Open any program as administrator without UAC prompt

Often, you need to run apps elevated in Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8. Programs which require admin privileges show a UAC prompt. The Registry Editor app is a good example of such an app. If the application you are using frequently requires a UAC request every time you start it, it can be a bit annoying. In this article, we will see how to create a shortcut to run apps elevated without a UAC prompt in Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8.

To bypass the UAC prompt and start an app elevated, you need to create a special task in the Windows Task Scheduler which allows executing apps with admin privileges. The Task Scheduler has a graphical MMC version (taskschd.msc) which we will use.

In the tutorial below, I will show how to make Regedit run elevated without a UAC prompt. You can repeat the steps for any app you want to launch elevated.

Create a shortcut to run apps elevated without a UAC prompt in Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.

1. Open Control Panel.
2. Go to Control Panel\System and Security\Administrative Tools.
3. Click the shortcut Task Scheduler:
4. On the left, click the item Task Scheduler Library:
5. On the right, click on the link Create task:
6. A new window "Create Task" will be opened. On the General tab, specify the name of the task. Pick some clear name like "App name - elevated". In my case, I will use "Regedit(elevated)".
   You can also fill the description if you want.
7. Now tick the checkbox named "Run with highest privileges":
8. Now, switch to the Actions tab. There, click the "New..." button:
9. The "New Action" window will be opened. There, you can specify the path to the executable file of the app you are trying to run elevated without a UAC prompt. In my case, I will enter

   c:\windows\regedit.exe

   See the following screenshot:

   Note: by default, apps started from tasks like we just created, will start without getting focus. Its window might appear in the background.
   If you are not happy with this issue, then add the Action for the task as follows:
   - In "Program/Script", enter the following:

   C:\windows\system32\cmd.exe

   In "Add agruments", type the following:

   /c start "" program.exe program arguments if required

   In my example with Regedit it will look as follows:

10. Click OK in the New Action dialog to close it.
11. Switch to the Conditions tab:Untick these options
    - Stop if the computer switches to battery power
    - Start the task only if the computer is on AC power
    See the following screenshot:
12. Now, click OK to close the Create Task window. It is a good idea to test your task right now. Right click it and select Run from the context menu. It should open the app you specified:
13. Now, create a new shortcut to launch the app from your Desktop.
    Right click the empty space on your Desktop and select New -> shortcut:
14. In the "Type the location of the item" box, enter the following:

    schtasks /run /tn "your task name"

    In my case, it should be the following command:

    schtasks /run /tn "Regedit(elevated)"

    

15. Name your shortcut as you want:
16. Finally, set the appropriate icon for the shortcut you have created and you are done:

That's it. As you can see, creating elevated shortcuts takes too many actions and a notable amount of time.
To save your time, you can use Winaero Tweaker. The feature called "Elevated Shortcut" does everything mentioned above and helps you to create elevated shortcuts quickly.

1. Download and unpack Winaero Tweaker app.
2. Go to Tools \ Elevated Shortcut:
3. Create a shortcut using its friendly user interface and you are done!