Daniel said:
I just bought a refurbished Thinkpad computer with Windows XP Pro
SP3 installed on it. I Cannot use Disk Management. Windows says
that I do not have access rights to the logical Disk Manager.
My account is an administrator account. What do I have to do to use
Disk Management? Thank you in advance for any help.
What is the name of your Windows account under which you logon? Is it
the Administrator account (which should be reserved for use only during
emergencies) or is it a differently named Windows account? If it is
other than the Administrator account, are you sure it is included in the
"Administrators" *group*? Run "control.exe userpasswords2" to verify
your Windows account is in the Administrators group.
You sure it is Windows XP *Professional* or might it be the Home
edition? Run "winver" to see what it says.
Did you do a FRESH install of Windows XP with all the appropriate
hardware drivers so you know it is clean setup? Or are you assuming the
seller did a valid install of Windows XP with no tweaks, security
software that may restrict your actions, or use policies to restrict
access to some admin functions? Did you get installation media or a
hidden partition for restore for Windows XP? Is the COA (Certificate of
Authority) sticker on the computer case? If not, what you got was only
hardware that included a polluted hard disk.
Is this computer in a domain (at work) or in a workgroup? In a domain,
often policies are pushed to the workstations that affect their
behavior. These policies can be configured even when you are not in a
domain, like you setting the policies or security or tweaker programs
doing so at your request in using them, or even malware can do this.
Anything that can modify the registry can affect the policies stored
there. There is a policy that can disable users (any of them, including
admins) from running the Disk Manager. Run the group policy editor
(gpedit.msc) and look under:
User Configuration
Administrative Templates
Windows Components
Microsoft Management Console
Restricted/Permitted snap-ins
Check if "Disk Manager" or "Disk Management" are enabled (which means
their use is restricted). The default config has them "Not Configured"
(which means admin accounts can use those snap-ins). Either set them to
"Not Configured" or "Disable" (to NOT restrict their use). If you find
that policies are configured other than the default (and you are not in
a domain) then something tweaked these settings. Could've been the
prior user only cleaned up their tweaked setup which means you also
don't know what else got left waiting to trap you in that old install of
Windows XP or it could be malware that changed the registry entry for
this policy setting. If you are not in a domain and if this entry is
anything other than "Not Configured", you have further problems to
address with that pre-installed or cleaned up installation of the OS.
When getting a used computer, it is best to wipe the hard disks and do a
fresh install of the OS, the hardware drivers, and perform all updates
so *YOU* know what is the state of your computer. If you accept a prior
install of the OS with a used computer, you also accept whatever illegal
files are on that host (pirated software, kiddie porn), tweaks, and
malware that is on that used computer.
