I have two computers running Vista. Both were set up similarly. One of them is a desktop computer. The other one is a laptop. Since I often run batch files, some of which require elevation, I created a shortcut on the Desktop of both computers to the Command Prompt. Now, when working on my laptop, if I right-click on the Command Prompt shortcut and choose "Run as administrator", Vista requires that I click "Accept" and then it opens a Command Prompt window with elevation. That's normal. However, if I do exactly the same thing on my desktop machine, nothing happens. That is, "Run as administrator" does nothing. No prompt, no window, no nothing. This happens just on shortcuts. If I do the same on CMD.EXE itself, it works! At first I thought I had messed up the Vista installation on my desktop, so I reinstalled Vista from scratch. Immediately after the fresh intallation, the behaviour is still the same. I've done some research into the Windows security policies on both computers. I've noticed my laptop has 10 UAC security options under Computer Configuration/Windows Settings/Security Settings/Local Policies/Security Options. My desktop, however, has only 9. There's one called "Allow UIAccess applications to prompt for elevation without using the secure desktop", which is set to "Disabled" on the laptop, but missing altogether on the desktop. I wonder if this setting is related to the abnormal behaviour I've observed on the desktop. Even if it isn't, how do I add that security setting to the desktop? Any suggestions about restoring "Run as administrator" functionality when righ-clicking on shortcuts? Thanks!

Hi, First, I want to confirm following:1. Does this problem occur before?2. Which user log on desktop computer when running CMD command? Please ensure the account you log on has administrative privilege. such as administratorBesides, try to disable UAC to see if it works. Also, please copy the CMD.exe program from another laptop computer to desktop computer and then create the shortcuts to see if it do the trick.Hope this helps.

emrancano wrote: There's one called "Allow UIAccess applications to prompt for elevation without using the secure desktop", which is set to "Disabled" on the laptop, but missing altogether on the desktop. I wonder if this setting is related to the abnormal behaviour I've observed on the desktop. Even if it isn't, how do I add that security setting to the desktop? I believe the UIAccess setting was added after the initial release of Windows Vista (in other words, for SP1 or a hotfix). To confirm that, check the version numbers of Windows Vista on the two computers. But, no, it has nothing to do with the symptom you describe. I just tested it on my computer, which happens to be SP1, and it works as expected. I'd make sure that the shortcut is pointing to the file you think it is (you never know), and then do a full virus and spyware scan. Failing that, it might be that something has become corrupted.

Yes, this happens consistently on this machine. It happened the first time I installed it, and it happened again when I had to reinstall on a new HD when the previous one broke down. It doesn't happen on my laptop, though. My user on both machines has administrative privileges, but it isn't THE Administrator. My login name is my initials, and that user belongs to the Administrators group. The shortcut on my desktop is a real shortcut to Command Prompt (CMD.exe),and yes, it works if I double-click on the thing. The only problem is that if I try to "Run as administrator" by right-clicking on the shortcut, nothing happens. No prompt. No Command Prompt window. No error. No nothing. It's as if I hadn't done anything, because that's what Vista does. Nothing at all. I suppose there must be a registry glitch that causes this, as this doesn't happen when I use my laptop, which is installed exactly the same way. But hey!, it works there. Not on my desktop computer. Don't ask me why.

Hi, Please use following troubleshooting tool to see if any file or registry is blocked: 1. Download Process Monitor from the following link and save it to Desktop. http://download.sysinternals.com/Files/ProcessMonitor.zip 2. Extract the ProcessMonitor.zip to Desktop. 3. Go to the Process Monitor folder and double click Procmon.exe. Note: If the Filer window appears, please click Cancel. 4. Click File -> Capture Events to stop capturing events. 5. Click Edit -> Clear Display. 6. Close all other programs to avoid generating unnecessary logs with Process Monitor. 7. In Process Monitor, Click File -> Capture Events to start to capture. 8. Reproduce the problem. 9. As soon as the problem is reproduced, please switch back to the Process Monitor and then click Capture Events to stop capturing. Then, checkif anyerror messageprompts in output event. Hope this helps.

The ProcessMonitor utility produced a logover 15Mb in length! The first entry of runas occurs about one fifth into the log; the last entry of runas occurs near the end. There are over 20,000 entries! Does anybody know precisely what error (or NOT FOUND) entry I should look for? Otherwise, parsing the log couldtake weeks! Thanks.

Hi, Please check if this problem occurs in the Windows Vista safemode. You also can perform a cleanboot.AClean Boot will allow us to isolate any device drivers or programs that are loading at startup that may be causing a conflict with other device drivers or programs that are installed in your computer. 1) Run MSCONFIG.EXE. 2) In the Services tab, click "Hide All Microsoft Services" and click "Disable All". 3) In the Startup tab, click "Disable All". Click OK. (This will temporarily prevent third-party programs from runningautomatically during start-up.) 4) Restart the computer. Does the problem still persist? If the problem does not occur, it indicates that the problem is related to one application or service we have disabled. You can use the MSCONFIG tool again to re-enable the disabled item one by one to find out the culprit. For you information, Windows Vista SP1 has been released. Please also try toinstall it: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=874A414B-32B2-41CC-BD8B-D71EDA5EC07C&displaylang=en Hope this helps.

Thank you for your responses. I've been away from Windows for a few days (had work to do on a Mac!). I've tried booting into Safe Mode. I understand most services will be disabled by default that way. Same thing happens. If I click on "Run as administrator" when on a shortcut, nothing happens. I'll have to try the SP1 thing, but that'll have to wait for several days. Thanks.

Some people have had trouble like this when they install software that alters your right click context menus.If you have recently installed any software that added options to your right click menu,try uninstalling it and see it the problem persists.

I've got the same problem on Vista Ultimate 32 bit - run as administrator on short cut doesn't work, but run as administrator on an EXE does. Annoying, since I've always got to go into the shortcut properties, open file location, then right click on the EXE and run. If anyone has a solution to this problem other than reformatting and reinstalling Vista, please let me know.

This behavior has started after I installed "Bazar" repository manager. This application seems to be basedon the Tortoise's crappy shell integration. Tortoise have done a poor shell integration. Either it will usea noticiable CPU load to keep the file/folder icons up to date. This is the case in Windows Server 2003. Eitheritwill mess with the "Run As Administrator" in Windows Server 2008.I was suspecting Tortoise for this "Run As Administraror" shortcut innoperativeness.As soon as I haveuninstalled Bazar, this functionality was available again. ;-)moving arround...

Yes, I can confirm, that this "right click run as administrator doesn't work" problem occured because one of the applications has incorrectly inserted its item into the context menu. I just ran the app to blame, and in its settings I disabled its context menu insertion. And the incorrectly behaving app wasn't the one, which is very widely known. So its name isn't worth mentioning either.