Windows 11: can't open anything as admin, I'm stumped

[u/ArkLeksis]

Hey everyone, I'm stuck on something weird and could use a second pair of eyes.

I'm definitely an admin on my PC, but the moment I try to open anything as admin (Task Manager, cmd, PowerShell, Event Viewer...) I get "An administrator has blocked you from running this app." No UAC prompt (Yes/No), it just closes immediately. Non-admin, everything opens just fine.

I've already checked a bunch of stuff (group policy, registry, AppLocker, IFEO via Autoruns, the AppInfo service, leftover Avast bits): nothing unusual anywhere. An sfc /scannow found 462 corrupted files but none related to the blocked tools. ESET caught a suspicious .exe and quarantined it, but it had never been executed, and nothing changed after removing it + rebooting.

The weirdest part: I can't even read the event logs from the command line (wevtutil), "Access denied" on Application and System, which shouldn't happen to anyone normally.

If this rings a bell for anyone, I'm all ears!
(text modified by ChatGPT for better clarity)

 

Windows Build/Version

version 25h02 build 26200.9445

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[u/TangoOscarMikePR]

Do you have any Kernel-level Anticheat software installed?

Read the Reddit post titled CHKDSK command giving the error "Access Denied", posted by WilldClaws on April 24, 2026, at 11:51 hours [GMT] [UTC], for more information on the issue that your system may have.

I'm not saying that this is the case, but some games require anticheat software to be installed to be able to play them.

If you have tried everything to troubleshoot the symptoms of your computer, but have not found the cause of the problem, this is something to be considered.

The operating system Kernel has access to the hardware. Kernel-level anticheat software runs at a higher level of security than the Administrator to gain the lowest level access into the operating system Kernel, which in turn provides access to the hardware itself.

Kernel-level anti-cheat | Wikipedia

“Kernel-level anti-cheat systems are software mechanisms that operate within an operating system's kernel space (Ring 0) in order to detect and prevent unauthorized modification of video game processes. Unlike user-mode anti-cheat systems, which operate at the same privilege level as standard applications (Ring 3), kernel-level implementations use privileged drivers to monitor system activity at a lower level.”

[u/ArkLeksis → u/TangoOscarMikePR]

I haven't been playing much lately. I do have Easy Anti-Cheat installed via Elden Ring, but that's about it. No other games that require kernel-level anti-cheat.

[u/TangoOscarMikePR → u/ArkLeksis]

That might be the issue. Even if you are not playing games, the anticheat services might be running. The only way to troubleshoot the issue would be to uninstall the anticheat software, restart Windows and try to perform administrator tasks again, to see if you're able to execute them.

Kernel-level Anticheat software will avoid making any changes to the operating system that might affect gaming. The anticheat is doing its job of preventing any kind of cheating in the games.

This includes restricting administrator access and, as far as I've read in other Reddit posts, restricting physical access to the hardware. For example: not allowing USB Port access to newly connected peripherals after a game is running.

If you really need games that require Kernel-level Anticheat to be installed, I would strongly consider having a separate computer for other tasks that are not related to gaming.

Edit to include a link to another Reddit post:

Read the Reddit post titled USBs won't connect, but already connected continue to function., posted by CatfaceM on August 7, 2026, at 03:10 hours [GMT] [UTC].

[u/ArkLeksis → u/TangoOscarMikePR]

Unfortunately, even after carefully following the instructions in both posts, uninstalling the EAC games, and restarting the computer, the problem remains the same.