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Why does my computer say I need

to be administrator, when I am?
In Windows Vista and Windows 7, your account may be
administrator but you still may be denied access, saying
you need to be administrator. I'll show why and what to
do.

//

My computer says that I need to be the administrator [to perform

a task], but I already am! Any ideas as to what is happening?

Sure.
Youre not the administrator. Not really.
Oh, sure, you may think that youre the administrator. And Windows may have even lead
you to believe that youre the administrator.
But, as the result of a new security feature introduced in Windows Vista and made less
obnoxious in Windows 7, youre not the real administrator by default.
But you can be.

Administrator But Not

UAC, or User Account Control, is an important security feature that, in essence, makes the
account that youve created to be the administrator not have administrative privileges by
default.
The reason is that most users run as administrator on their own machine. That means that
without this feature, any programs you run also have full administrative privileges.
Including malware.
Whether you want it or not.
The solution is to think of your
administrator account more
like administrator capable, rather than

Use Run as administrator

with caution and only
when youre sure you need to
use it.

being the actual real-life administrator.

By administrator-capable, I mean that
Windows will often ask you for permission before performing tasks that require true
administrative access and youll just have to say yes or no.

Accounts which are not administrator-capable will have to supply the administrator
password to prove that the user has the authorization to do something that requires
administrative privileges.

Asking Versus Denying

Not all programs are written in such a way that they can ask and its not always possible to
ask in every situation. The best that can happen then is to deny whatever it is youre
attempting if it requires administrative access.
The solution is to run the program as administrator. Because your account is administratorcapable, you can run a program with full administrative privileges.
Many programs have this option, including the Windows Command Prompt, which is where
I most often use this trick. Ill use the more commonly used Windows Explorer as an
example.
Right-click on the Windows Explorer icon:

Now, right-click again, but this time, on the Windows Explorer line in that pop-up menu:

As you can see, theres what were looking for: Run as administrator. Click on that. Youll
get the UAC confirmation prompt. After clicking Yes, that instance of Windows Explorer has
full administrative privileges.

Cautions
Its tempting to just leave that Windows Explorer open and running so that youll never
bump into the restriction, but this opens up risks.
Any program that you start from within that copy of Windows Explorer
inherits administrative privileges. If you run your mail, your browser, your word processing
program or instant messaging client by double-clicking on their icon in this instance of
Windows Explorer, theyll be able to do anything. And that includes any malware, such as
emailed attachments, that they might invite onto your system. Essentially, youll have
completely subverted the security measures that the UAC puts into place.
In addition, Windows treats file ownership and security differently, depending on what user
you are and whether you have full administrative privileges. In other words, the files that
you create with full administrative privileges might not be accessible to you without those
privileges even though you were logged in with the same administrator-capable account.
In short, the security put into place with the UAC is there for an important reason and helps
keep your machine safe from many forms of malware and exploits. Use Run as
administrator with caution and only when youre sure that you need to use it. And even
then, use it only for those things that require it. Close the program (Windows Explorer in
our example above) as soon as you no longer need
the extra capabilities.

Read more:
How do I know when its safe to allow programs that cause the User Account Control
(UAC) notification to occur? User Account Control or UAC asks when programs need
special permissions to do something. Ill look at when those are, and are not
appropriate.
Requires Elevation What does that mean and what do I do? Windows Vista may tell
you that a program requires elevation in order to run. Well look at what that means,
and the various steps you can take.
How do I turn off User Access Control (UAC) in Windows Vista? User Access Control, or
UAC, is new in Windows Vista and prompts you each time an application requires
administrative access. Annoyance, or feature?
Posted: March 3, 2011 In: Windows User Interface
Shortlink: https://askleo.com/4757

About Leo
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he was required to take a programming
class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed. After "retiring" in 2001,
Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers to common computer and technical questions.
More about Leo.

Comments
Kim

March 8, 2011 at 8:14 am

why do i get this error?? Windows securitythese files cant be openedyour internet
security settings prevented one or more files from being opened. Does it have to do with the
administrator account?? I get this everytime i type something into the start menu serarch
areai had vista but upgraded to windows 7?? can you help??
REPLY

Charles Edwards

March 8, 2011 at 8:27 am

Great help thanks a million! I was PO that I could not do things on my own computer.
REPLY

David Usher

March 8, 2011 at 8:42 am

Thank you. With Administrator, can I turn off driver certificate requirements? I have
BlazeDTV which works perfectly with XP, but 7 will not allow the drivers!!!
REPLY

Sebastian Magnano

March 8, 2011 at 10:09 am

All of a sudden when I open e mail with attachments that I know, the email comes thru
without the attachment available. Is it the sender?? or is it my email?? I use Windows mail.
This started about one month ago.
REPLY

