Elevated Program Shortcut without UAC Prompt - Create

How to Create an Elevated Program Shortcut without a UAC Prompt in Windows​

   Information

This will show you how to create an elevated "Run as administrator" shortcut of any installed program using Task Scheduler so that it will not give you a UAC prompt for permission when you start it while still having UAC turned on in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8.

In the tutorial, you will first create a new task, then a new shortcut to run the task. Afterwards, how to change the icon of the shortcut.

   Note

Special thanks to OEM for pointing this out, and the previous Vista version by DMEX.

   Warning

• This shortcut and task can only be created and work while logged in as an administrator account.
• This shortcut will not work in a standard user account.

Here's How:
1. Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog, type taskschd.msc, and press Enter.
NOTE: This will open Task Scheduler. This file is located at:
C:\Windows\system32\taskschd.msc.

2. While having Task Scheduler Library selected in the left pane, click/tap on Create task in the far right pane. (see screenshot below)

3. Under the General tab, type in the "Name" of the program you want to create this shortcut for. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: This will be the name of the task. As an example, I will use CCleaner for that program. Make note of this name, you will need it later in step 12 and 14 below.

4. Check the Run with highest privileges box. (See screenshot below)

5. Click/tap on the Configure for drop down box to open it, and select Windows® 7, Windows Server™ 2008 R2 or the Windows you are currently in. (see screenshot above and below)
NOTE: This is like compatibility mode. If the program does not support running in Windows 7 normally, then you can select the OS that is does support running in instead to have it run in compatibility mode as if it was running in that OS instead of Windows 7.

6. Click/tap on the Actions tab, then on the New button. (see screenshot below)

7. In the Program/script: box in the Actions tab, copy and paste the path below. (see screenshot below step 9)
NOTE: Thank you to chillz for the updated steps 7 and 8.
%windir%\System32\cmd.exe
8. In the Add arguments (optional): box in the Actions tab, type in the argument below. (see screenshot below step 9)

NOTE: Substitute Task Name in the argument below with the name you entered in step 3 (ex: CCleaner) within quotes, and substitute Full Path of Program in the argument below with the actual full path of the program's .exe file within quote.
/c start "Task Name" "Full Path of Program"


For example:

/c start "CCleaner" "C:\Program Files\CCleaner\CCleaner64.exe"

9. Click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

10. Click/tap on the Conditions tab, and uncheck the Stop if the computer switches to battery power box first, then uncheck the Start the task only if the computer is on AC power box. (see screenshots below)
NOTE: This step is mostly for laptops, so that you will be able to run the program when the laptop is running on battery power.




11. Click/tap on OK. (See screenshots above)

12. You will now see your new task created with the name (ex: CCleaner) you gave it in step 3. Close Task Scheduler. (see screenshot below)

13. Right click or press and hold on an empty area of your desktop, then click/tap on New and Shortcut.

14. Type in the target below for the location field, then click/tap on the Next button. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: Subsitute task-name in the target with the name (ex: CCleaner) within quotes that you used in step 3.
schtasks /run /tn "task-name"

For example: For my task name CCleaner I used from step 3, I would type:
schtasks /run /tn "CCleaner"

15. Type in a name you want for the shortcut (ex: CCleaner), then click/tap on the Finish button. (see screenshot below)

16. Right click on the new shortcut (ex: CCleaner) on the desktop, then click/tap on Properties.

17. Click/tap on the Shortcut tab, and on the Change Icon button. (see screenshot below)

18. Click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

19. Click/tap on the Browse button. (see screenshot below)

20. Navigate to the .exe file of the program that you have created this shortcut with, select it, and click/tap on Open. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: If you have a icon of your own that you would prefer to use instead, then navigate to where you have that icon saved at instead.

21. Select the icon you want for the shortcut, then click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

22. Click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

23. You can now use this elevated shortcut to run at startup in your "Startup" folder, run at startup as a task, Pin to Start Menu, Pin to Taskbar, assign a keyboard shortcut, or move to where you like for easy use.

24. When you run this new elevated shortcut, you will now no longer have to click/tap on YES to approve the UAC prompt to allow the program run as administrator.

   Tip

To Undo and Remove this Task:

• While having Task Scheduler Library selected in the left pane, right click on the task in the right pane that you created in step 12, then click on Delete and Yes to approve.
• Delete the shortcut.

