UAC: Elevate Windows Explorer

Back in March I wrote the article UAC: How to elevate anything, where I discussed the various methods for elevating non-executables (such as .VBS scripts). At the time, I highly recommended using an elevated DOS CMD prompt and barely mentioned using Windows Explorer. Windows Explorer would seem like the logical choice, but is rarely used for elevated work. Let's cover it now. It's time to learn how to elevate Windows Explorer and discover some of its shortcomings.

The first trick is finding the darn thing (I have traditionally used the Windows+E key to launch it). To ask it to Run As Administrator, you need an actual shortcut to click on. For some reason, even though I run the thing all the time, it doesn't show up at the top of my Start menu with the rest of the recently run programs. You'll find it under Accessories:


Unfortunately, just selecting the Run as Administrator option won't get Windows Explorer to elevate. Sure, it looks like it does by providing elevation prompts - but if you try to do anything requiring elevation, it will fail - or maybe it will provide the elevation prompts again before finally doing something. The problem is caused by the fact that Windows Explorer is always running in the background in order to display your desktop. UAC can only elevate an application to a higher token when it is launching a new process - it can't elevate an existing process. Windows Explorer is already an existing process. To get around this problem, you need to set a Folder Option in Windows Explorer:


That last option "Launch folder windows in a separate process" is the one you need. With this option checked, the Windows Explorer windows you ask for will launch in a new process separate from the Desktop that is already running. This gives UAC a chance to elevate when you ask to Run as Administrator. Nice eh? It should really be the default setting. It changes Windows Explorer from being useless to being somewhat useful. But there are limitations...

You cannot have any Windows Explorer windows open when you want to elevate to the high level token. Any instance of Windows Explorer (including things like Control Panel) will already be using the separate process (all Windows Explorer windows share the same process). Again, if you accidentally leave a window open, no elevation will occur. Also, since all Windows Explorer windows will use the same process, all subsequent windows will be elevated as well - the process only dies and returns to a standard user token once all windows have been closed.

For those who wish to work the way Microsoft recommends with one standard user account and a separate administrative account, this trick still won't help. In this case you can provide credentials for another account, but it won't actually work. You either get a new window that is still using the standard token of the first user account or you get no window at all. The different behaviors will depend on how the "Launch folder windows in a separate process" option is set for the administrative account - it actually affects the behaviour in the standard user account! (You get no window if the option is set.) So even with this trick there are many occasions when you still must use a DOS CMD window.

The most annoying part is the lack of error messages when Windows Explorer fails to elevate. If you don't use the separate process trick or you mistakenly try to elevate while another window is open, Windows Explorer will never tell you. It will just sit there quietly letting you believe that you had achieved the elevation you desired. Maddening. You will just have to try things and test the results until you learn how it behaves - don't trust that it is doing what you asked it.

Also, be warned that the Vista SP1 upgrade drastically changed the rules for Windows Explorer. If you think you knew how Explorer behaved before SP1, look again - most things behave differently (in most cases better).

There are many more Windows Explorer behaviors/bugs/features that you should know about. I will cover those in future articles.