Categories

Vista Clues provides Windows Vista help, tips, downloads, and news. If you have a question or tip for Tony, send me an e-mail at qa@vistaclues.com

Site search

Main menu:

Archive

Always run an application as an administrator

Run application as an administratorSome applications won’t run on Windows Vista because they were designed for earlier versions of Windows. Most of the time, the problem is caused by UAC. You have three choices to work around this:

To mark an application so that UAC automatically prompts you to elevate privileges, follow these steps (after the jump):

  1. Right-click the application, and then click Properties.
  2. Click the Compatibility tab.
  3. Select the Run this program as an administrator checkbox, and then click OK.

If this doesn’t work (like, for a command prompt), you can modify the shortcut UAC settings instead.

Every time you run the program in the future, UAC will automatically prompt you to run it with elevated privileges. I’ve done this for Visual Studio 2005, Visual Studio 2003, and some batch files I’ve written that require admin rights. You should only need to do this for programs written before Windows Vista.

For more information, read the Windows Vista Resource Kit (co-authored by your very own Tony Northrup). Got a question for Tony? Send an e-mail to qa@vistaclues.com.

del.icio.us:Always run an application as an administrator digg:Always run an application as an administrator spurl:Always run an application as an administrator furl:Always run an application as an administrator fark:Always run an application as an administrator blogmarks:Always run an application as an administrator Y!:Always run an application as an administrator magnolia:Always run an application as an administrator

Posted: December 7th, 2006 under Security, Troubleshoot.
Comments: 7

Comments

Pingback from Vista Clues » Bypass User Account Control – Windows Vista help
Time: December 7, 2006, 7:19 pm

[...] To run an application without UAC, just right-click the application icon, and then click Run As Administrator. UAC will prompt you to confirm or to enter credentials. To always run a program as administrator, follow these instructions. [...]

Pingback from Run a Program that Doesn’t Recognize Vista – Windows Vista help
Time: January 30, 2007, 4:47 pm

[...] 4. Select the Run this program as an administrator check box (just to help further reduce compatibility problems). [...]

Comment from Karim Fliti
Time: February 21, 2007, 3:59 pm

Ok, I have a game that works perfectly on my dad’s Dell Latitude D520 (Windows Xp SP 2) but when i try to play it on my HP Pavillion dv6000 (Windows Vista) it will start and then it will shut down by itself, i’ve tried the compatibility trick and there are no differences what should i do? Is it my laptop or is it Vista if so then is there a trick to it? Just for reference the game name is Trackmania Nations ESWC if anybody finds a way please email me at kingdomhearts2k5@hotmail.com

Greatly Appreciated,
Karim

Comment from atcomputo
Time: October 19, 2007, 10:25 pm

Hi. Is there a way to always run an application as an administrator in Windows XP Pro so that I don’t have to rigth click the app and select Run As… Something like a shortcurt or a batch that do this automatic. Thaks a lot for your help.

Comment from ABC
Time: January 31, 2008, 2:28 am

how can we set this option programmiticaly

Comment from John
Time: February 1, 2008, 5:25 am

The point is to have an app always run as admin for a user who does not have admin – ever. You are not going to be there when they run the app. You do not want them to have the admin password – only to run this specific app as admin.

The rest of the solutions are really nothing but your own shortcuts.

Comment from Anonymous
Time: April 8, 2008, 12:36 pm

My run as administrator is greyed out how do i fix this?

Write a comment