Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
User Account Control or UAC requests confirmation when a program needs administrative access. If you know it's safe, we can bypass UAC with a shortcut.
I have a program (songbird.exe) that writes some information to an area of Windows 7 that requires administrative rights. As such, every time I run it, I am pestered by UAC. I understand that there is a workaround to this by creating an entry in the Windows 7 Task Scheduler, setting it to run as Administrator, then creating a shortcut which will execute that task entry. Songbird is a trusted program - I have absolutely no concerns that it is doing naughty things. Knowing that I can do a workaround and knowing HOW to do it are two different things. Any help would be appreciated.
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I've experienced the same thing with Winamp, another music playing program, in the past.
It can definitely be annoying.
While I'd personally want Winamp, Songbird, or whatever to stop doing things that require administrative access (playing music shouldn't require administrator - it just shouldn't), the fact is that the workaround might well be a more expeditious solution when this situation arises.
And you're very correct - the workaround uses the Task Scheduler in an interesting way.
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Running as administrator
As I've written about before, logging in as a user with administrative privileges doesn't mean that you're running as an administrator. All that it really means is that you're allowed to.
So if I wanted to run a copy of Windows Command Prompt as an administrator, you would right-click the icon or menu entry that starts it normally and click "Run as administrator".
Run that and you'll get the familiar UAC prompt:
Some programs will actually do something that requires administrative access after they've been run normally, at which point the UAC prompt will appear automatically.
Either way, it's an interruption, particularly if you trust the program and it happens every darned time.
The Task Scheduler workaround
Click the "Start" orb, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Task Scheduler:
Alternately, you can type "task scheduler" into the Windows search box.
In the resulting window, click Create Task...:
In the resulting screen, give the task a name:
Also, make sure that "Run with highest privileges" is checked - this is the "Run as administrator" option.
Click the Actions tab, and then the New... button:
Enter in the full path to the program that you want to run. In this example, I've simply selected cmd.exe, the Windows Command Prompt.
Click OK.
Click on the Conditions tab:
If checked, uncheck "Start the task only if the computer is on AC power", which may be set by default. We want this to work even if our laptop is from a battery.
Click OK and close the Task Scheduler.
Right-click the empty desktop, click New, and then click Shortcut.
The "location of the item" in this example is:
C:\Windows\System32\schtasks.exe /run /tn "Administrative Shortcut"
That's the full path to the scheduled tasks program, followed by the "/run" option, and the "/tn" (task name) option specifying, in quotes, the name of the task that we created.
Click Next to give it a name, then click Finish.
Double-click on that icon, and the task will start; the program will run with administrative privileges and the UAC prompt will not interrupt you.
There's only one small catch. The program will not have focus when it starts. This can be somewhat confusing as we're used to starting a program and then being able to interact with it right away. When a program is started with this trick, you'll need to click it after it starts to be able to type into it or otherwise interact with it.
Article C5086 - February 22, 2012 « »
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
February 23, 2012 12:58 AM
Is there a way to use AutoHotkey for this?
I've just started using it and thought it might help. I know this may be too techie for the OP but I'd like to know because I also have programs that keep asking for UAC.
Thanks,
24-Feb-2012
February 24, 2012 12:38 PM
Thanks Leo. That makes perfect sense! I've been getting carried away with AutoHotkey after your recommendation and momentarily forgot about security!
February 24, 2012 8:15 PM
If you install windows 7 with SP1, there is much improvement in UAC behaviour now it do not prompts you while running number of programmes like winamp, vlc media player, nero etcetra...
February 28, 2012 6:21 AM
If u have a secure pc, Do as I do and turn UAC off. I have never used it from day 1. Never liked it and never will. If u have safe surfing habits and know what ur installing, you'll never have a problem. (I never have to date) Do you're research before installing programs, it only takes a few minutes to do so.