M
MikeWalter1
Windows10 pro x64, 10.0.18363.1440
After a horrible BSOD event ("Microcode revision mismatch" x017E, at every boot) I could revitalize my Win10 by a boot partition fix (via a special repair tool I had to buy). All other methods to access Windows, or the MS recovery/restore points failed utterly.
A clean reinstall was out of question due to the large setup, many tools and own programs I use, old database software, Visual Studio etc.. The Win10 Pro x64 installation was running troublefree since 2019, the hardware (RAM, SSD, CPU etc) are tested and OK.
But now my revived Windows is no longer the same. Despite my profile being listed as Admin (I am the only user) I seem to have lost a lot of my administrative rights, cannot even start Defender (which was working up to the day of the crash).
Among the most obvious symptoms and changes I see these are the most peculiar ones:
- in MSCONFIG's Services pane I can not right click on any service! I can change the checkmarks, but not the service settings; this happens in SAFE MODE as well as far as I recall.
- during updates/reboots I see a message that this is done in a 'organizational environment', It looks like my Window runs in a corporate IT management state now, giving me the rights of an 'office secretary'
- I get UAC messages when starting any program; I do not see the 'Admin' warning when trying to run apps elevated
- many System Settings, especially in Security areas are grayed or locked
- I can not see (most likely) existing restore points, registry backups, also all my Windows Updates since years are NOT listed
- the last Update Search (24h ago) found only 6 needed ones; one failed: Defender KB2267602 (Version 1.333.941.0) – error 0x800706432
- Defender Firewall IS UP, but Defender virus check is shown DOWN and can neither be started nor updated, no other virus software is on board; forcing it to start through Task Manager (I CAN access it through a servicehost!) throws error 1392
- SmartScreen.exe (isn't this Defender??) IS RUNNING; I checked its revision and it is recent 18362.1411 and legitimate.
As a lot of these symptoms indicate viral infection I checked for malware, viruses, root kits, even from outside Windows by special scan tools; the system is clean as a whistle. Also the last Defender scan was error free the day before the system crashed.
Very, VERY frustrating. I hardly ever ask for help, but this one is way above my debug skill level.
What is going on with my Windows?
How do I restore my Admin rights if I have none (=a vicious circle)?
How do I gain full control over settings, security methods, services again? Without a real Defender my barn doors are open..
Where to start and how to progress?
Thank you!
Continue reading...
After a horrible BSOD event ("Microcode revision mismatch" x017E, at every boot) I could revitalize my Win10 by a boot partition fix (via a special repair tool I had to buy). All other methods to access Windows, or the MS recovery/restore points failed utterly.
A clean reinstall was out of question due to the large setup, many tools and own programs I use, old database software, Visual Studio etc.. The Win10 Pro x64 installation was running troublefree since 2019, the hardware (RAM, SSD, CPU etc) are tested and OK.
But now my revived Windows is no longer the same. Despite my profile being listed as Admin (I am the only user) I seem to have lost a lot of my administrative rights, cannot even start Defender (which was working up to the day of the crash).
Among the most obvious symptoms and changes I see these are the most peculiar ones:
- in MSCONFIG's Services pane I can not right click on any service! I can change the checkmarks, but not the service settings; this happens in SAFE MODE as well as far as I recall.
- during updates/reboots I see a message that this is done in a 'organizational environment', It looks like my Window runs in a corporate IT management state now, giving me the rights of an 'office secretary'
- I get UAC messages when starting any program; I do not see the 'Admin' warning when trying to run apps elevated
- many System Settings, especially in Security areas are grayed or locked
- I can not see (most likely) existing restore points, registry backups, also all my Windows Updates since years are NOT listed
- the last Update Search (24h ago) found only 6 needed ones; one failed: Defender KB2267602 (Version 1.333.941.0) – error 0x800706432
- Defender Firewall IS UP, but Defender virus check is shown DOWN and can neither be started nor updated, no other virus software is on board; forcing it to start through Task Manager (I CAN access it through a servicehost!) throws error 1392
- SmartScreen.exe (isn't this Defender??) IS RUNNING; I checked its revision and it is recent 18362.1411 and legitimate.
As a lot of these symptoms indicate viral infection I checked for malware, viruses, root kits, even from outside Windows by special scan tools; the system is clean as a whistle. Also the last Defender scan was error free the day before the system crashed.
Very, VERY frustrating. I hardly ever ask for help, but this one is way above my debug skill level.
What is going on with my Windows?
How do I restore my Admin rights if I have none (=a vicious circle)?
How do I gain full control over settings, security methods, services again? Without a real Defender my barn doors are open..
Where to start and how to progress?
Thank you!
Continue reading...