How to Enable an Administrator Account in Windows 8

You’ll first need to open an elevated command prompt in Windows 8. This will allow you to open up a command prompt as an administrator, even if you’re not logged in as one. Let’s walk through the process step-by-step.

1. While logged in to either the Windows 8 Start Screen or the traditional desktop, use theWindows Key + X keyboard shortcut to open up the Windows 8 Quick Access Menu.

2. Select Command Prompt (Admin).

Figure 1: The Windows 8 Quick Access Menu, activated by using Windows Key + X

3. Depending on your UAC settings for Windows 8, you may get a user access control dialog box like the one shown below in Figure 2. Click Yes if the prompt appears.

Figure 2: Windows 8 User Account Control window

4. Type lusrmgr.msc in the newly-opened command prompt window and press Enter.

Figure 3: The Windows 8 command prompt

5. A window entitled lusrmgr – [Local Users and Groups (Local)] opens. Open the Users folder, and you’ll see a list of all the local users on the current PC. Right-click on the Administrator account and choose Set Password.

6. In the "Set Password for Administrator" Window click Proceed.

Figure 3a: The Local Users and Groups (Local) window

7. Enter the new password and confirm it, then click OK.

Figure 3b: The Windows 8 Set Password for Administrator window

8. Now right-click on the "Administrator" entry and then select Properties.

Figure 4: Selecting Administrator properties

9. In the "Administrator Properties" window that opens, make sure that the "Account is disabled" checkbox is unchecked. Then click OK.

Figure 5: Enabling the Administrator account

The Administrator account should now be activated and ready to use!