- Modern computer operating systems, such as Windows 7, incorporate security controls to limit the degree to which individual users and programs can access and change the files and settings on your computer. If all programs have full access to files and folders on your machine, damage could be occur to your data or operating system if a program malfunctions or if a malware program is given these rights.
- By default, Windows 7 uses a system known as User Access Control (UAC), which makes users and programs work with minimal security rights and requests authorization before performing any task that could cause damage to your computer. If you try to perform a task that could be risky, such as installing a piece of software or running a disc utility, a User Access Control dialog box appears, asking you to confirm that you wish to proceed. If your user account does not have administrative rights, you have to enter the username and password of a user with sufficient rights to proceed any further.
- Using elevated mode allows you to run any program as an administrator at the point you open it. To use elevated mode, right-click on the program you wish to run and select "Run as Administrator" from the menu. If the logged-in account does not have administrative rights, Windows 7 prompts for an administrative username and password. If you have adequate rights, you can also configure an individual program to always run in elevated mode by amending the properties of the executable file.
- Elevated mode is unlikely to be required during day-to-day use of your computer, but some program documentation may state that it is necessary to use elevated mode for a program to run correctly. In addition, some software installers must be executed in elevated mode for an application to install properly to your machine. Finally, if you are an advanced user performing command-line tasks using the MS-DOS prompt, some DOS commands will only work when loading the DOS prompt in elevated mode.
next post