Win 8.1 Home, trying to repair permissions

[claytorj]

System State:
- Windows 8.1 Home
- Dell Inspiron 15 laptop
- Awhile ago I took ownership of my C drive (I know, I know, big mistake)
- For a while now I have been limping along, but unable to install Windows Update, unable to install new applications, unable to refresh or reset the pc through Change PC Settings
- No data or software on the machine that needs to be saved
- Really just looking for a way to wipe what I have and reinstall Windows 8, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10 without paying for a new license
- No System repair disk

What I have tried
- Windows 10 upgrade process won't run. Fails and undos changes and brings system back to same state
- Windows 8.1 iso was downloaded and tried to reset and repair from here too, same result as Windows 10
- Tweaking.com Windows Repair v3.7.0 running in safe mode after draining power; got to the step where it ran sfc and it reported errors it was unable to fix.  I ran the next step for the tweaking.com repairs and after cleaning with Cleanmem it failed to start the repair 4 times then quit with this message:

Try running the repairs in Windows Safe Mode. (This will keep 3rd party programs from getting in the way of the repairs)
If the repairs still fail then please post in the Tweaking.com forums for support.

As I am already in safe mode, I'm not sure what is hanging it up.  Maybe the sfc stuff from the earlier check could be repaired but I thought I would check in here first.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Boggin]

If you can run Command Prompt (Admin) then enter net user administrator /active:yes

Enter shutdown /r /t 00 to effect an immediate reboot.

This will produce an admin icon onto the Desktop and is the hidden admin account which may enable you to either change the permissions back or Refresh etc.

If it won't allow you to run Command Prompt (Admin) then boot up into Safe Mode with Command Prompt and repeat those steps.

To disable the hidden admin account, substitute :yes for :no

[Shane]

My program runs some repairs under the system account and to do that it runs as a service to start the repair, something is keeping that from happening and is why you are seeing it not able to run.

So of course make sure to run in safe mode and also the user account you are on has to have administrator access since the repairs do a lot that normal users are not allowed to do.

Following boggins suggestion would be a good idea, run the repairs under the administrator account and once done try running them again under your account.

Shane