Do you have a program or script that has to be run as administrator and you want a shortcut for it that doesn’t bring up User Account Control (UAC)? Here is a simple trick that will get rid of the annoying UAC prompt.

The trick makes use of Windows Task Scheduler to create a task with highest privileges. The task is then used in a shortcut. First, create the task:

1. Open Task Scheduler by entering “sched” (without quotes) in the Start search box. Another way is  Control Panel-System and Security-Administrative Tools-Schedule tasks.

2. In the right pane of the Task Scheduler interface (shown in a previous tip), click “Create Task”.

3. The dialog shown below will open.

4. Give the task a name. You will need to use this later.

5. Be sure to check the box by “Run with highest privileges”. This is what keeps the UAC prompt from popping up.

6. Click the tab “Actions”

7. Click the button “New…“

8. The dialog window shown below will open.

9. Enter or browse to the full path and name of the program you want to run. If it has spaces,  

enclose the entire path and name in quotation marks.

10. Click “OK“

11. If you are using a laptop or other battery-powered device, click the “Conditions” tab and remove any power settings that might interfere with running on a battery.

12. Click “OK”

13. Next, you create a shortcut to run the task:

• Right-click on an empty spot on the desktop.
• In the context menu that opens, choose New—Shortcut.
• In the box under “Type the location of the item”, enter
       schtasks /run /tn “your_taskname”
  where your_taskname is what was used in step 4 above. Be sure to keep quotes around the task name.
• Click “Next”
• Enter a name for the shortcut.
• Click “Finish”
• Place the shortcut anywhere convenient. 

And there you have it – a shortcut that will run a program with elevated privileges without the UAC dialog popping up.

Enjoy!

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.

Via Techsupportalert