Windows 8- Run everything as Administrator

[chrisd89]

Hi,

I am using Windows 8. I have turned off User Account Control, but it seems that programs that don't request to be run with Administrative privileges (and quite a few, unfortunately badly written legacy programs don't) are still run as a Standard User. I therefore have to fiddle around, e.g. running the programs in compatibility mode, or in the case of MSIs, tricking the programs into running as Administrator by launching an elevated command prompt and running it from that.

I really don't care for this security feature and I would like absolutely every program I ever run to run as Administrator. I know and understand the security risks of doing this, and I know the programs are "to blame", but this computer runs a lot of legacy music software for which updates are not available and is not connected to the internet - I just need things to work.

With this in mind, would anyone who understands Windows 8's user model better than I do please explain how to go about doing this. I note that the built-in Administrator account does exactly what I want - but I would like to same from my normal account ideally.

My account is a member of "Administrators".

ANy tips? Thanks so much!!

CHris

[AngelGraves13]

First thing I do after installing Windows is disable User Account Control. It's completely useless if you know what you're doing, and it's annoying to allow a program you trust every single time you launch it. Now if it had a "remember this choice" option then I might leave it on.

[chrisd89]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. In Windows 7, this was definitely the case; when you turned off User Account Control, everything ran as Administrator.

But things seem different in Windows 8.

As a test, drag the slider for User Account Control down to the bottom, and restart. Then open the command prompt. Note that even though UAC is off, it does not say "Administrator: Command Prompt" in the title menu.

However, right-click and select "Run As Administrator", and it does.

It is like they have changed it from being "UAC is Off" (as it was in Windows 7) to "UAC Silent Mode" (which was a little known feature which basically did the same as clicking "Yes" to the UAC popups for you if they appeared). It's like that's been made the default, so if a program doesn't itself ask to be run elevated, it never does get run elevated. But I really really want it properly off, so programs get run elevated even if they don't ask to be.

If you see what I mean!

Thanks!!

Chris

[Blimpo]

I'd also like to know how to do this..

I play UT2004 and what I noticed from switching to Windows 8 is that if I don't run the game as admin, and I make changes to my settings, server favorites, etc.. my config files (ini's) are updated and saved to "C:\Users\{Username}\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\UT2004", instead of being directly updated/saved in the the directory where the game is installed.

[Dot Matrix]

You cannot disable UAC in Windows 8. There is no option to do so.

[ITFiend]

It is like they have changed it from being "UAC is Off" (as it was in Windows 7) to "UAC Silent Mode"

It looks like that is exactly the case. The older method of disabling UAC via the slider no longer works. You must edit the registry now. You may not have noticed, but at no point does the UserAccountControlSetting.exe actually ask you for a reboot in Windows 8 when you move the slider to the bottom.

So don't even bother with the slider. Just run PowerShell as Administrator and paste the following to disable UAC:

Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" -Name "EnableLUA" -Value "0"

shutdown -r -t 0

[TPreston]

Just do the above, Silently elevate admins and deny guests and users

[nekrosoft13]

just FYI that will also disable the metro store, can't install anything new with UAC off

Just do the above, Silently elevate admins and deny guests and users

were is that? can you post screenshot?

[AngelGraves13]

Well then I suppose I have UAC set to silent. It's good enough for me.

[Blimpo]

Run PowerShell as Administrator and paste the following to disable UAC:

Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" -Name "EnableLUA" -Value "0"

shutdown -r -t 0

Thank you, this worked for me :)

[TPreston]

just FYI that will also disable the metro store, can't install anything new with UAC off

were is that? can you post screenshot?

group policy or local group policy > Computer configuration > policys > windows >security > local

Silently elevates and dosnt brake the windows store, Good enough for a home network (Y)

[HawkMan]

First thing I do after installing Windows is disable User Account Control. It's completely useless if you know what you're doing, and it's annoying to allow a program you trust every single time you launch it. Now if it had a "remember this choice" option then I might leave it on.

You second statement invalidates your first statement.

