Error message "Access denied" when connecting to a share on Windows 10

You need to be the Administrator to access some shares. On Windows 10 the real Administrator account is disabled by default.

If you want to be able to access all your folders using shares such as "C:", you can enable the Administrator account and give it a password. Then configure FileBrowser to use "Administrator" in the "Username" field.

If your user looks like A, B or C below then that is not enough to access Admin shares. Please follow the steps below to enable the Administrator account.

Error message access denied on windows 10

Enabling the Administrator account

Start a Command Prompt as Administrator

  1. Press the Windows key and type 'Command" once the Command Prompt App appears select 'Run as administrator'.

    how to run a command prompt in windows 10
  2. Click OK if you are presented with a confirmation popup message box.

  3. In the new Command Prompt, enter "net user administrator  /active:yes".

Setting the Administrator password

The Administrator password must be strong, otherwise your system will not be secure. We recommend using a password that has uppercase and lowercase letters, at least 1 number and at least one punctuation mark.

  1. Press the Windows key and type 'Control" select the Control Panel App from the listing.

    how to find the control panel in windows 10
  2. Click 'Change account type' under 'User Accounts'

    how to view your users in windows 10

    * If your Control Panel looks different, change its 'View by:' in the top right corner to 'Category'

  3. You will now see all your users. There should be one that is named "Administrator", with "Administrator" listed under it as well. This is the real Admin account.

  4. why are my user accounts different in windows 10

    * If you don't see your new Adminstrator account, close the Control Panel and re-open it.

  5. Select the Adminstrator account and then click "Create a password" in the left hand pane and then enter a strong password.

    create a password for your windows 10 user account
  6. In FileBrowser use "Administrator" as your username when connecting to your Windows 10 PC.

Disabling the Administrator account

Follow the instructions as per Enabling the Administrator account above but replace step 3 with "net user administrator /active:no"

Options

I have a different version of Windows

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