Run as Administrator

People misunderstand the Administrators account. They think it should give them absolute control over everything in the computer. This is a popular misconception.

To begin, please don't confuse Administrators (with an 's' at the end) with Administrator (with no 's'.) The former is a user account while the latter is a system account. The system account should never be used for everyday computing.

There is no one account that has complete control over a computer, and that's by design. If such an account existed, and it was hacked, the attacker would have free reign over the computer and be in a position to create havoc.

Instead, all user and system accounts follow an industry best practice that was created long before anyone heard of Microsoft. I am referring to the 'principal of least privilege' (you can google it) which states that each account on a computer should have only the permissions required for its typical role.

Administrators is the user account with the most permissions, but it doesn't have every permission. No account does.

The safe way to do your everyday computing is with a Users account. This was formerly known as a Standard account, then a Limited account, and who knows what Microsoft may decide to call it next week. Regardless, a Users account has far fewer permissions than an Administrators account, and that's good. Fewer permissions = safer. Most people would not want to have the responsibility of caring for the keys that launch a nuclear missile.

So what happens when a User wants to run a program that requires the elevated permissions of an Administrators account? Instead of starting the program as you normally would, right-click on the icon and choose 'Run as Administrator' from the context menu. Enter the password to an Administrators account and off you go.

This is the safest way to run a program that requires elevated permissions, because those permissions are applied only to the program in question and only for so long as it's running.

Hi ruko_2000. I'm Reinald, an Independent advisor and a Windows user like you.

I appreciate you for providing details about the issue and we are happy to help you.

Kindly check your account type in PC settings. In case your not an Administrator, you can follow the guide below in changing your account type.

Note: You need to use an Administrator account to do the following changes.

Change Windows 10 User Account Type from PC Settings

1. Press the Windows key + I keyboard shortcut to open the Settings app, and then click Accounts.
2. Select Family and other people from the list on the left. Click on the account you want to change the type of, and click Change account type.
3. Select Administrator from the drop-down menu and click OK.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and let us know how it goes. I will keep working with you until it's resolved.

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