Easy steps to deal with this surprising Windows 7 issue

Feb 11, 2020 10:47 GMT  ·  By

As of January 14, Windows 7 no longer receives support and security patches, so technically, every single bug that is discovered now shouldn’t get a fix.

Coincidentally or not, users have already come across two different bugs in Windows 7, one of which makes it impossible to reboot a device still running this operating system (the other one causes the desktop wallpaper to turn black if the Stretch mode is used and Microsoft has already issued a fix to correct it given it’s produced by a previous update).

So if you’re still on Windows 7, you might come across a new issue that blocks the restart or the shutdown of the computer, with the following message showing up on the screen:

“You don’t have permission to shut down and restart this computer.”

And given that Microsoft is no longer shipping updates to Windows 7 device, this particular bug would just stay there with no fix whatsoever.

Fortunately, there are two different ways to correct the problem, one of which can only be used on Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise. The second works on all Windows 7 versions.

Group Policy Editor

This method only works on Windows 7 devices where group policies are available, including Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise SKUs.

The first step is to just launch the Group Policy Editor by pressing Windows key + R > gpedit.msc.

Next, you need to navigate to the following path in the Group Policy Editor:


Computer Settings > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options
The policy that you are looking for is called:
User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin approval
Double-click this policy to change its settings and switch it to Enabled.

Next, you need to open the run dialog to launch a special command whose role is to update all policies on your device. To do this, once again press Windows key + R > gpupdate /force.

Once you’re done, you can just reboot your device by pressing Windows key + R > shutdown -r.

Registry Editor

This particular workaround involves fewer steps, and it can be used on pretty much Windows 7 version out there. First of all, launch the Registry Editor by pressing Windows key + R > type regedit.exe.

Next, navigate to the following location in the Registry Editor:


HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
This time, the key that you need to modify is called:
EnableLUA
Double-click it to change the value, and instead of 0 enter value 1. You can then reboot the device using the steps above to save your changes.

Given Windows 7 is already an abandoned operating system, it’s pretty much just a matter of time until more such issues are discovered, so you should consider the switch to newer Windows or a non-Windows OS as soon as possible.

Microsoft itself recommends users to move to Windows 10, but Windows 8.1 is still getting support and security patches until 2023. So if Windows 10 isn’t your favorite cup of tea and you don’t want to migrate to Linux, Windows 8.1 could be a choice as well, at least for two more years.

In the meantime, if you do stick with Windows 7, keep in mind that in addition to these bugs breaking down the OS functionality, you could also come across security problems that eventually expose your data and make the system vulnerable to attacks. In this case, other security measures could come in handy, including limited Internet access.