Administrator Login in Windows 7 or Windows Vista

This page provides a tip on logging in using the Administrator account in Windows 7 or Windows Vista. Manifold is proud to support Windows 7 and Windows Vista and strongly recommends use of Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 operating systems. These systems are superb operating systems, but they do have a few quirks. This page discusses one of them, Microsoft's hiding of the true Administrator login in some cases.

When working with Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP or Windows 2000 you must have true Administrator privileges to either install or activate Manifold. Windows editions other than Windows 7 or Vista make that relatively easy, but some Windows 7 or Vista installations, such as Home editions, will conceal the true Administrator account. We suppose Microsoft is trying to prevent inexperienced users from hurting themselves: if you know enough about Windows to find and turn on the real Administrator account you probably know enough not to hurt yourself.

Users working with Microsoft Windows 7 or Vista are sometimes surprised to encounter a Manifold error message during installation or other operations that advises them the login they are using does not have Administrator rights. Some users become indignant when they see this message, because they mistakenly think that if a login is a member of the administrators group it has the same administrative rights as the actual Administrator. That is not the case, as Windows 7 or Vista does not automatically grant the same rights to members of the administrators group that the actual Administrator login has.

A Quick Shortcut

You must have true Administrator rights to install or activate Manifold. Some versions of Windows 7 or Vista make it difficult for users to login with true Administrator rights. However, that can be bypassed sometimes by running programs using a "Run as Administrator" option. Here is a shortcut that works in most cases.

To install Manifold: Right-click on the Manifold .msi installation file and choose "Run as Administrator."

For example, suppose after downloading Manifold from the Product Downloads page and unzipping the zip file you have an installation file called manifold-8.0.12.msi. [Note that depending upon your Windows Explorer settings Vista may or may not show you the three letter ".msi" extension.] With your mouse, right click onto the manifold-8.0.12.msi file and choose Run as Administrator from the context menu that pops up. This will cause the Manifold installation to be run with true Administrator privileges.

To activate Manifold: Launch Manifold by right clicking on the Manifold System icon and choosing "Run as Administrator."

Suppose you have installed Manifold by using the shortcut above. Now it's time to launch Manifold with true Administrator privileges so you can provide your serial number and, optionally, activate the installation. The default Manifold installation places a Manifold program icon on your desktop. With your mouse, right click onto the Manifold program icon and choose Run as Administrator from the context menu that pops up. This will launch Manifold with true Administrator privileges. The Activation dialog will pop open and you can now add a serial number and optionally get an Activation key and activate Manifold with true Administrator privileges.

Very important: If your Windows 7 or Vista system has been altered from defaults, the above shortcuts might not work. In that case you'll have to use the full procedure as given below.

Very important: If any Manifold installation or activation dialog tells you that you do not have Administrator rights, DO NOT IGNORE that message. Manifold is telling you the truth. If a careful re-reading of this page does not solve the problem, do not persist. Get free help with Activation from Manifold's tech support staff. See the Activation Guide to start that process.

Logging in as Administrator: the Full Procedure for Windows 7

The most certain way to assure you have full Administrator rights in Windows 7 is to login using the actual Administrator account to either install or activate Manifold. This account is different from the accounts displayed as having the "Administrator" role in the User Accounts applet in Control Panel. You must login as the actual Administrator account to have true Administrator privileges in Windows 7. No other method will be supported by Manifold tech support.

Some Windows 7 installations will probably have the Administrator account turned off ("disabled"). If so, it is easy to turn the true Administrator account on with the following procedure. There is one procedure that uses dialogs and is good for most Windows 7 editions (but not Home Premium, which does not have the required snap in installed) and there is a second procedure that uses the command prompt and works with almost all Windows 7 editions.

Using dialogs:

Open the Control Panel.
Open the Administrative Tools folder.
Open the Computer Management applet.
In the applet, double click on System Tools to expand that heading.
In the applet, double click on Local Users and Groups to expand that heading.
In the applet, click on Users to see all users.
Right click on the Administrator user and choose Properties.
In the Administrator Properties dialog that pops open, uncheck the Account is disabled checkbox and then press OK.
Close the Computer Management applet.
Log off whatever account you were using.
There will now be an Administrator account enabled that you can log into.
Log in as the Administrator to install and to activate Manifold.
Important: If you leave the Administrator account enabled, give it a password.

Using the Command Prompt window:

Click Start, All Programs, Accessories and then right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
In the opened command prompt window, type net user administrator /active:yes and click Enter, then log off.
There will now be an Administrator account enabled.
Log in as the Administrator to install and to activate Manifold.
Important: If you leave the Administrator account enabled, give it a password.

Yes, the above is a hassle. It is especially annoying that the procedure to do exactly the same thing is different in Windows 7, Vista, and prior versions of Windows.

Logging in as Administrator: the Full Procedure for Vista

The most certain way to assure you have full Administrator rights in Windows Vista is to login using the actual Administrator account to either install or activate Manifold. This account is different from the accounts displayed as having the "Administrator" role in the User Accounts applet in Control Panel. You must login as the actual Administrator account to have true Administrator privileges in Windows Vista. No other method will be supported by Manifold tech support.

Some Windows Vista installations may have the Administrator account turned off. If so, it is easy to turn the true Administrator account on. To do so, open the Control Panel and open the User Accounts applet. If you do not see any accounts named Administrator, this account is disabled. To enable the Administrator account, do the following:

Click Start, type cmd into the search pane, wait until the system displays the cmd.exe item at the top.
Right click the item and choose Run as administrator.
In the opened command prompt window, type net user administrator /active:yes and click Enter, then log off.
There will now be an Administrator account enabled.
Log in as the Administrator to install and to activate Manifold.
Important: If you leave the Administrator account enabled, give it a password.

Use Microsoft Resources to get Help with Microsoft Programs

Important: Your authoritative technical resources for Microsoft products are Microsoft documentation and technical support services. This page provides advice that has helped many Manifold users with typical Windows 7 or Vista installations. Your particular Windows 7 or Vista installation may be different. If so, please consult your Microsoft tech support resources for assistance.

Administrator Login in Windows 7 or Windows Vista

A Quick Shortcut

Logging in as Administrator: the Full Procedure for Windows 7

Logging in as Administrator: the Full Procedure for Vista

Use Microsoft Resources to get Help with Microsoft Programs

Other Manifold Links