[nekrosoft13]

group policy or local group policy > Computer configuration > policys > windows >security > local

Silently elevates and dosnt brake the windows store, Good enough for a home network (Y)

thanks will look for it, that can actually make windows 8 more user friendly

[AngelGraves13]

You second statement invalidates your first statement.

I said I don't need it and it's annoying, but if it doesn't annoy me then I don't care if it is on or not. What's hard to understand about that?

[ITFiend]

Thank you, this worked for me :)

Actually, as it turns out, what I posted will also break the Microsoft Store. I practically never disable UAC and was unaware of this limitation.

If you entered my registry change to disable UAC, re-enable it with the following command:

PowerShell as Administrator (This requires a restart)

Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" -Name "EnableLUA" -Value "1" #Default value is 1

shutdown -r -t 0[/CODE]

To enable automatic silent UAC elevation for administrators without breaking the Microsoft Store you should do the following instead.

[i]PowerShell as Administrator (This takes effect immediately)[/i]

[CODE]
#The following is equal to the Security Policy "User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode" = "Elevate without prompting"
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" -Name "ConsentPromptBehaviorAdmin" -Value "0" #Default value is 2

#The following is equal to the Security Policy "User Account Control: Allow UIAccess applications to prompt for elevation without using the secure dekstop" = "Enabled"
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" -Name "EnableUIADesktopToggle" -Value "1" #Default value is 0[/CODE]

[shockz]

First thing I do after installing Windows is disable User Account Control. It's completely useless if you know what you're doing, and it's annoying to allow a program you trust every single time you launch it. Now if it had a "remember this choice" option then I might leave it on.

/palm. You probably disable system restore too.

[nekrosoft13]

group policy or local group policy > Computer configuration > policys > windows >security > local

Silently elevates and dosnt brake the windows store, Good enough for a home network (Y)

maybe i missed something, but i don't it worked on my server 2012 machine.

makemkv when started normally will not detect any drives, but when run as administrator it will detect them.

just one example, still same issue.

[HawkMan]

I said I don't need it and it's annoying, but if it doesn't annoy me then I don't care if it is on or not. What's hard to understand about that?

No you said it's completely useless if you know what you're doing(which is actually wrong in itself, but that aside), Then you said you would leave it on if it had a "remember" function, which demonstrates that you don't know what you're doing. hence a contradiction, and invalidated.

[AngelGraves13]

/palm. You probably disable system restore too.

Yes, System Restore is useless and slows down my hard drive.

No you said it's completely useless if you know what you're doing(which is actually wrong in itself, but that aside), Then you said you would leave it on if it had a "remember" function, which demonstrates that you don't know what you're doing. hence a contradiction, and invalidated.

I always install the same programs, so it doesn't matter to me if it's on or not. What annoys me to no end is when it asks me if I want to launch a program that I've already installed like Diskeeper. Diskeeper needs to access the Management Console, so it needs permission through UAC. Another program is Origin, which gives a UAC prompt at startup. Steam doesn't require it, but some games need to be launched as Administrator to install completely the first time. It's a mess.

If I leave it on it annoys me and does nothing. If I turn it off it doesn't annoy me and still does nothing because I still launch the same ****ing programs. In Windows 8 you can't even turn it off, so this whole ****ing thread is invalidated and pointless.

[HawkMan]

:facepalm:

[TPreston]

maybe i missed something, but i don't it worked on my server 2012 machine.

makemkv when started normally will not detect any drives, but when run as administrator it will detect them.

just one example, still same issue.

Mod the shortcut to run as admin and your done, The group policy just makes "run as admin" silently elevate without the secure desktop and dialog ie like a regular shortcut.

[nekrosoft13]

Mod the shortcut to run as admin and your done, The group policy just makes "run as admin" silently elevate without the secure desktop and dialog ie like a regular shortcut.

that won't really help, trying to do what I had on windows 7/Server 2008 R2, so everytime I double click on an program or shortcut it automatically starts it with admin rights. changing all shortcuts is dedious work

[Dick Montage]

Angel Graves: You clearly don't know as much as you think you do about UAC and system restore!

[Noir Angel]

I don't use system restore either, it's always one of the first things I disable when I install Windows. Never caused me issues yet

[Dick Montage]

Never caused me issues yet