Plesk utilities do not work on a Windows Server: Access is denied

Symptoms

• The Windows built-in Administrator was renamed to a different name and does not exist at Computer Management > Local Users and Groups > Users.

• When restarting any service via Plesk Services Monitor, the operation fails with the following error message in a popup window:

  PLESK_INFO: Access is denied. (Error code 5) at Unable to connect to pipe \\.\pipe\P_047a9f38-4df5-807f-33791b74c301
      at (Con::ClientOverlappedPipe::create line 503)
      at get shared instance of PleskSrcClient(PleskSrvClient::getInstance line 334)
      at Execute --start-plesk-website(execPleskUtil line 111)

• When running any command tied to a Plesk utility in the Windows Command Prompt, the following error message appears:

  C:\> plesk version
  Access is denied

Cause

Plesk requires the Windows built-in Administrator to work properly in order to function as expected.

Resolution

Recreate the Windows built-in Administrator user by either renaming it back, creating a new one with all of the required privileges and groups or executing the following steps while logged in as a user with enough privileges:

1. Log into your server via RDP

2. Run Command Prompt as a user with enough privileges

3. Execute the following command:

C:\>net user administrator /active:yes