Harry Torossian

March 8, 2011 at 11:25 am

I tried spybot and it would not delete 31 items saying I wasnt the administrator. Well I am.
I find this very irritating .
REPLY

Keith McGee

March 8, 2011 at 12:04 pm

Thanks VERY much! This issue was really perplexing and I could find nothing on the MS
help venues. Now I can run Spybot again.
REPLY

Sandy Killila

March 8, 2011 at 1:25 pm

Im with Keith. I was never so disappointed as when I had to abandon SpyBot because I
didnt know how to be more of an administrator than I already was. I love SpyBot and now I
canagainand be an Administrator! Wow.
REPLY

Robert Byrne

March 8, 2011 at 2:44 pm

Brilliant. This problem has bedevilled me ever since I installed Vista O/S. Because I am a
one user one machine man I always thought I was the Administrator but I now understand
why I am not and what to do when I have similar problems in future. Well done Leo
REPLY

Mario

March 8, 2011 at 3:13 pm

This admistrator issue gave me so many headaches!! No more from now on!!Thanks Leo!! It
was a great idea to subscribe to your newsletter!!!!
REPLY

Ted Ramsey

March 8, 2011 at 7:05 pm

Thats fine, if you Visa or 7; but what about XP? I tried what you suggested and it doesnt
work that way. So what can I do because I have the same problem?
The concept doesnt apply to XP. In XP if youre logged in with an account that has
administrative privilegess, then you have those all the time without asking. (Thats
the security issue that UAC fixes.) When logged in as an administrator you can
assign administrative privileges to another account: How do I get administrative
privileges on Windows XP?

10-Mar-2011
REPLY

Edy Medor.

March 8, 2011 at 7:42 pm

I, myself, was always trying to understand this issue about administrative rights and I am
pretty darn sure that everyone at one time or another had to face this mind-boggling
problem while using their PC. I really extol this article which really gives a good
understanding of what its all about.
Many thanks Leo!.
REPLY

Saetana

March 9, 2011 at 9:57 am

Im running Windows 7 64 bit Home Premium and I have completely disabled UAC, those
popups are annoying, even at the lower security levels, plus I had some issues with
installing software (probably because of this same admin-not admin issue). I wouldnt
recommend it for computer novices but Ive had no problems and not one single bit of
malware since I got this PC 12 months ago (I do run full security software plus a few other
precautions), then again I do combine this with being careful using the internet ;o)
REPLY

Mike

March 9, 2011 at 10:26 am

Leo, bless you, thank you! I learned the HARD way never to disable the UAC, but not having
Administrator privileges when needing to install certain programs has been a real pain.
Somehow, stumbling around, Ive gotten it to do what I want, but NOW I can do it
intelligently.
REPLY

Danny

March 12, 2011 at 7:48 am

Thought about this for years you have opened my eyes! Thank You Leo!
REPLY

Frank

April 9, 2011 at 7:25 am

Wow, I just taught this very topic to my students in Operating Systems class. Monday, I am
going to share this article with them for a clear explanation! Good article!
REPLY

Nikon Chick

August 18, 2011 at 9:18 am

Thanx for the info! My son built me a kick ass computer but went back to college and I kept
having this problem and its so frustrating. But now Im back to ruling my computer
REPLY

Robin Clay

November 1, 2011 at 5:23 pm

Thank you for the instructions. Alas! They dont work for me (running Win7)
When I right-click on the Explorer icon, and ditto on Run as administrator, it asks in a new
window, Do you want to allow the following program to make changes to your computer,
Yes or No. Click on Yes, and up comes yet another window, This file does not have a
program associated with it for performing this action. Please install a program, or, if one is
already installed, create an association in the Default Programs control panel.
Whats going on ?
REPLY

Moose

May 31, 2015 at 7:49 am

Im running windows 7 too, and I tried that trick too, but when I got to the

administer page, the yes button was grayed out, so I dont have the option to
overrun the problem. I look at my name and I can see the cute little puppy pic, and
my name and Standard user above it

What the heck? I cant even install games

without the approval of myself, and I cant get it.

