Solved Can no longer install without doing "Run As Admin"..

[orlando1974]

I recently noticed that everytime I want to install something on my Windows 7 Ultimate, I have to right-click and do Run As Administrator. Its a pain to have to do so everytime, so I would love to be able to enable permissions properly to what they somehow were before.

I ran a full virus scan + Malaware and all is clean.

There is only ONE account on this PC, and its the administrator account I created for myself when I installed Windows.

I read in other posts things about hidden administrators or taking ownership but I'm afraid to mess things up... I was running smoothly for years and now all of a sudden, I have to manually Run as Administrator every installer.

Can someone please assist?

 

[Ccasarguedas]

when you try to install normally, do you get any error message? Or just does not do anything at all? How recentely you think this issue started to happen? I mean like a week or a month ago?

 

[andrew129260]

Check your UAC settings.

 

[orlando1974]

Thanks for the inital replies.

OK here is more specific message:

"Unable to execute file in the temporary directory. Setup Aborted. Error 5: Access Denied."

In this case I was trying to install a program from a virtual (mounted) drive. But I've also gotten this message when trying to run a setup program off a local hard drive.

My only way around is "Run As Administrator..." but I dont want to have to do this everytime. It wasnt like this before...I am the only user on this machine, so one account, and its Administrator. I think my permissions need to be changed somewhere... I recently merged and adjusted partitions so maybe something got screwed up then.

Anyway, can someone please help me step by step?

 

[andrew129260]

Create a test user account, does the issue happen there?

If so then your user account is corrupted and I can give you directions on how to fix it.

 

[orlando1974]

OK, I created a 2nd Administrator account as suggested. I then restarted the computer and logged in with this new admin account. Success! This account was able to launch the installer program successfully (no Access Denied popup, as previously described).

So whats next? Do I need to delete the original admin account and lose all my personalization and preferences? Or does this provide insight on how I can just simply "fix" the 1st admin account? Id rather not have to lose all my preferences...obviously.

Let me know..

 

[andrew129260]

Do you have a system image or restore point before this started happening? Otherwise, the quickest way to get up and running would indeed involve copying your data to the new account and deleting the faulty account.

 

[orlando1974]

Restoring an image is too risky in my case. I've been installing lots of stuff and dont remember a definitive date when all of a sudden I was needing to install things as an administrator.

Can you walk me thru the process of copying my data to the new account and deleting the faulty one?

Do you not think its just a matter of going into the various hard drive's properties and adjusting security settings and user permissions (rather than copying to the new account and deleting the old)?

 

[andrew129260]

Microsoft's solution and preferred method:

Fix a corrupted user profile - Microsoft Windows Help


Also see this thread-last post

http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/120798-how-migrate-1-user-profile-another.html


Also see here: How to copy a user profile on Windows 7

 

[orlando1974]

Thanks for the options. I tried Microsoft's preferred method... I created a total of 3 user accounts (all admins) so that I could perform as the 3rd account the copy and paste from account 1 to account 2.

Although account #2 when tested still worked for installing programs w/o requiring the Run As Administrator, I'm not really liking the fact that I lost most of my customizations of Account 1, such as:

Wallpaper, Desktop background and widgets, programs pinnned to taskbar at the bottom. In addition I had assigned icons representing my different hard drives. All gone back to the default generic versions. And my Libraries where I use to have music selections, video selections, etc...they're all now empty.

So Im not sure what exactly got copied over but all the visual tweaks and organizations I had done did not copy over, so I'm not really any further. Not sure which direction to go now? Keep the original account but just always do Run As Administrator everytime? Or persist and make my new account match perfectly my original account?

 

[andrew129260]

I would persit and make a new account. There is something defiantly wrong with that user account, and it could cause more/other problems in the future. I would bite the bullet and press on.

 

[orlando1974]

are you saying that because those "tweaks" that did not carry over, usually are?

in other words, does your procedure usually retain wallpaper, screensaver, taskbar items, library items, settings etc when copying an account over?

 

[andrew129260]

are you saying that because those "tweaks" that did not carry over, usually are?

in other words, does your procedure usually retain wallpaper, screensaver, taskbar items, library items, settings etc when copying an account over?

Reading the links I gave you in full will answer those questions.

