Hey there

Strange issue: I thought I am an administrator, because I never created any guests accounts. I was using my custom computer with administrator privileges and was never asked for the admin password to install a program, as it would ask me on other computers where I have other users. Suddenly my VST plug ins (IK Multimedia) stopped loading and tech support told me to run my music DAW as administrator. I set Sonar X2 to "Run as Administrator" and it works now. I thought- I was administrator. But- ok. So today- I opened another program (Rapture, free standing) and it asked me to register a product again. I thought- may be I forgot to register it. But when I was ready to enter registration code, the space was grayed out and said, "Not logged in as Administrator". I don't understand. How am I logged in? I have seen on other computers "Administrator" account being disabled, while my Main account, Astralv active- after I unable it, I would have "Astralv" and "Administrator", which would be almost identical. Wondering if it is the same issue. Today I bought Sonar X3 upgrade and it states that I need to be logged as Administrator to be able to install it properly. I do not want to create any problems with installation- how do I enable Administrator account? I am looking under Settings/Accounts- it says, "Astralv"- local account. And it says, "No other accounts created". I do not see any inactive Administrator account to enable. What to do? Thank you.

You need to right-click the app icon and choose "Run as Administrator." It's not that your account does not have administrator privs.  It's that Windows (as of Vista) doesn't let programs touch critical areas of the OS unless you (as the admin) say it's okay.

You are the administrator, but since Windows Vista User Account Control blocks programs from installing with your permission. It's for your defense. You can technically disable the UAC options so it doesn't prompt you, but it's probably not the best of ideas in case something decides to hijack your computer some day and start running scripts without your permission
 
BTW, the fix for the Rapture issue is to right-click on SONAR and do what you were saying, select "Run as Administrator". Afterwards when you insert Rapture it too will have heightened privileges.

ya no probs with this one, just right click "choose run as administrator"
this is actually pretty typical for a lot of different software.

You may be an administrator but there is a hidden administrator on newer versions of Windows. The safest thing to do is when you need "full administrator" privileges is right click on the program and "run as administrator." You can also elevate a program by going into the properties compatibility table and checking the run as administrator option. Then you do not have to do it every time you launch the program.
 
I do not see which version of windows you are running on the new machine. There are pages on the Microsoft support site for each version of Windows on how to activate the system administrator account.

Thank you for your replies. I am on Windows 8 64 bit.
 
On Vista, I thought I was administrator, till I found Administrator account that was not active- I had to enable it and then it was showing up on log in screen. This is what I am trying to find on Windows 8, if it still there. But I do not see anything under accounts.
 
Another issue: I can not activate Dimension Pro with registration code that came with X2. I thought I registered it before, but may be I forgot. With Dimension it is not grayed out, but when I enter registration code, it says, it is invalid. Yes, I did get new activation code with Sonar X3, but I like my old one to work, as I paid for it! Any thoughts?

vladasyn
Thank you for your replies. I am on Windows 8 64 bit.
 
On Vista, I thought I was administrator, till I found Administrator account that was not active- I had to enable it and then it was showing up on log in screen. This is what I am trying to find on Windows 8, if it still there. But I do not see anything under accounts.
 
Another issue: I can not activate Dimension Pro with registration code that came with X2. I thought I registered it before, but may be I forgot. With Dimension it is not grayed out, but when I enter registration code, it says, it is invalid. Yes, I did get new activation code with Sonar X3, but I like my old one to work, as I paid for it! Any thoughts?

Sadly enough (or not), it's the same issue. It's a bug that the string given says "Invalid Registration Code" when it should say "Not Running as Administrator". More info here: http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/kb/reader.aspx/2007013203
 
Have you ever seen the IT Crowd? Their running joke for tech support is "have you tried turning it off and on again"?
 
Here at Cakewalk we say, "Have you tried running as administrator?" ;)

It must be very popular joke- even IK Multimedia tech support knows this about Sonar.
The strange part is- it was working fine, and then plug in failed, and then I set it as administrator and it fixed it. So- how did it work before, and suddenly needs administrator rights? I thought- my account got massed up. I actually disabled account control- or brought that meter to the lower setting- not sure if it means disabling it.
 

Ryan Munnis [Cakewalk]
 
 
Have you ever seen the IT Crowd? Their running joke for tech support is "have you tried turning it off and on again"?
 
 

Thats my ring tone on my phone!