A Quick and Easy Way to Run a Program Without Getting the UAC Prompt in Windows 7 and 8

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Last updated by v.laurie on 25. November 2020 - 12:04

Even when you are running as administrator, certain programs and scripts still trigger the UAC prompt. If you are a frequent user of a program and know it is safe, this becomes a nuisance. A previous tip showed how to create a shortcut to get around this problem but the procedure takes quite a few steps. Here is another approach that is provided by a small free utility. It will create the shortcut for you in a jiffy.

The program is called ElevatedShortcut for Windows 7 and Windows 8 and is from WinAero. It  is portable and needs no installation. There  are two executables provided, one for Windows 7 and one for Windows 8.  I have used it in Windows 7 and 8, 64-bit, with no problem.

Click the executable file and you get the interface shown in the figure below. Ironically, opening the utility itself triggers the UAC prompt because of its nature. I haven't tried it but I suppose you could create a shortcut for itself to avoid UAC. In any event, using it to create a new shortcut or to modify an old one is very quick and easy.

Elevated Shortcut

  1. Click the button "New shortcut" shown in the figure above and you get the straightforward window shown in the figure shown next.
  2. An Explorer dialog can then be opened by clicking the button on the right of the "Target path" line. From there you select the program file that the shortcut is for.
  3. After the chosen program is entered in the "Target path" line, enter any command line arguments that are needed. Generally, you can ignore this but a script might need an entry.
  4. Click the button on the right of the line for "Folder to store shortcut". From the Explorer dialog that opens, select the location you want. I show the Desktop as an illustration in the figure below. 
  5. Click “OK” and you’re done.

Dialog to elevate a shortcut

In similar fashion, you can elevate a previously existing shortcut with "Modify shortcut". You can also remove a previously elevated shortcut.

And there you have it – no more UAC.

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This tips section is maintained by Vic Laurie. Vic runs several websites with Windows how-to's, guides, and tutorials, including a site for learning about Windows and the Internet and another with Windows 7 tips.

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Comments

I tried creating a new shortcut and modifying an existing shortcut. Neither of them worked. I just get a flash of a black box, and then nothing.

What is your operating system? It works fine for me on Windows 7 or 8.

I failed to mention the I tried this on Win 7.

I've made several shortcuts on Windows 7 64-bit. Maybe your security software is blocking it.

I just tried making elevated shortcut(s) (new and modified)on my laptop (running Win 7) with the same results as I described on my desktop. A black box flashes by and then nothing.

Are you running in a limited account?

No, an administrative account.

The developer's site does not say so but maybe the program uses some .NET framework. Have you removed .NET framework components? Otherwise, the only other thing I can think of is that your security software may be blocking it.

Windows 8 system. Tried this on the program Search Everything which I use all the time. I made the elevated icon per instructions but it doesn't work. Killed it and tried again. Same result. What am I missing? This is about as simple as it gets but for some reason I am stuck.

All I can say is that it worked for me on Windows 8 64-bit. I made two different shortcuts with no problem. The program itself has to go through a UAC challenge, of course.

It does work just fine! I forgot that when Everything installs unless you opt out it will run at Startup. Uninstalled, reinstalled and now it works fine. I just did it for Auglogics too and will use it everytime I get UAC popping up. Good program. Bad me.

Thanks for telling us. I always appreciate it when people tell us how things resolved.

I have found UAC to be an absolutely worthless nuisance, and turning it off is the first thing I do with an install. Just use a good AV, don't go to p0rn etc. sites, and there'll never be a problem. Karma, I think that's called.

Disabling UAC removes a line of defense. That may be OK for experienced people but I think average PC users should keep UAC. If you want to debate the usefulness of UAC, try posting in the forum. You could start an interesting thread there.

I'm with Vic on this. It is irresponsible to give average users the impression that they should just turn-off UAC. IMHO, it would be far better to point out that there are several options available in configuring UAC, and these should only be selected to match the experience of the user.

If a user falls into the habit of just "clicking through" the UAC prompt, then IMHO, they are likely to be the same type of user who don't "read the screen". Case in point is an experienced user knows that not reading the screen could cause them to install unwanted bundled components during a software download. IMHO, developing habits that contribute to letting your guard down is not a good thing.

