In this tutorial, you will learn how to run an application as an administrator. This is useful when the software specifically requires it. It’s also useful when you want a user doing modifications that his current user profile won’t allow.
Option 1
Create a shortcut with administrator password saved
In order to create a shortcut with administrator password saved please follow these steps:
1. Identify the executable that needs to be run as administrator, i.e. “C:\Program Files (x86)\WinDirStat\windirstat.exe”
2. In the below syntax replace the ComputerName and “path to executable“ variables with your own values.
runas /user:ComputerName\Administrator /savecred “path to executable“
a. ComputerName: Cloud computer where shortcut will be run.
In order to find out your Cloud Computer name, please login to your Cloud computer and open a command prompt window by typing CMD in the windows search button.
Click Command Prompt and type hostname, hit enter to display your computer name.
b. Path to executable: This is the complete path to the application to run as administrator and it was identified in step 1.
In this example, the shortcut will be like this:
runas /user:VM43766\Administrator /savecred “C:\Program Files (x86)\WinDirStat\windirstat.exe”
3. Login to your Cloud Computer with the user that would need to run this application as administrator, right click in Desktop and create a new shortcut.
4. In the Create Shortcut window paste Step 2 command with your values(runas /user:VM43766\Administrator /savecred “C:\Program Files (x86)\WinDirStat\windirstat.exe”) and click Next.
5. Type the shortcut name and then click Finish.
6. Right click in the new shortcut and then select properties to change icon format.
7. Click the Change Icon button
8. This message will be shown, click OK to close it and continue.
9. In the following window click Browse… button in orde to loca the application icon.
10. Explore to the application installation path to select the executable and click open.
11. In the next window Click OK to accept the icon selected.
12. Finally click Apply and then OK to be back to user desktop.
13. Double click the recently created shortcut to execute the application, next type the Administrator password so it can be saved.
14. Once saved the application will launch and it will be running as administrator and not as the user logged in into the Cloud Computer.
15. The password has now been saved and shortcut won’t ask for any password again.
Option 2
Disable User Account Control and configure shortcut to run as administrator
In this option it’s a requirement to disable UAC in Cloud Computer to be able to run shortcuts as administrator and not being prompted for a password.
Please follow these steps in order to configure this kind of shortcut.
1. Login to your Cloud Computer as Administrator and create a new shortcut, right click over the shortcut and click properties.
2. In the Properties window go to the Compatibility tab and click the Change settings for all users button.
3. Click Apply and OK to close the Compatibility window and OK again to close the Properties window.
4. Open windows explorer and browse the user that would need to run this shortcut as administrator and copy it to its Desktop folder. i.e. c:\Users\test1\Desktop
5. Login to your Cloud computer as the desired user, i.e. test1 and the shortcut should look like the image below, the yellow and blue shield indicates that this shortcut is being executed as administrator.
6. In order to be able to run this shortcut without being asked for the Administrator password User Account Control must be disabled, this can be done via Group Policy, please follow the steps below to complete this setting.
a. Login to your Cloud Computer as Administrator and in the search button type gpedit.msc, select it and hit enter.
b. In the Local Group Policy Editor expand Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Security Options.
c. In the right pane, scroll down to the bottom to find User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode and double-click on it, choose Disabled and click OK.
d. You will be prompted to reboot your Cloud Computer, reboot at a good time and then connect again to run your icon.
For more information about User Account Control please read: Disabling User Account Control (UAC) on Windows Server
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