How does a home user become an administrator?

Pablo56 · 2026-10-27T09:47:10-0400

Stupid question but when I try to open C:\programfiles\windowsapps, I need to get an administrator. How stupid is this? Why can I not teach windows 10 that I am the administrator?

I should be able to set my windows as administrator not each individual file or folder.

Brink · 2026-10-27T09:49:42-0400

Hello mate,

"C:\programfiles\windowsapps" is a protected system folder, so it won't let you access it by default. Even as administrator.

You'll need to change the owner of the "WindowsApps" folder to "Administrators" first, and then set permissions of the "WindowsApps" folder to "Allow" "Full control" for "Administrators". Afterwards, you'll have to click/tap on "Continue" when you open the folder to then be allowed.

Change Owner of File, Folder, Drive, or Registry Key in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you different ways to change the owner of a file, folder, drive, or registry key in Windows 10 and Windows 11. You can set permissions for registry keys, and files and folders on NTFS and ReFS volumes. These permission allow or deny access to the files, folders, drives...

www.elevenforum.com

Change Permissions of File, Folder, Drive, or Registry Key in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you different ways to change the permissions of a file, folder, drive, or registry key for specific users and groups in Windows 10 and Windows 11. You can set permissions for registry keys, and files and folders on NTFS and ReFS volumes. These permissions allow or deny...

www.elevenforum.com

From:

How does a home user become an administrator?

Stupid question but when I try to open C:\programfiles\windowsapps, I need to get an administrator. How stupid is this? Why can I not teach windows 10 that I am the administrator?

www.tenforums.com

Pablo56 · 2026-10-27T09:56:34-0400

This is not helping your links just tell me that even an adminstrator can not access this file. I have a W10 laptop and I installed Mahjong. I wand to get to the folder where these scores are held. The problem is on my windows 11 I have a high score but on my laptop W10 i am at zero. If I could copy the scores acroo it should work.
On W11 it is stored @ C:\Users\Paul\AppData\Local\Packages

But it seems that W10 has stored it somewhere els. Possibly C:\programFiles\WindowsApps

Brink · 2026-10-27T10:05:24-0400

I doubt the scores will be saved to "C:\ProgramFiles\WindowsApps". This is just where the installed Microsoft Store app packages are stored at.

Normally, app data is saved in the profile folder of the account like in your W11 example.

Hopefully someone will know more for the Mahjong app, and post.

Pablo56 · 2026-10-27T10:13:15-0400

Well I have tried windows 10 forum and nobody knows.

Microsoft Mahjong

Hi. I have a large score on Microsoft Mahjong on my windows 11 PC. But when I installed it on my W10 laptop I had to start from zero. My score is not kept with Microsoft, As I have the same account on both, I would have thought so. I found that my score on W11 is stored in...

www.tenforums.com

This i what I see in W11

AmericanPharaoh · 2026-10-27T10:31:57-0400

Hi Pablo,
Brink is 100% correct. The WindowsApps folder only holds program files, never your save data or high scores.
Windows 10 and Windows 11 actually store app data in the exact same place. The reason you can't find it on Windows 10 is because the folder is hidden by default.
Here is how to get your scores over:

Show Hidden Files: On your W10 laptop, open File Explorer, click the View tab at the top, and check the box for Hidden items.
Find the Folder: Now navigate to C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Local\Packages\
Copy the Save: Look for a folder starting with "Microsoft.MicrosoftMahjong". Open it, look for the LocalState folder inside, and copy its contents from your W11 PC to your W10 laptop.

Alternative: If you just log into the Mahjong app with the same Microsoft/Xbox account on both devices, your high scores and progress should automatically sync over the cloud without needing to copy any files manually.

KevTech · 2026-10-27T10:49:32-0400

Pablo56 said:
I wand to get to the folder where these scores are held.

Saves should be here:

C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftMahjong_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState

Try3 · 2026-10-27T11:16:46-0400

Before replying, see Bree's post #10.
This OP has not installed the MS app he is asking about but a third-party one with a similar name.

As for the elevation issues raised, I suggest the OP starts by studying How to Determine if Users are an Administrator or Standard User - TenForumsTutorials [including its explanatory opening paragraphs].
- This subject is essentially the same in both Windows 10 & Windows 11. How to Determine if Users are an Administrator or Standard User - ElevenForumTutorials

Denis

Bree · 2026-10-27T11:42:06-0400

Try3 said:
As for the elevation issues raised.....

As for the elevation issues, I side-step them whenever I want to look inside a protected folder. If you run TreeSize Free as an administrator it can see everything without changing any permissions.....

cereberus · 2026-10-27T11:52:25-0400

Bree said:
As for the elevation issues, I side-step them whenever I want to look inside a protected folder. If you run TreeSize Free as an administrator it can see everything without changing any permissions.....

View attachment 187935

Yep I do the same but never worked out how treesize seems to bypass standard permissions.

As an aside some have literally answered how to change permissions WITHOUT warning OP to make a full image backup first.

Changing permissions on system folders is generally a REALLY BAD idea. It is too easy to irrevocably break windows and often ending up with only option to reinstall from scratch (hence why you should make an image backup first).

I messed around some virtual machines changing permissions (experimenting) and I soon learnt the best advice is "DON'T".

Bree · 2026-10-27T12:07:51-0400

cereberus said:
Yep I do the same but never worked out how treesize seems to bypass standard permissions.

Apparently TreeSize reads the data through the NTFS backup API.

Access Control Lists
The way users can access files and folders can be restricted. One can grant or deny other users or groups certain rights like reading, writing, executing or deleting. That way one can even deny administrators to access files and folders.

If an administrator tries to access a folder in the Windows Explorer to which the owner denied any other users reading access, an “Access Denied” error message will be displayed.

However, TreeSize is able to scan such folders, if you are logged in as administrator or as a user that has the right to perform backups (This option can be changed at “Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy” and with the user editor of Windows).

Notes on NTFS - TreeSize

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