Windows Server 2008 freezes when I run programs as administrator

I am working on a machine running Windows Server 2008. Every program I have tried to run (firefox, notepad, wordpad) works fine, but if I right-click on any item on the desktop or the start menu and select "Run as Administrator" it freezes.

I can move the mouse around and open/close the start menu, but the items in the start menu do not change color when the mouse hovers over them.

I googled for answers for some time but had no luck. Does anyone have any ideas that I could try?

(Update: I forgot to mention that the machine is virtual and I am using VMWare Workstation. In order to answer the questions below, I have been going to the same snapshot of the system each time. This lets me start the system in the exact same place each time in order to answer your questions and test.)

(Update: When I run any process as administrator and it freezes, I can start task manager, but I cannot see the new process (notepad, etc...) )

Solution 1:

So this is a little bit of a strech, but I have a hunch it is the answer you are looking for.

I run a Vista 64-bit machine that has the same problem you are speaking of. Turns out the problem is beause of UAC. For some reason UAC does not pop up the way it should and does in other places. On my machine I disabled UAC completely, rebooted, and the RunAs worked just fine. Good news in my situation is that I found another way to make the app work the way I wanted it to without needing RunAs and I was able to resetup UAC.

Server 2008 from what I understand is very like Vista, and hopefully this helps you.