Enabling ADMIN$ Share Access on Windows Virtual Machines

Enabling ADMIN$ Share Access on Windows 2008 VMs

To enable the admin$ share on a Windows 2008 VM, do the following:

  1. Open the Windows Explorer on the virtual machine, browse for the corresponding Windows directory in the C drive, right-click on it, and select the Share option from the shortcut menu.

    Selecting Share Option from Shortcut Menu

    Figure 1 : Selecting the Share option from the shortcut menu

  2. Figure 2 will then appear. Click on Advanced Sharing in Figure 2.

    Clicking on Advanced Sharing

    Figure 2 : Clicking on Advanced Sharing

  3. Select the Share this folder check box in Figure 3 that appears, enter admin$ against Share name, and click on the Permissions button in Figure 3, to allow only a local/domain administrator to access the folder.

    Enabling ADMIN$ Share

    Figure 3 : Enabling the ADMIN$ share

  4. When Figure 4 appears, click on the Add button therein.

    Clicking on Add Button

    Figure 4 : Clicking on the Add button

  5. To allow a domain administrator to access the folder, first, ensure that a valid domain is specified in the From this location box of Figure 5. If you want to grant access to a local administrator instead, ensure that the name of the local host is displayed in the From this location box. To change this specification, use the Locations button in Figure 5. Then, enter the name of the local/domain administrator in the Enter the object names to select text area, and click the ok button. 

    Figure 5 : Allowing a domain administrator to access the folder

  6. The newly added user will be listed in the Group or user names section, as depicted by Figure 6. Select this user, and then, check all the three check boxes under Allow in the Permissions for <user> section in Figure 6. Then, click the Apply and ok buttons therein.

    Allowing Full Access to Local/Domain Administrator

    Figure 6 : Allowing full access to the local/domain administrator

  7. When Figure 7 appears, click on the Apply and ok buttons therein to register the changes.

    Applying Changes

    Figure 7 : Applying the changes

Alternatively, by adding a new entry in the Windows registry, you can quickly enable the admin$ share. The steps for the same are discussed hereunder:

  1. In Run prompt type regedit to open registry editor.

  2. Browse through the following sub key:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHInE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

  3. Create a new entry with the below information

    • Key Name : LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy
    • Key Type : DWORD (32-bit)
    • Key Value : 1
  4. Exit registry editor.

Note:

As with any change to the registry, ensure that the above-mentioned change is also performed with utmost care, so as to avoid problems in the functioning of the operating system.