REPLY

Lom

February 2, 2012 at 3:12 pm

Hi Leo! Heres one of your italian fan

I have a problem similar to this. I have installed a

videogame (excuse me if I disturb you with such a stupid problem but is really annoying).
When I try to run the .exe file a window pops up saying impossible to axcess to the
dispositive, to the path or the specificated file. It is probable that you dont have the
autorizations requested. (translated from italian, I hope youll understand =) ) i tried
running with UAC disabled, with the run as administrator option but never worked. How to
do? please help me =
REPLY

Angel Ryan

February 7, 2012 at 8:36 am

Leo, my computer is completely down and it too involves the Administrator password. Mine
wont accept it. We cant reboot or anything. Your article taught me a lot about the term
Administrator, can you expand it a little to cover computers that wont accept Administrator
passwords? I am the Administrator (well you know what I mean) and I have always used the
same password for years so its not like I forgot it. It just wont accept it. Thanks so much
and keep up the good work.
Well, you can try reseting the administrator password: Ive lost the password to my
Windows Administrator account, how do I get it back?

07-Feb-2012
REPLY

Legs

April 24, 2012 at 3:00 am

I tried this but the program still says i need to be an administrator to run the program
REPLY

Venkatesh Bc

June 19, 2012 at 11:58 pm

i did all circus to access my control panel of windows 7 ultimate.( if i open control
panel dis operation has been canceled due to restrictions in effects on this computer.
please contact administrator and i am d administrator. plzzzzzzzz someone help me
This isnt referring to the administrator account, its referring to whomever setup
and administers your machine. This scenario is most commonly associated with
malware run up to date scans as soon as possible.

22-Jun-2012
REPLY

Anthony

August 21, 2012 at 5:39 am

Hi Leo, I followed your instructions but this did not work for me. I ended up getting another
box saying File Access Denied. Where do I go from here Leo
REPLY

Ad

November 10, 2012 at 11:01 am

Im on Win XP. Admin account the only one. Can not install SW it asks for Admin
rights It used to be a part of a domain but no longer. Its connected to MSHOME network.
No password and no problem logging in. Please help. Thanks very much Ad
REPLY

Ad

November 10, 2012 at 11:08 am

Trying to install a wireless USB adapter and it gives an Error #1303 -the installer has
insufficient privileges to access this directory: c:program filesnetgear.
Theres only one account Administrator
Thanks again.
Ad
REPLY

Richard

December 28, 2012 at 10:42 pm

Thanks for the article for I just had an experience where I had to do a system recovery and I
wondered why the computer generated these new accounts. Found them when after the
recovery I was cleaning up and reloading things back into users personal stuff. Click open

C:, opened Users, and sat back and said WHAAAT!? Who are these accounts I didnt set up.
I know how to access the hidden admin account, so Im glad I came across this article
before possibly inflicting damage. To me its a looks ugly, but it works situation. It was a
frustrating, long time to find an answer and you had it! I am very glad to have found your
newsletter and becoming a subscriber. That deserves a Facebook like. Thank you for doing
what you do.
REPLY

Makade Vassele

March 21, 2013 at 9:05 pm

okay I just updated to windows 8 and im trying to activate it for sure but it says cant
activate at this time, please contract your system admin or technical support department.
please help
REPLY

John Gaines

July 4, 2014 at 5:36 am

When I right click on the Windows Explorer icon I get no such options. All that happens is
WE opens.
REPLY

Crystal

September 14, 2014 at 5:45 am

I am having this problem when I in control panel and trying to delete a program.. any
advice?
REPLY

Eric

December 7, 2014 at 9:52 pm

Hello Leo,
Im trying to use a System Restore to get rid of a ICE trojan popup. At the moment the
System Restore button is grayed out showing I need to be administrator. and yet my
account already says I am? What else can I do? Im aware there is a Safe Mode with
networking option but I keep going to the screen where its loadng windows Files and gets
stuck there. Any advice you can provide will be greatly apprieciated. I just want my
computer to work again without having to restart it every half an hour.
REPLY

Mark Jacobs

December 8, 2014 at 1:51 am

Blocking System Restore and blocking access to Safe Mode are things malware is
capable of doing. In fact, theres nor much malware cant do. In an case, System
Restore often doesnt do what we expect it to.
https://askleo.com/why_i_dont_like_system_restore/
Here are a couple of articles on recovering control of your machine after a malware
attack.
http://askleo.com/how_do_i_clear_up_these_lingering_problems_after_a_malware_infection.html
http://askleo.com/how_do_i_remove_this_error_on_startup_after_a_virus_removal.html
REPLY

Angela

January 2, 2015 at 9:04 pm

My problem started with the IE saying it needs to be upgraded.the upgrade will not
install unless I have windows service pack 2.found out that I needed SP1 firsttry to
install SP1, it said it installed but it didnt, tried about 10 times.now it says that system
restore was turned of by group policy and that I need to contact my Domain
Administrator. I bought this computer in 2006 and no one has ever touched it but me.So
what does it mean domain administrator and how do I turn System Restore back on and
How do I upgrade or replace my Internet Browser??? Please help so mad right now that I
cant even see straight.Thank you, angie
REPLY

Kitty

January 9, 2015 at 6:54 am

Excellent! Very good advice and such a help! Thank you!

