Using “Run as Administrator” does nothing at all

Question

I am using Windows 7 PC and have local administrator rights on this PC. Recently, when I right-click an icon in Windows Explorer and select Run as Administrator nothing happens. No window is opened at all, and I see no process being started using Process Explorer. I also get the same behavior when using the Ctrl+Shift+Enter keys in the Start menu’s search box, as suggested at HowToGeek. What could the problem be?

Solution 1

The problem is because some software that you installed recently affected the context menu which now causes the "Run as Admin" selection to not work. See the top answer of the following question for more information.

In my case it was NCH Express Zip. In order to track down the culprit, look at all the context menu options and uninstall the associated software. Check if you got it working, if not, uninstall the next software - rinse and repeat until you find the culprit!

Solution 2

Running program with administrator privileges requires the Application Information service. If that service is not running, then you can no longer run things with admin privileges, and worse, you cannot even start it. Check the services snap-in (services.msc) and make sure that it is not disabled or stopped. If it is, then set it to Manual and reboot.

Solution 3

1. Make sure that the service "Secondary Login" is enabled and set to start automatically, and that it is started.

2. Download this link and run it. It is from symantec and makes sure that .exe files are setup properly in the registry to run.

Solution 4

This isn't a solution, technically, but a workaround. I noticed that you can run the equivalent of "cmd.exe" using the another version of Run As Administrator, but only for the Powershell shortcut. The Powershell shortcut has it's own Run As Administrator. I tested it, and it actually "works" even on a machine that can't run cmd.exe as an admin.

Hit Windows key and type Powershell

Solution 5

Does double clicking directly work? If not, there may be something wrong with the program you are trying to launch. Alternatively, you can try typing command prompt in start menu and try start command prompt as admin.

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Comments

[cutrightjm]

What is the icon?

[Bailz]

The UAC shield.

[Jonathan]

After Upgrading to Windows 10 Pro, I can no longer "Run As Administrator" any shortcut. It simply does nothing after clicking "Run As Administrator". Opening the shortcut as a non-administrator works fine.

[Bailz]

The app launches without admin privileges if I double click. I can't launch cmd prompt with admin prileges either.

[Nacht]

hmm.... my Application Information service seems to be stopped, and yet i can still run things as administrator.

[nndhawan]

Why was this downvoted.?This was exactly the problem in which the solution resolves.

[Jonathan]

Note this file is from 2004, so my one concern is that it may not work on the latest windows (maybe it does), here's the blog post about it: symantec.com/security_response/…

[d4v3y0rk]

Note that this reply is from 2012 at which time it worked.

[Farid Z]

In my case and old extension was grabbing everything and its app I already uninstalled. Removed its left over entry from registry and now all all of Windows context menu admin apps work as expected. Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT*\shell\deskpdfcreate

[user2279952]

I had this problem too. It turned out that in my case, NCH Express Zip was also the culprit! After uninstalling NCH Express Zip, clicking 'Run as Administrator' started working perfectly again! Thank you @nndhawan!!

[nndhawan]

Thanks user, I get discouraged with SE sites but your thanks goes a long way that I did something that helped. Thank you!