Security & Windows Vista Walter on 11 Dec 2006 07:25 pm
Run programs as administrator in Windows Vista
Most programs recognize the new User Account Control (UAC) security model in Windows Vista. However, in order for this to work properly, the program must be marked by the developer (or identified by Windows Vista) as an program that requires administrative rights.
You are likely to run into some older programs that aren’t properly marked. So Vista provides a few ways to run a program as an administrator right off the bat.
Run a program as administrator from the Search box
As you probably know, you can use the new Search box in the Windows Vista Start Menu the same way you used the Run command in Windows XP (plus, it does a whole lot more). To run a program as an administrator from the Search box, type the command (such as CMD for the command prompt) and then press Ctrl-Shift-Enter.
Run a program as administrator from the graphical interface
You can also run a program as administrator right from a program icon. Instead of double-clicking the program icon to launch it, right-click the icon and choose Run as Administrator from the shortcut menu.
Set a program to always run as administrator
If you have a program that you run frequently, you can set the program to always run as administrator. To do this, use the following steps:
- Right-click the program icon and click Properties.
- On the Property sheet, click the Compatibility tab.
- Under Privilege Level, select the Run this program as an administrator check box, and then click OK.
Bonus Tip: If you work in the command prompt a lot, right-click the Command Prompt shortcut on your Start menu and click Properties. On the property sheet, click Advanced. In the Advanced Properties dialog box that opens, click Run As Administrator. When you use the shortcut to open the command prompt, UAC will prompt you for administrative priveleges.
on 11 Feb 2007 at 10:29 am 1.Kris' blog said …
Running VPC on Windows Vista…
…
on 28 Mar 2007 at 4:00 pm 2.Mohan said …
It is not possible to set the compatibility mode for cmd as you denoted in this article. On the property page you will get a message like,”Compatibility modes cannot be set to this page as it is the part of the version of windows.” and also the option for changing will be greyed out.So,before publishing the article always try with the steps and later publish it.
Thanks & Regards
Mohan.
on 02 Apr 2007 at 11:03 am 3.Walter said …
Thanks, Mohan. Nice catch. Looks like they changed it since beta. I updated it with the proper instructions.
on 25 Jun 2007 at 2:16 pm 4.Corey said …
Hello all,
When i am under the compatibility tab to run as administrator the option to do so is grayed out. Why is this? and how can i fix it? Yes im logged on as administrator and iv tried the run as administrator option under the shortcut tab it didnt work…
Someone please help if you can.
-Corey
on 02 Jul 2007 at 8:37 am 5.Laurens Holst said …
“It is not possible to set the compatibility mode for cmd as you denoted in this article. On the property page you will get a message like, ”Compatibility modes cannot be set to this page as it is the part of the version of windows.” and also the option for changing will be greyed out.”
Create a shortcut, and press the ‘Advanced’ button in the shortcut’s properties. There you can check a ‘run as administrator’ box.
on 15 Aug 2007 at 4:54 am 6.amk said …
how can i set “cmd” to run as administrator without having to change UAC and rebooting. cntrl+shift+enter does not seem to work (home premium vista) or alternatively can you please suggest how can i create an icon for “cmd” and change the properties to run as administrator.
regards
on 29 Aug 2007 at 12:14 pm 7.Walter said …
Create a shortcut to the Command Prompt (the easiest way is just to copy the one from the Start menu). Open the property sheet for the shortcut. On the Shortcut tab, click Advanced. There’s an option for Run as Administrator.
When you run it, you’ll get the UAC prompt, but you will be at cmd as administrator.
on 21 Jan 2008 at 1:29 am 8.ND said …
How to set this ‘Run this program as administrator’ privilege to application, through coding (in vc++)?
on 21 Jan 2008 at 1:39 am 9.p said …
check box for ‘Run this program as an administrator’ is disable, how to make it enable?
on 21 Feb 2008 at 7:20 pm 10.cheezeweeze said …
If the “Run this program as an administrator” check box is disabled or greyed out, then UAC is disabled. Re-enabling UAC corrects this.
on 24 Feb 2008 at 11:01 pm 11.Brennan said …
wow, I was trying to figure out why the run as administrator option was greyed out on a shortcut to an app i use and I thought this article would be helpful, but it seems like youre all more concerned with running the command prompt as administrator…How about helping with the issue, instead of arguing symantics.
on 25 Feb 2008 at 12:34 am 12.Walter said …
Nobody is arguing semantics. It is important to get the steps right. And the command prompt is a common application to want to run as an admin.
As cheezeweeze said, one possibility is that UAC is disabled. But there are other reasons that the Run This Program As An Administrator command might be disable. These reasons include:
* the program doesn’t require administrative privileges to run. No need to set it if you don’t need it.
* you are not logged in to an administrative account
* or the program is blocked from always running elevated.
on 02 Apr 2008 at 2:08 am 13.Skunkmeister said …
This is raising the dead, but what the heck.
IF your admin box is grayed out, you can still set it to run as admin by right clicking the shortcut, going to properties and clicking the advanced button at the bottom of the general tab. From there, click “Run as admin…” and party on.
on 02 Apr 2008 at 2:21 am 14.Skunkmeister said …
I meant the Shortcut tab. Opps