

Note that this change will only be enabled for the current user.

This produces the same result as the option found in the right-click menu, but it makes the setting permanent, so that the app will always run in administrator mode regardless of how it’s launched.Ĭheck the box and then click Apply.

The feature we’re interested in, however, is Run this program as an administrator. Here, you’ll find a number of options that may enable older software to run on modern versions of Windows. Right-click on the app’s executable and select Properties, then click on the Compatibility tab. In our example, we’re using the video conversion software RipBot264, and its executable is RipBot264.exe. Navigate to the location on your hard drive where the application is installed (usually located in the applicable subfolder of the Program Files directory). If you want all instances of a particular app to run in administrator mode, you can change the app’s compatibility settings. We’ll be using Windows 8.1 in our screenshots, but this tip applies to Windows Vista and Windows 7 as well.Īlways Start an Application with Administrator Privileges

Here are two ways to enable an application to always run with administrator privileges (or in “administrator mode”) in Windows. This is easy enough to do on an ad hoc basis with a simple right-click on an application’s executable, and a selection of the “run as administrator” command.īut if you frequently run a certain application that requires administrator privileges, it can be annoying to launch it with a right-click every time. Unfortunately, it also caused problems with many software applications, especially older apps that were written at a time when administrator privileges could be assumed in most cases.Īs a result, some applications require that users employ the “run as administrator” option in order to function properly, or at all. This new policy, which continues today in Windows 8.1, wasn’t perfect, but it greatly increased the security of Windows as a whole. Only applications with administrator privileges could access important parts of Windows, and users had to specifically enable these apps to “run as administrator.” Starting with Windows Vista back in 2007, Microsoft made the very smart decision to limit the ability of applications to make key changes to a user’s PC.