I also agree that UAC should be left alone. Despite the failings of all OS manufacturers, Microsoft did not invest this amount of time and money to turn out a product that is "absolutely worthless". Here's a couple of others that also agree. http://www.7tutorials.com/uac-why-you-should-never-turn-it-off http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=317697 For me, disabling security features demonstrates a lack of concern for security, period. Of course users are free to operate their computers how they see fit, but it is important not to rely on often flawed third party advice, but to research the subject for yourself. MC - Site Manager.

Am I doing something wrong here?
I tried the link above for WINAERO and it took me to VisualBee, where, after bypassing a pile of software it wanted to add to my pc, it downloaded VisualBee for Miscrosoft PowerPoint, and something called a VisualBee V.1 toolbar!!
I used REVO UNINSTALLER to remove both, and the toolbar wouldn't go away when I opened my CHROME browser.
This is the 2nd instance where I downloaded software from a TECHSUPPORT email, and it loaded junk! I can't believe the gurus there are putting this stuff out for the community to use?
Or am I doing something WRONG?

Are you sure you clicked on the right link? The link on this article is not wrong, and it takes you to the WinAero page, and there is no VisualBee anywhere there. And anyways, even if you did go to wrong page, you should be careful enough to see that this article mentions WinAero, and not VisualBee, and you should not have downloaded it, and even if you downloaded, you should not have installed it. You did something wrong at your end it seems.
Our links do not take you to anything called VisualBee.

I must have clicked on something else! Amazing..tried it again and all's well. I'm no rookie at this, but I must have been careless somewhere along the way on this one! Thanks...and sorry for misleading YOU!

Thanks for posting back, and its OK... it happens sometimes. Glad this time it went fine for you. Still, it's strange to think what might you have clicked on that time, which led you to the wrong link. Well, be careful :). We always make sure that whatever links we post are safe, and we also try to inform users of any bundled extras that might be there in the setup. Still, we can also miss things sometime, and make mistakes. We always appreciate anything that we might have missed, and is bought to our notice.

now how do I pin this to the taskbar?

Right-click the EXE file and choose "Pin to Taskbar".

I meant the shortcut that I created, not the actual program

why not simply disable UAC? I have - never seen a message from it.

Totaly agree!

The continous use of UAC takes (almost) everyone to click always on "Yes" with no reading of the prompted window.

The time show us that UAC is one more useless (or nearly useless) "security feature" from Microsoft.

Disabling UAC removes a line of defense. That may be OK for experienced people but I think average PC users should keep UAC.

I guess I'm in agreement with disabling UAC. Given that most (?all?) people simply click on "yes" to allow the program to run anyway, I'm not sure it serves any useful purpose. It seems that after the first few times, it becomes just a nuisance that people get 'trained' to ignore.

A more useful line of defense is when one of my security programs, i.e., my antivirus or firewall program gets triggered and asks for permission to do something. Better yet, Microsoft should design it so that a randomly selected security warning gets triggered, e.g., three times running my antivirus program gets triggered, then my secure search bar, then my firewall, etc. . Now that would get my attention!

You've raised a very good point. This is true, which makes UAC less effective. An average home user will click on Yes, if the pop up's keeps repeating itself, This comes as a result of his/her reflex. This is especially if 99% of the programs on his computer is safe and if the annoying pop-up's comes up all the time, the rest 1% will also go unpunished. Also for average users it's not easy to identify whether the program they are trying to run is malware or not. The pop-up's doesn't imply anything except whether they want to continue to run. Window's doesn't tell "Hey what you're doing wrong. This is malware". Nowadays malware bypass the security feature by acting as an "innocent" application and making user to click Yes. Mind you there are many other ways to bypass UAC with the so called "smart" codes. The next thing that they will try to learn to do is how to disable this annoying feature from the experienced users. While the intention of Microsoft was good bringing UAC, it's often gives people a false sense of security and more annoyance. I never advise anyone to turn off the UAC, but neither does it protect you if you click continue without thinking of the consequences. For UAC to be useful and to be less annoying this article by Vic is pretty good. :)

Does it work on Vista?
(can't try it out right now - I'm at work...)

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