Phenquestions
If you receive an error message which prevents you from shutting down or restarting your Windows PC or laptop, then you need to apply a policy setting or modify the registry to fix this problem. The error occurs no matter how you restart your computer, i.e., Power button, Start menu, or even command prompt. The OS cancels the shutdown command with an error message - You don't have permission to shut down and restart this computer. It can happen on Windows 10/8/7.
You don't have permission shut down and restart this computer
To apply the fix, we will have to change or apply a Group Policy “Run all administrators in Admin approval,” so it can run for all users. Another method is to make changes to the registry. We will cover the following topics:
- Group Policy Method
- Registry Method
- What is the use of the policy User Account Control: Turn on Admin Approval Mode?
Since Windows Home users do not have access to Group Policy, follow the Windows Registry method. Also, make sure to create a restore point before you begin.
1] Group Policy Method
- Open the Run dialog by hitting the Win+R combo, type gpedit.msc and hit OK.
- Navigate to Computer Settings > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options
- Search User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin approval and set it to ENABLE
- Open Run prompt and execute the command gpupdate /force. It will force update all group policy to reflect the recent change you made
- Restart the system by opening the Run dialog again, type shutdown -r and hit OK
If you can't turn off after the gpupdate, then kill and restart Explorer.exe using the Run dialog
2] Registry Method to Enable LUA
Open Registry Editor
Navigate to the following location where the registry key for this is available.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
Locate EnableLUA, and double click to edit the value
Set the value as 1 to set as Enabled. If you use 0, then it is treated as disabled.
What is the use of the policy User Account Control: Turn on Admin Approval Mode?
This policy setting controls the behavior of all User Account Control (UAC) policy settings for the computer. When you enable it, to allow the built-in Administrator account and all other users who are members of the Administrators group to run in Admin Approval Mode. In simple words, it should enable admin users to do everything an Administrator account is allowed to do on the computer.
When disabled or misconfigured, the Security Center of Windows will notify about overall reduced functionality. In our case, it was the restriction to shut down the computer or restart it.
To what I have seen in the forums, it is not only the issue with restart that can be fixed with this solution but a bunch of problems. It includes saving files from third-party apps, restarting the computer, shutdown, and more.
Related read: Prevent users from shutting down or restarting Windows 10 computers.
