how to run every app as administrator

[zdoe]

background - too many apps are not aware of win7 security policies, and troubleshooting errors stemming from this based on non-descriptive error messages - or none at all - is taking way too much time.

if i didn't want to be an administrator, i wouldn't run my box using an admin account, right?

so - how to run everything as admin?

i do have UAC on the lowest level of the slider, which, it's said, disables it, but it seems to me that it's still not completely out of the system.

(yes, i'm aware that this is a security risk. but the alternative is a sanity risk.)

 

[The Howling Wolves]

Check this great tutorial out...
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/11841-run-administrator.html

 

[zdoe]

i've seen that tutorial, but it only advices on how to run "a" program as an admin. i need a system-wide fix where all traces of UAC are gone and everything runs as admin.

 

[Brink]

Hello zdoe,

The easiest way to do this is to enable the built-in Administrator account, and log on to it to use instead. While you are logged in to the built-in Administrator account, everything runs as administrator without UAC prompts.

Having everything to run as administrator automatically like this is strongly not recommended though. Everything will also include any malware or viruses if your computer gets infected as well. Since these malicious programs will also run as administrator like this, they will have full control of your computer without you even knowing it.

The safer option here would be to use OPTION THREE in the tutorial below as Howling Wolves suggested to manually have set each program that you want to run as administrator with UAC approval whenever you run it.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/11841-run-administrator.html

Hope this helps some,
Shawn

 

[zdoe]

shawn - yes - this helps. i had kind of come to expect that this was the answer. but do you know of any way of elevating my current half-admin account to the level of the real-admin as the system account is - or merging the accounts?

viruses are overrated. most of them are easy to nix, and killing a virus you're battling a known, usually single entity, whereas app-specific uac hassles are mostly undocumented and often with nothing pointing to the source of the problem.

basically i'd like 7 to be xp, + GPT partitions and larger addressable memory pool.

 

[Brink]

You could use the To Elevate Administrators Privilege Level for no Prompting by UAC step in either method in the tutorial below to elevate your normal administrator account to be almost like the built-in Administrator account. It works the same in Windows 7 as well.

User Account Control (UAC) - Elevate Privilege Level - Vista Forums

 

[zdoe]

i've done this registry hack, but the "run as administrator" option is still on the right-click menu, and my current understanding is that this only removes the nag screen saying, in effect: did you REALLY just click that button?

& someone somewhere was writing similar observations where not everything runs as admin despite this.

or am i mistaken?

but i do assume that using the system's admin account makes for a real admin.

 

[Brink]

It's close, but not exactly the same as actually being logged on to the built-in Administrator account.

 

[zdoe]

see - if you ask me, if it looks like a virus and acts like a virus, it IS a virus, even if given to us by bill himself. UAC pops up screens you don't want to see, and prevents you in unexpected ways from doing what you wanted to do. that's what a virus does.

this one's probably the hardest to nix of what i've seen so far.

 

[Brink]

If you use the built-in Administrator account, then it will give you what you are looking for though.


I know UAC can be a pain sometimes, especially with old programs, but it really is a last line of defense to give you the user a chance to allow or prevent something from running elevated via a UAC prompt before it does and has full access and permission of the whole computer. If you are interested, the contents in the NOTE box in the tutorial below gives much more details about UAC and it's purpose.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/299-user-account-control-uac-change-notification-settings.html

 

[zdoe]

ok - thanks for your informed pointers. i'll be looking to merge my account to the system's admin one.

i don't doubt the good intentions, but the user should be provided an-opt-out, like there IS an option to turn off the windows firewall. i believe UAC was one of the major reasons why vista failed.

whether we want it or not, we'll be using apps written before UAC came around for quite some time still, and you can't fault their coders for not writing with UAC in mind.

 

[Brink]

You're welcome. I hope it goes smoothly for you.

 

[Mystere]

i don't doubt the good intentions, but the user should be provided an-opt-out, like there IS an option to turn off the windows firewall. i believe UAC was one of the major reasons why vista failed.

whether we want it or not, we'll be using apps written before UAC came around for quite some time still, and you can't fault their coders for not writing with UAC in mind.

I think you're using a sledgehammer as a fly swatter. This seems to work ok, but then in 6 months you look around and notice all the holes in the walls, broken windows, and furniture and think "Hmm.. maybe i was a bit too careless".

Your problem is not with UAC, but rather that you don't understand how UAC works, and what it actually does.

Most people don't realize that UAC doesn't prevent anyone from doing anything. UAC is what *ALLOWS* you to do things. UAC is just a tool that allows applications to elevate their privileges in a locked down environment. Without UAC, you just wouldn't be able to do anything in that environment.

Once you realize that UAC is not where your problem is, the real solutions begin to show themselves, and without putting your system at risk.