Can't change password? I'm an administrator!

Just tried to change the password on my windows XP Pro system, and despite the fact that my username is in the “administrator” group, I get the “don’t have permission” error when I try to change my password.

What’s up with that?

capn

Try this:

  1. Go to Start/Run, Type “secpol.msc” without the quotes and press enter.
  2. You should see a window open called “Local Security Setting”
  3. Click on Security Settings/ Account Policies/ Password Policy/ Minimum password age
  4. Go to the Properties of Minimum password age.
  5. Set it to 0 days
  6. Click Apply/Ok, then close.

See if this fixes it. Else, it’s most likely one of the settings in here somewhere that needs to be changed.

Try going to Start / Programs / Administrative Tools / Computer Management from the Start menu.

Fun your user under the “Local Users and Groups / Users” page and bring up its properties. Check that “User cannot change password” is not checked.

As far as I know this setting overrides all other security rights.