Win+R runs as Administrator in Windows 8
In Windows 7 opening Run dialog (Win+R) and confirming with Ctrl + Shift + Enter ran specified command elevated.
In Windows 8 this trick doesn't work anymore and I miss it a lot!
Is there a way to get this feature back?
Do not press Win + R.
Instead, just press Win and type the command directly into the Metro interface. As you type, the search interface will start bringing up possible matches, but just ignore them. When you're done typing, press Ctrl + Shift + Enter, and the command will run elevated, as expected.
This works perfectly for full commands with arguments. It also works for commands without arguments, but with some caveats (matching shortcut, multiple executables, etc.). I have not generally found these to be a major problem.
Okay, I figured it out. It seems to be caused by new a feature of UAC called "Admin Approval Mode" or "AAM". You can disable this feature and (at least with UAC turned off as well) Win+R will run applications as elevated by default. -- I have tried this on 3 machines now and it has worked for me every time.
Here's how to go about disabling it:
Open Local Security Policy editor (on the Start screen type "secpol" and right click it, "Run as administrator").
From the menu on the left, expand "Local Policy".
Under the expanded "Local Policy" heading, select "Security Options".
On the panel on the right find "User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode", open this setting and change the value to Disabled.
- "OK" out of everything, and reboot (at least on my machine it said that a reboot was required, YMMV).
If it all worked right, when you hit Win+R at your windows desktop you should see the little shield below the text box that says "This task will be created with administrative privileges."
(Note: Depending on your luck, you may have to turn off UAC as well.)