over the old Win 11 Pro

Click to expand...

That Repair install requires elevation.
I've never tried it but I do wonder if you might be able to run it elevated using that Task mgr trick you've been using.
i.e. Task mgr, Processes, Run new task, Create the new task with Admin privileges, enter cmd, enter [... whatever the path is to the mounted/extracted ISO file's setup.exe]\setup.exe
There is no particular reason to think a Repair install will solve the problem because Repair installs do not alter user accounts
but
perhaps your user accounts are actually OK and the problem is caused by some Windows component that they are calling up when you try to elevate.
So I think it would be a long shot but your Task mgr trick might get it to run elevated.

rhstubby said:

Do you mean a clean install

Click to expand...

If the Repair install attempt fails to fix the problem,
and
if you do that test of the Built-in Admin [username Administrator] & get an error,
then
I do not think there is any option but a Clean install.


Best of luck,
Denis

You can also try resetting local security policy.

P.S.

I've just been able to get a Repair install to start running using your Task mgr trick.

Please don't forget that it does not fix user accounts themselves but it does fix Windows components.


Denis

Hey Detectives:
I found this on-line:

May I use an elevated commands to mount a Windows 11 ISO and initiate a reinstallation. I think this process is often called a "repair install" or "in-place upgrade." (But with admin privileges)

1. Open an Elevated Command Prompt

To run administrative commands, you must first open the Command Prompt with elevated privileges:

Open the Start menu, type cmd, right-click on Command Prompt, and select Run as administrator.

Alternatively, press Win + R, type cmd, and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter.

2. Mount the Windows 11 ISO

If you have a Windows 11 ISO file, use PowerShell commands from within your elevated prompt to mount it:

In the elevated Command Prompt, type powershell and press Enter.

Run the following command to mount the ISO (replace the path with your actual file path):

Mount-DiskImage -ImagePath "C:\Path\To\Windows11.iso".

Note the drive letter assigned to the newly mounted image (e.g., D: or E:).

3. Reinstall Windows 11 via Command Line

Once the ISO is mounted, you can start the reinstallation process using the setup.exe file located on the mounted drive:

For a standard reinstallation (preserves files and apps):

Run the following command (replace D: with your mounted drive letter):

D:\setup.exe /auto upgrade.

For a "Silent" repair install:

Start-Process -FilePath "D:\setup.exe" -ArgumentList "/auto upgrade /quiet /noreboot" -Wait.

rhstubby said:

I found this on-line

Click to expand...

You cannot elevate it the normal way.

1 You mount the ISO by double-clicking on it. Then you'll see it 'mounts' as a virtual disk drive and you'll see its drive letter & its setup.exe file.
You do not need elevation to mount the ISO file; you just do that in File explorer as a standard user.

2 Then use the Task mgr trick to run its setup.exe elevated as I've just done [my post #15].

It's all menu-driven from then on but if you want to check details of the procedure from that point onwards, use the forum tutorial - Option 2 Steps 1,2,4 & onwards
Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade - ElevenForumTutorials


Best of luck,
Denis

1) Had you run a defender or third party AV scan?



2) What happened with the script in post #4

(please post images or share links displaying error messages or codes)



3) See if you can or cannot enter safe mode:




4) See if you can or cannot enter command prompt at boot:




5) See if you can or cannot enter Windows RE:




6) If Windows RE opens:


a) attempt a system restore to the oldest system restore point:




b) attempt a startup repair:

Have you mounted the ISO & started the Repair install yet?


Denis