REPLY

JudgeDredd

January 10, 2015 at 6:22 pm

A couple of extremely important questions your very helpful article does not address. 1) If
your browser is already running while you make this change does it then inherit the
permissions you warned about? 2) Is there some way to check what permissions a given
program has? 3) Is there any way to revert these permissions if someone accidentally
clicked on a program while running as an admin?
REPLY

Leo

January 11, 2015 at 9:22 am

1) No. 2) I think process explorer can tell you by looking at the details of a process.
3) Other than exiting the program, no.
REPLY

Plasmadog7

February 11, 2015 at 10:03 am

I cannot remove a picture file I created literally 1 minute ago, saying I need administrator
access to perform this action. Click continue. Then it says You need permission to perform
this action. You require permission from the computer administrator to delete this file. Click
try again, or cancel. Try again does nothing. thought about using cmd.com in reboot, but not
sure this will work cmd.com wont let me delete it in windows. I dont get it, Im the only
account on this PC, marked as administrator in UAC account settings, and have never really
had this problem until recently. I have 2 antivirus programs on the PC, Norton and Windows
Defender. Found cookies but only 1 virus in the years I have used this thing. Any ideas? I
thought about creating a new administrator account, but I had this problem with my moms
new Windows 8 laptop and couldnt get around it.
Thanks!
Ryan
REPLY

Leo

February 11, 2015 at 3:54 pm

Did you try running Windows Explorer *as* administrator as outlined in the article?
REPLY

Plasmadog7

February 12, 2015 at 8:38 pm

No I did not. I used my computer, which doesnt appear to have the

option to run as administrator when you right click on the icon. I
assumed (although incorrectly since you pointed out in your article)
that it was for applications like Word or Adobe Acrobat etc. rather
than what I would consider more core windows files like My
Computer, Network Places, etc, although this too is probably
incorrect. As mentioned below, I doubt it had much to do with
administrator privilege at all since the file was removed using the
exact same method without issue after closing IE.
REPLY

Plasmadog7

February 11, 2015 at 12:42 pm

I wrote above and I believe the situation is resolved.

I think the file may have been in use because I was trying to upload the file to Ebay. I
actually cropped the photo in pant and uploaded the new file, but later I had no issues. I
thought it usually told you the file was in use versus the message I received regarding
administrator permissions. When I went to try again later I had no problem deleting or
moving the files. Thank you anyway, I think your service is very cool and great for people
like me. But since my issues resolved, you neednt address this or the above problems.
Sorry and thank you Leo,
REPLY

ScrewUp

February 13, 2015 at 5:07 pm

It could be done in a way you like

but not by Microsoft
2 stubburn. way 2
REPLY

Mac

March 8, 2015 at 1:30 pm

I havent seen an answer yet to my question: Why do I NOW need permission to run Internet
Explorer when I didnt before? (Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit).
This issue is recent (like just a couple of days ago it started doing this).. When I would run IE
from the task bar or the start menu, IE would come right up to my google home page NO
DELAY WITH ANY KIND OF PERMISSION!.. NOW it DOES!.
Thank You
Mac
REPLY

Dan

June 4, 2015 at 10:19 pm

Is this the same as clicking Start, Run and typing explorer? What is run from there is
supposed to be run as admin.
REPLY

Leo

June 5, 2015 at 12:00 pm

Start, Run does not automatically run as administrator, if thats what youre saying.
REPLY

Mark Jacobs

June 5, 2015 at 8:09 am

Start, Run and typing explorer will run the Windows/File explorer, but that wouldnt be
in administrator mode.
REPLY

Khan Sab

July 7, 2015 at 12:44 am

I did this but still the exe says you need administrative rights.?
REPLY

Nicole

July 9, 2015 at 4:53 am

My computer does exactly the same but when i want to run as administration the screen
pops up but i cant select yes because it requires an administrative password which i dont
have. Dont know what to do. Please help
REPLY

Mark Jacobs

July 9, 2015 at 3:33 pm

The administrative password is the password for you main account which is an
administrator account unless you opened another account, designated it an
administrator account and changed the original account to be non-administrator
account. I believe youd remember if you did something like that.
REPLY

Mamie Brown

July 28, 2015 at 7:48 am

While playing a game on my laptop it suddenly stopped and a box appeared with the words
..LUA ERROR ?:0: attempt to concatenate a nil value ..
Can anyone help please
REPLY

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