Enable (or work around) Administrative shares in Windows 8

So in using Windows 8, I've discovered that the administrative shares are disabled. There seems to be no easy way to get them re-enabled.

Is anyone aware of a work around, or solution?

I did not have this issue with Windows 7 After disabling UAC. However in Windows 8 this still doesn't work.

This is all I could find, however I am not satisfied with the information provided.

http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/win8/windows8-administrative-shares.htm

http://www.tomsitpro.com/articles/windows_8-file_sharing-windows_administrative_shares,2-195.html

Brado

Posted 2012-10-24T14:03:15.453

Reputation: 101

possible duplicate of How to enable administrative shares on Vista and XP?

– Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-09-29T18:09:43.150

There is a work around specified in the link you included. – HackToHell – 2012-10-24T14:07:07.667

What other information do you want that isn't in the links you've given? Solution 3 in the first link seems exactly what you're after. – George Duckett – 2012-10-24T14:31:11.830

"however I am not satisfied with the information provided" You need to explain this – Moab – 2012-10-24T15:08:24.163

I was hoping that there was a non "hack" solution around this. I often re-format . install these computers and didn't want to have to enable it this way each time. – Brado – 2012-10-25T14:06:06.947

With regards to the registry entry you could always export it to a .reg file and simply import it after a reformat to save the effort of opening the registry each time but it is still just as much of a "hack" as there is no official "Enable admin shares" option anywhere – Graham Wager – 2012-10-25T14:15:38.133

Answers

Note: If the computer is part of a domain, this does not apply as the admin shares are automatically enabled upon joining.

To enable the admin shares for computers in a HomeGroup or Workgroup, you must first ensure that File and Printer Sharing is enabled:

In the Desktop, right-click the Network icon in the system tray and click Open Network and Sharing Center:
Click Change advanced sharing settings in the left hand menu:
Under the current profile, find the File and printer sharing section, and click Turn on file and printer sharing:
Click Save Changes and confirm the change if prompted.

Warning - the next section involves changing the Registry. Be extremely careful as incorrect editing can result in a non-functioning system or other problems!

Press Windows+R and type regedit followed by Enter. Click Yes to confirm starting it as an Administrator if prompted.
On the left hand side expand the tree along the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
Select the System folder and in the right hand pane, right click, click New then DWORD (32-bit) Value.
Set the name to LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy then press Enter. Double-click the new entry and set the value to 1.
Exit the registry editor and restart the computer.

Graham Wager

Posted 2012-10-24T14:03:15.453

Reputation: 10 589

The restart is not needed in any version of Windows, neither in Win 8, as far as I remember. – Roland Pihlakas – 2018-06-07T21:40:52.147

I accept your answer even though its the same as in the link, since you at lease spent the time to format it nicely. – Brado – 2012-10-25T14:06:47.540

@Graham Wager I have a Question: Can I add the specified key in registry using c#. if so, how??? – kashif – 2013-01-25T12:16:58.497

I wonder if there is a way to do this remotely – Andrew Savinykh – 2013-06-29T08:22:54.083

-2

Your first link there has the best solution IMO. Edit the registry and add the right.

http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/win8/windows8-administrative-shares.htm

Jared Tritsch

Posted 2012-10-24T14:03:15.453

Reputation: 3 030

Although this may answer the question, you should give a more detailed description of the linked content and explain how it relates to the question. This will help ensure that this answer remains useful in the event the linked page is removed or goes offline. For more information, see this Meta Stack Exchange post.

– bwDraco – 2015-07-16T01:51:29.397