How to log in as Admin on a profile set to Limited


  1. 211
    Posts : 67
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #1

    How to log in as Admin on a profile set to Limited


    I have three profiles on my Win7 PC; myself (Administrator), my Wife, and the Kids; both of which are Limited.

    Every once in a while one of them needs to ask me to install a program or sometimes I log in to their account to clean up their desktop of shortcuts they dont need.

    My question is when I just log in normally I can't just right click on the icons and delete since it says I need admin privvies. Well I am an admin. Why isn't there a dialog box or some way to work within the "Limited" User Account but with elevated admin privledges?

    Same goes for installing programs.

    As of now I have to log into MY account and temporarily change their user statuses to Administrator, log into their accounts, take care of buisness, log out and back into my account, then remove the Admin rights.

    This is just annoying...
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 997
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, SP1
       #2

    211 said:
    I have three profiles on my Win7 PC; myself (Administrator), my Wife, and the Kids; both of which are Limited.

    Every once in a while one of them needs to ask me to install a program or sometimes I log in to their account to clean up their desktop of shortcuts they dont need.

    My question is when I just log in normally I can't just right click on the icons and delete since it says I need admin privvies. Well I am an admin. Why isn't there a dialog box or some way to work within the "Limited" User Account but with elevated admin privledges?

    Same goes for installing programs.

    As of now I have to log into MY account and temporarily change their user statuses to Administrator, log into their accounts, take care of buisness, log out and back into my account, then remove the Admin rights.

    This is just annoying...
    When you logon to the " limited " account, the system does not know it is the " almighy " admin logging on ( joking ).
    All it knows is a user with limited privileges and valid password has logged on.
    Therefore, when the " user " wants to do something that is beyond the privilege restriction, the system will ask for admin permission. Hence the dialog box.

    That is how it is supposed to work.
    All you have to do is either enter your admin password, or click Continue. Then you can proceed to do what you want to do in that limited account.
    You don't need to change their accounts to admin in order to do waht you want to do.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 72,051
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       #3

    Hello 211,

    You should be able to do all of this while logged into your administrator account. When you open their C:\Users\(user-name) folder the first time, you will have to grant yourself permission. Afterwards, you should have access all the time without being prompted. When you install a program from within your account, you would just need to make sure that they have a shortcut of it added in their Start Menu if not already when installed.

    Hope this helps,
    Shawn
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 4,466
    Windows 10 Education 64 bit
       #4
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 7,730
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
       #5

    I don't think there's a way to do what you ask from within a Limited Account.

    You could give them a Standard Account, but then you would have concerns about what they can do.

    You could, if you wanted to, disable UAC altogether, but that wouldn't be a good course of action

    I realise that it can be annoying to have to do what you're doing, but without the protection of UAC your computer would be at risk.

    Loads of information here that may be useful to you: User Account Control Step-by-Step Guide
      My Computer


  6. 211
    Posts : 67
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #6

    t-4-2 said:
    When you logon to the " limited " account, the system does not know it is the " almighy " admin logging on ( joking ).
    All it knows is a user with limited privileges and valid password has logged on.
    Therefore, when the " user " wants to do something that is beyond the privilege restriction, the system will ask for admin permission. Hence the dialog box.

    That is how it is supposed to work.
    Yes I realize that's how it's 'supposed' to work. My question is is there a way to bring up a prompt or a command line that allows you to enter your Admin username and password so you can work within the user account as admin?

    The IT folks at work do it all the time on our PC's (running XP still...)

    Brink said:
    Hello 211,

    You should be able to do all of this while logged into your administrator account. When you open their C:\Users\(user-name) folder the first time, you will have to grant yourself permission. Afterwards, you should have access all the time without being prompted. When you install a program from within your account, you would just need to make sure that they have a shortcut of it added in their Start Menu if not already when installed.

    Hope this helps,
    Shawn
    That doesn't always work with the deletion of shortcuts. Not all of the shortcuts on the desktop appear in the users "desktop" folder.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 997
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, SP1
       #7

    211 said:
    Yes I realize that's how it's 'supposed' to work. My question is is there a way to bring up a prompt or a command line that allows you to enter your Admin username and password so you can work within the user account as admin?

    The IT folks at work do it all the time on our PC's (running XP still...)
    Not that I know of.
    You just have to put up with the UAC pronpt for admin permission.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 72,051
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       #8

    211 said:
    That doesn't always work with the deletion of shortcuts. Not all of the shortcuts on the desktop appear in the users "desktop" folder.
    There is also a hidden C:\Users\Public\Desktop folder where items in this folder are on all users desktops, and a hidden C:\Users\Default\Desktop folder for created new users. You might check these locations to remove them from here, and copy them into the individual C:\Users\(user-name)\Desktop folders that you want to display on instead. :)
      My Computer


 

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