In this article I would like to walk you through using a tool to gain admin access to your Windows system from standard user account. This method works on nearly all versions of Windows, including Windows 8.1.

How to Gain Admin Access to Windows from Standard User Account?

Step 1: First, you need to use another computer to download the zipped ISO image of PCUnlocker. Extract the downloaded file locally and then burn the resulting .iso file to a CD-ROM (or USB flash drive) using ISO2Disc program.

Step 2: Insert the CD into the computer that you’re trying to gain admin access to and boot from it. You may have to change the computer’s boot order in the BIOS in order to boot from the CD.

Step 3: If you boot from the CD successfully, the computer will load the contents of the CD drive, and eventually start the PCUnlocker program. This program automatically detects your Windows installation and displays all Windows user accounts which are stored in the SAM registry hive.

Step 4: Choose your standard user account and click on “Reset Password” button. You will get a confirmation dialog like the one shown below:

Step 5: Click Yes to continue. The program will remove your current password and promote your standard user account to administrator immediately.

Step 6: Now everything finish properly and you have to remove the CD and restart your machine. After logging into your standard user account, you’ll find that your user account has already been joined into the administrators group. Now you’ve successfully gained admin access to your system and you can perform any administrative tasks on your computer.

Note: We don’t in anyway encourage downloading Apple software via file-sharing / torrent sites and run it in an virtualized environment under Windows. This guide is for informational purposes only. If you like OS X Snow Leopard, Get a Mac.

Step 1: Download and install VMware Workstation 7.

Step 2: Click here to download pre-made modified version of Snow Leopard.vmdk and darwin_snow.iso files required to get this thing to work.

Step 3: Start VMware Workstation and open up “Mac OS X Server 10.6 (experimental).vmx” file which you downloaded in Step 2.

Step 4: Click on “Edit virtual machine settings”, select CD/DVD (IDE) option from left hand side and then and select “Use ISO image file” option. Point it to “darwin_snow.iso” which you downloaded in Step 2.

Step 5: Now power on the virtual machine and hit “F8” key. You should now have a screen similar to the one shown below.

Step 6: Now you’ll have to point your virtual machine to OS X Snow Leopard retail DVD instead of “darwin_snow.iso”. To do this, right click on CD/DVD option found in lower right most corner of your VMware window and select settings.

Insert OS X Snow Leopard retail DVD in your DVD drive and select the “Use physical drive” option.

Step 7: Now go back and select “c” option (Boot DVD) from the prompt which you got in Step 5 to boot from the OS X retail DVD. OS X boot screen with Apple logo should now appear. If the boot screen doesn’t appear for you, try booting it in verbose mode by pressing “F8” key after selecting “c” option, and then enter “-v” (without quotes). This will enable the system to boot OS X DVD using verbose mode.

Step 8: Wait for a couple of minutes for the Installation Setup screen to show up. From here on, simply follow the onscreen setup instructions to install OS X Snow Leopard. Make sure you format your virtual hard drive in “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” format using Disk Utility. Customize your installation with minimum set of printer drivers and language options for a lightweight trouble free installation experience.

Step 9: Once the installation is completed. System will automatically reboot. At this point, close your guest virtual machine and change your CD/DVD option again like you did in Step 2 to point it to “darwin_snow.iso”.

Step 10: Start the virtual machine again. Press “F8” key and select “h” option to “Boot first hard disk”. Voila! Snow Leopard should now be running live under Windows 7!