 

[matts6887]

Thanks for the options. I tried Microsoft's preferred method... I created a total of 3 user accounts (all admins) so that I could perform as the 3rd account the copy and paste from account 1 to account 2.

Although account #2 when tested still worked for installing programs w/o requiring the Run As Administrator, I'm not really liking the fact that I lost most of my customizations of Account 1, such as:

Wallpaper, Desktop background and widgets, programs pinnned to taskbar at the bottom. In addition I had assigned icons representing my different hard drives. All gone back to the default generic versions. And my Libraries where I use to have music selections, video selections, etc...they're all now empty.

So Im not sure what exactly got copied over but all the visual tweaks and organizations I had done did not copy over, so I'm not really any further. Not sure which direction to go now? Keep the original account but just always do Run As Administrator everytime? Or persist and make my new account match perfectly my original account?

Well; i believe the reason behind why you lost all the customizations is because somehow it appears that the uac profile for your 1st admin account somehow got corrupted. What caused it to happen? well there could be a number of things there and Im not a 100% expert in that part of the area.

 

[orlando1974]

Hi, well I ended up reinstalling Windows. (

OK just so I do this right.. upon installing the OS, I created my single account as Administrator.
I've read that one should switch this to a Standard account shortly thereafter.

Do you agree? And why is this?

Would I not then be left with my single account being just a standard account and no more admin account on the machine?

 

[andrew129260]

An admin account will always exist on the machine. It has to.

For better security, you could create a standard user account and use that. Then whenever you need to do something that needs admin approval, UAC will prompt you for the admin password.

See all the links for a more complete understanding and information:

Why use a standard user account instead of an administrator account? - Microsoft Windows Help

What is a standard user account?

User accounts: frequently asked questions - Microsoft Windows Help


Why you should not disable UAC:
http://www.howtogeek.com/124754/htg-explains-why-you-shouldnt-disable-uac/


Understanding UAC:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/what-is-user-account-control#1TC=windows-7

 

[orlando1974]

Thanks for the links...I've read all and now I feel more confused than ever. Here's where I'm at.
As previously stated, I re-installed Windows. I setup the one account which is still in Admin mode because I'm still installing software.

But here's the thing, simply trying to open certain folders on my other hard drives (not the C drive), and I get the following message: "You don't currently have permission to access this folder. Click continue to permanently get access to this folder."

I'm starting to wonder if my problem ever was with my original account. Could it be that its something related to the security settings of my other hard drives???

Anything to enlighten me please?

Should I reformat my other hard drives and copy back everything after from my backup source?

 

[orlando1974]

Also, it is safer for me to select INSTALL FOR ALL USERS when I install new software on my PC? I'm the only one using the computer... but if this will avoid problems in the future....

 

[andrew129260]

Thanks for the links...I've read all and now I feel more confused than ever.

How can I help? Is there a way I could explain that might help you understand UAC?

simply trying to open certain folders on my other hard drives (not the C drive), and I get the following message: "You don't currently have permission to access this folder. Click continue to permanently get access to this folder."

What happens when you click continue? Does it work?

Should I reformat my other hard drives and copy back everything after from my backup source?

No, let your backup be a backup. Always have your data in 2 locations.

Also, it is safer for me to select INSTALL FOR ALL USERS when I install new software on my PC? I'm the only one using the computer... but if this will avoid problems in the future....

Yes I would install for all users for programs that offer it in the future.



Try the take ownership command on the external hard drives or any folder with your own personal files that you want full access to.

See here: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1911-take-ownership-shortcut.html

This will permanently make sure your allowed to open and edit all your files.

Read the full tutorial completely.

Other options to take ownership:

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67717-take-ownership-file.html

 

[orlando1974]

Hi Andrew, when I clicked Continue at the prompt telling me I didnt currently have permission to access this folder, yes I was able to continue and therefore get permanent accee to this folder.

I should explain my setup.

C: = Windows 7 + Programs (SSD)
D:, E:, M: = a 2TB internal 7200RPM divided in 3 partitions
S: = a 250GB drive used as scratch disk
Z: = a 2TB external drive used as mirror/backup

MOST of what I do sits on a partition of the 2TB internal drive, and I usually run installs from there, or open project folders there. So i dont know if its safe to take ownership of these...? How will this differ from being an administrator?