Question: When you open Windows 7, much of the time when you right-click on a viable file, an option appears to Run As Administrator, even if you are not registered in from the administrator account. What is the aim of this function?
To know this function, you will first know how user accounts work in Windows 7. When you sign in to Windows 7 with a good username and password. Windows generates a unique access token and sets it aside for this session.
So as long as you continue to use Windows, this token stays with you. This token comprises, during other stuff, data about your username and the group to which it related.
Any time you complete a task in Windows, for example, when you try to open a program. Windows check whether you or the software are approved to perform this task with the same access token.
The difficulty with older versions of Windows was that when you signed in with an administrator account. each program ran administrator concessions. Usual text editors, such as email readers who do not want administrator concessions, also ran Windows 7 as administrators.
Dozens of applications running at the same time with administrator concessions were a large risk.
These permissive virus-infected programs easily cause harsh damage to Windows.
To deal with this condition, MS introduced the User Account Control characteristic in Windows Vista. Because of this, when the administrator sign-in. Not one, but two access tokens are generated for it.
An access token, called a standard token, has the powers of all groups except the administrator (eg power user, etc.) while the other access token (exalted) has the control of all groups, including the administrator.
Ordinary access, such as the standard access token used among web browsing, Under this token. when an attempt is created to do something that the administrator should do (for example, change the registry), Windows instantly reject it.
The Run As Administrator option shown in the right-click menu so that if a program requires to be run with administrator options, it can be run.
In that situation, Windows runs the program under an exalted access token that has all the powers of an administrator. This way the program runs easily without any errors and uses administrator options.
This mechanism was a major change in the design of MS Windows. This not only helped protect Windows from viruses and vicious Software but also built Windows more steady.
Even though user account control is a bit of a bother for users, for the sake of Windows protection. It is advisable not to disable UAC to protect Windows from bad software.
However, if it is essential to disable it, this can be done by typing MSConfig in RUN and using Disable UAC under the Tools tab in the window that opens.