Tuesday, May 01, 2018

How to Always Run a Program as an Administrator

There are many ways a user account can have admin access to the local computer. It can come from the domain account settings on a network, by being the only account on that computer, or because the user account was added to the local users administrative group. Admin access is what allows users to install apps, add-ons and software updates. Unfortunately, even an admin account does not run programs as an administrator by default. Instead, programs are run in standard mode to reduce security risks. 

Running in standard mode can sometimes present problems. Certain features might not be available or function properly. Running the program as an administrator often fixes this issue.

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How to Always Run a Program as an Administrator


Running programs in standard mode is fine for many programs and reduces the access which provides better security controls. However, there are times when running the program as an administrator is a necessity. This post explains how to do this once, and how to set this as the default.


A recent example of where a program needs to be run in administrator mode came from QuickBooks accepting online payments. In this case, the transport layer security level protocol, known as TLS, needed to use version 1.2 to comply with QuickBooks standards. Each time QuickBooks was opened, it prompted with an error about the minimum qualifications not being met. Unfortunately, even after all configurations were set to the listed requirements, the error persisted. Luckily, running QuickBooks as an administrator removed the warning when starting the program. 

To run any program as an administrator a single time, right-click on the program or program shortcut and select "Run as Administrator" from the menu. If you have a program that you always need to run as an Administrator, there is an easy way to set that program to operate this way that only needs to be set once.

To permanently run the program as an administrator:
  • Right-click on the program shortcut and select "Properties" listed at the bottom. 
  • Click on the "Compatibility" tab.
  • At the bottom of the window, under the "Privilege Level" heading, check the box next to "Run this program as an administrator".

  • Click "Apply" and "Ok" to save this change.
  • Open the program normally and it will open as an administrator.
For most functions it is not necessary to run programs as an administrator. However, some programs need to be run as an administrator to provide required functionality. If this is the case, it is easier to set the program or program shortcut to run as an administrator so each time it is opened, it is run the correct way. This saves time when opening these programs and ensures the program is always being run with the correct permissions.

As always, taking a few minutes to configure special options can save a great deal of time if you know how to make the appropriate changes!


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