Introduction:

In an organizational setup or even in a personal computer, it’s crucial to strike a balance between security and functionality. This entails allowing standard users to access certain administrative privileges without compromising system security. In this article, we will walk you through the process of enabling standard users to run a program with admin rights in Windows.

Step 1: Create a Shortcut for the Program

The first step is to create a shortcut for the program that you want the standard user to be able to run. To do this:

1. Navigate to the program’s installation directory (usually under C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86)).

2. Locate the .exe file for the particular program and right-click on it.

3. From the context menu, click “Create Shortcut.” You can choose to save this shortcut either on your desktop or any other accessible folder.

Step 2: Download and Install PsExec

PsExec is a third-party tool from Microsoft’s PSTools Suite that allows you to run programs on remote computers with administrative privileges. In our case, we will use PsExec locally on our computer. Download PsExec from Microsoft’s official website by visiting https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/psexec and following the download instructions.

After downloading PsExec:

1. Unzip the downloaded file in an easily accessible folder (e.g., C:\PSTools).

2. Make sure to add this folder path (C:\PSTools) to your system’s environment variable “Path.”

This ensures that you can access PsExec via command prompt without inefficiently specifying its location each time.

Step 3: Configure a Standard User

1. Right-click on the earlier created shortcut and select “Properties.”

2. Under the “Shortcut” tab, find the “Target” field.

3. Add the following command before the existing target path (DON’T delete the path):

`C:\PSTools\PsExec.exe -i -u DOMAIN\username -p password`

Replace ‘DOMAIN’ with your local domain or computer name, ‘username’ with the standard user’s username, and ‘password’ with the standard user’s password.

The complete command should look like:

`C:\PSTools\PsExec.exe -i -u DOMAIN\username -p password “C:\Program Files\YourProgram\YourProgram.exe”`

4. Click “Apply” and then click “OK.”

Step 4: Test Your Configuration

1. Log in to your computer as the standard user.

2. Locate and double-click on the configured shortcut.

3. The program should run with administrative privileges.

Conclusion:

By following these steps, you can enable standard users to run specific programs with administrative rights in Windows, thereby maintaining system security while providing necessary access. Remember to be cautious when allowing admin rights for individual programs, as this may create security vulnerabilities if misused or if shared with unauthorized users.