Run As Administrator Settings Under Shortcut

There are two checkboxes for Run As Administrator in the Properties dialog for a shortcut in Windows 7. One is under the Shortcut tab in the Advanced Properties dialog, and the other is under the Compatibility tab.

I've seen this under Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008. It might be in Vista and other versions, but I'm not sure.

What is the difference between these two settings?

Difference comes with programs that cannot work in compatibility mode (all programs that are included with Windows - e.g. PowerShell). For those programs you can only select it through Advanced button on shortcut tab.

Additionally, compatibility settings are applied on executable it-self. Once you select program to be run as administrator in compatibility mode, all instances, regardless of shortcut you use, will run as administrator.

Setting it under shortcut tab allows for finer grade control.