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Set Priority Level for Applications and Processes in Windows 7
• How to Run a Program as an Administrator in Windows 7
• How to See if Process is running as administrator (elevated) in Vista and Windows 7
• How to See if Process is running as administrator (elevated) in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Create an Elevated Command Prompt Shortcut in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Create an Elevated Windows 7 Task Manager Shortcut
• How to Change UAC Notification Settings in Windows 7
• How to Create a Task to Run a Program at Startup and Log On in Windows 7
• Enable or Disable the User Account Control (UAC) Blacking Out of Screen in Vista and Windows 7
• How to Elevate All Administrator Accounts UAC Privilege Level
• How to Add "Run as administrator" to VBS File Context Menu
• How to Add "Run as administrator" to MSI File Context Menu
• How to Require Users to Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to Approve UAC Elevation
• How to Create an Elevated Program Shortcut a Standard User is able to Run in Windows 7
• How to Change Behavior of User Account Control (UAC) Prompt for Standard Users
• How to Display a Message Reminder in Windows with Task Scheduler

 

[Teffy]

Thank you for these instructions!!!!!!!

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Teffy.

 

[whs]

I wonder whether an SFC /SCANNOW will undo this tweak - like it did undo my tweaked Vista Sidebar once. I hate to try it - too much work to redo.

 

[Brink]

Hello Wolfgang,

It shouldn't since only a task and shortcut is being created, and a system file is not being modified.

Only when a system file is modified will the sfc /scannow command undo it when ran.

 

[whs]

Thanks Shawn, makes sense.

 

[Brink]

You're welcome.

 

[mikcara]

Elevated Program Shortcut

Hi there.just came across this forum while researching a problem I was having and wondered if your solution would work in my case.I enjoy making music on my computer and use two programs to achieve this,SonarX1 and Reason5.To use Reason within Sonar you have to use Rewire a program designed to use Reason inside another DAW.I dont know if you are familiar with these applications,but I'll describe the problem and maybe you can advise me.
With SonarX1 open I rewire Reason5 into my instrument rack,so far so good,the problem is the page for Reason does not open,however if I turn off UAC it works great.Would your tutorial solve this problem?

 

[Brink]

Hello Mikcara, and welcome to Seven Forums.

I do not believe it may be able to help with opening a program from within another program. It's good to help with allowing a program to run elevated in an administrator account without getting a UAC prompt with UAC still turned on.

Have you tried running Sonar and/or Reason with Run as administrator (elevated) to see if Reason may be able to open within afterwards without having to turn off UAC?

Hope this helps some,
Shawn

 

[mikcara]

Thanks Shawn,the swift reply is appreciated,it does indeed work as suggested,how silly of me not to try this myself,in my defence I am 65yrs old and must have suffered a "senior moment" but you know I have struggled with this problem and Sonar support never once suggested this after a week of twoing and froing and you've solved the problem" tout suite" Well done and thank you!

 

[Brink]

That's great news Mikcara. I certainly can understand those "moments".

 

[whs]

Shawn, remember this little glitch I had found earlier:

The only thing I noticed is that when I now call cmd with this shortcut, it is initially not active - have to click on the cmd window to activate it. No big deal, but I thought I mention it.

I finally solved it here: Control Panel\Ease of Access\Ease of Access Center\Make the mouse easier to use by checking the box: Activate a window by hovering over it with the mouse. That did the trick

I got the idea from post#6 in this thread: http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/145765-possible-customize.html#post1260880

 

[Brink]

Very nice Wolfgang. Who would have thought it.

 

[whs]

Yeah, and as usual you were already miles ahead. I had no clue that you had a tut for it - LOL

 

[Brink]

LOL, but you are the one that helped bring them together.

 

[sewordz]

Hi brink,

This is my first question in the forum. So here goes...

How can I make this, so that Standard Users can also access the program without prompted to enter administrator password?

Actually, my situation is like this. I have installed a program using administrator account, and now, I want to let my brothers also to use the programs. The program will prompt for administrator password, so I dont want to give admin password to him. Is there anyway I can do this?

 

[Brink]

Hello Sewordz, and welcome to Seven Forums.

I'm sorry, but the elevated shortcut created in this tutorial cannot be used by a standard user account.

 

[jetablack4]

For some reason I cannot get this to work. I followed the instructions diligently and retried it numerous time to ensure I was not making a simple mistake. However, when I click on the shortcut created I see a CMD prompt box open and close very quickly and then nothing happens. If I go to the task scheduler and simply click run on the task it opens the program. However, that is the only way to get it open, the shortcut will not do it. Can anyone look at my xml script to see if I made any errors

 

[Brink]

Hello Joe,

Could you post screenshots of the task fully displayed with all settings in Task Scheduler to see if something may stand out?

 

[jetablack4]

Let me know if you need anymore besides these two...Thanks

 

[Brink]

Ah, ok. I see the problem. You didn't create your task inside the actual Task Scheduler Library folder like displayed in step 2 and 10, but created the task in your new myTasks folder instead.

Since you have it in the myTasks folder instead, you would want to use this target location below for the shortcut instead to indicate the the TDameritrade task is in the myTasks folder instead of the default Task Scheduler Library folder.

%windir%\System32\schtasks.exe /run /tn myTasks\TDameritrade