Reset Local Administrator Privileges or Other Fix?

I spent several hours troubleshooting and restoring an image after being unable to open .exe installers and a BIOS update. I think I might have found the cause but don't know the fix.

- Intel Graphics Driver Installer app would auto-extract but the splash screen would only flash and not open. I ended up extracting the files and doing a manual driver update through Device Manager..and installing the new Intel app (that installer opened).

- Intel Killer Networking Software did the same thing...no flash screen but opening the app results in a screen flash and nothing. Unable to install/update. Before anyone says anything I actually disable it completely after install. Unfortunately, if I don't keep it installed than Windows Update keeps installing an old version (even with driver updates disabled)

- Dell BIOS update installer would not open either....I ended up manually installing it from a 1-time pre-boot menu and selecting it off of a USB drive.

After troubleshooting with Windows Security (Defender, App & Browser Control, etc.) and not getting any relief, I decided to see if it was a privilege issue. I used the portable app PowerRun and the installers opened as they should. I'm not certain but I think my local administrator privileges might be messed up somewhere or somehow. I'm not sure how to check and reset if necessary. Is there a way to do this...online research indicates creating a new profile which I would rather avoid.

mccnavy said:

Unfortunately, if I don't keep it installed than Windows Update keeps installing an old version

Click to expand...

Always, do this tutorial on Windows 10 or Windows 11...



You'll still see the drivers under "Optional Updates", but they will no longer be forced upon you.




Note: I'm on a Local Administrators account, and I have no problems with permissions. ^^
But I also removed almost all the Windows Apps, and don't use Defender.





I'm not suggesting you set up your system like I did.
I'm just trying to think of things that "might" be different.

I was about to give up and do a clean install, but opted to try creating a new profile. Issue appears to be fixed...apps were loading normally. It still required a lot of time to redo my Start Menu and personalized Windows settings...but faster than clean install restoration. Hopefully I did fix it. This time, just in case, I made the profile name without spaces (I had spaces in the one I have been using forever...never had problems though).