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In *nix/macOS, the user "root" have full control over the system. A similar account, "Administrator", exists on Windows. However, it does not have full control over the system. For example, certain folders like "System Volume Information" cannot be opened, showing "permission denied". I remember my IT teacher saying that there is a registry trick that can unlock all privileges, but he is not here anymore. Is there any way I can elevate the privileges of the default Administrator account further?

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  • No there isn't. Nor is there registry tricks. Administrators can access anything they want. Perhaps learn to use Windows®.
    – Mark
    Aug 5, 2020 at 8:15
  • @Mark Go to C://, and open "System Volume Information". Can you open it? Then, delete all files there. (I'm not saying it's a good idea to do that. It's certainly bad, but just for demo.) I'm sure Administrator will NOT be able to do this with default permission, because I tried this on a fresh install of Windows.
    – Joy Jin
    Aug 5, 2020 at 9:57
  • There is absolutely no need for an admin to go there. And yes I can delete all files via the approved method.
    – Mark
    Aug 5, 2020 at 10:17
  • @Mark Can you clarify what do you mean by "the approved method"?
    – Joy Jin
    Aug 6, 2020 at 2:08
  • Taking ownership and giving myself permissions. Then I can ensure the my computer never works properly again.
    – Mark
    Aug 6, 2020 at 2:19

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You are incorrect in the assumption that root has full access to all files and folders. It is absolutely possible to deny the root user access to parts of the file system. However, as root, it is possible to bypass those restrictions in a several ways. The ability to bypass these restrictions can be prevented with Linux Security Modules (LSM).

Windows is similar in that you can deny the administrator access to parts of the file system. Just like root, it is possible for an administrator regain access. The administrator simply needs to take ownership of that part of the file system and then grant whatever file permissions wanted. However, this can also be prevented with encryption or other methods.

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  • The root user do have read and write access to everything (that is on a filesystem mounted read+write) without security components initialized. The question I'm asking is about how to disable the security feature, like disabling the SIP/rootless on macOS, but on Windows, to gain more privilege.
    – Joy Jin
    Aug 5, 2020 at 7:27

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