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Resolved Question

"run as admin" only way I can run a program

Jan 7, 2012 6:21AM PST

run as admin is only way I can run a program. I checked everything I can think of, and I have been doing this for 40 years, 3 of which was with MicroSoft . I have a laptop with intel processor, i an running Win7 sp1. I keep it fairly up to date and clean, but I NEEiD HELP - I am disabled with cancer and really need this pc to keep me sane, I'm a shut-in mostly.
If you can help , I'll send you something when i get my disability check. Any assistance will be SOOO helpful!!! Thanks in advance! mike

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jmmundy has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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Just a note.
Jan 7, 2012 6:25AM PST

I will let the experts answer your question but I just want to say, please do not offer any payments in these forums, or anywhere else for that matter.

Forums such as these are manned by volunteers and we help where we can without needing any payment. The help is its own reward.

I know you mean well and are anxious about your new system, but offering such things in forums can be dangerous as public forums like these can attract those who would take advantage.

Good luck.

Mark

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Sorry :)
Jan 7, 2012 6:29AM PST

I'm sorry for going against the rules - I am new and can only claim ignorance. Thank you for being kind in your note,,, I remember working at MS and most folks would just flame you cuz you cant reach them. I promise to do better - mike

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Not a problem at all
Jan 7, 2012 6:38AM PST

I was just concerned for your own welfare. There are sharks out there, Happy

About your question.

Can you tell us more about this? When you click on an icon to open a program, what happens? Do you see a window pop up that asks if you want to open this program?

If so, I believe that what you are describing is likely what is known as User Account Control, or UAC. This is a feature introduced in Windows Vista and carried over to Windows 7 which is designed to help prevent unwanted software from running without your knowledge or wishes. Such software can be malware, and UAC is intended to help us protect our computers from infection.

UAC can be turned off and we can explain how to do that, but if all you have to do is click "Yes" to the window that pops up, is this a problem for you?

If I have got the wrong idea, please tell us more about what the problem is.

Mark

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uac not considered - may play with that
Jan 7, 2012 7:36AM PST

when I click on an icon I get a window popup that says "windows cannot open this file. To open this file, windows needs to know what program you want to use to open it. What do you want to do: "use the web service to find the correct program - never works" or "select a program from already installed programs" then gives you the 2 choices. I choose the second choice of finding my own program and point to whatever program it needs, having to right-click then choose to run as admin. I have admin rights, but it doesn't seem to care, and seems global in it's effects. NO program will run w/o running it as admin. It is a combersome work-around, and is not perfect, but at least I can do some work before it dies trying to access another program w/o the appropriate rights. My son, not too bad on fixing pcs himself, ran a registry cleaner on it as well to see if it would work - of course it didn't. I ALWAYS do my own registry cleaning or updating, I remember programs hosing systems even worse if used, and I'm comfortable in the registry. I believe this is a registry problem invoked by some crappy software, but w/o Microsofts Knowlage base, I'm toast. Please HELP!

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What I see from your post
Jan 7, 2012 8:12PM PST

I see mention of registry cleaning and registry cleaners. On a new system this should not have been necessary, and in any case, we never recommend using registry cleaners or 'optimizers' or such, and we only very rarely suggest changing anything in the registry.

The problem is, doing either of those things can cause damage deep inside the system and that damage often requires a repair install or reinstall to fix the problems.

1] When did this problem start, and what changed from when it used to work?

2] Have you had any viruses or malware? if so, what did you have to do to remove it?

3] What anti-virus software do you use, and what other security software?

4] Have you tried a System Restore back to when this was working properly?

5] Does this happen only from your shortcut icons? What i mean is this. If you locate the .exe file, (the executable file), for any program and click that, does the program run without problem?

6] If so, try this with the shortcut icon. Right click it, select Properties. Open the "Shortcut" tab and then click the "Advanced" button. If the option "Run as administrator" is ticked, untick it then click OK/Apply/OK. Try that icon again and see what happens.

Mark