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How to open a Command Prompt with Administrator privileges in Windows Vista and Windows 7

At some point in time, you may need to run a program or command from a Command Prompt with Administrative privileges. Some of the best features inside Windows Vista and Windows 7 are only accessible through an administrative Command Prompt. Here's how to open a Command Prompt with Administrator privileges in Windows Vista and Windows 7.

A Command Prompt in Windows 7 with Administrator privileges
A Command Prompt in Windows 7 with Administrator privileges

  1. Left-click on the Start button.
  2. Left-click on All Programs.
  3. Left-click on Accessories.
  4. Right-click on Command Prompt.
  5. On the context menu that appears, left-click on Run as administrator. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
    or
  1. Left-click on the Start button.
  2. In the search box above the Start button, type Command Prompt.
  3. In the list of results, right-click Command Prompt.
  4. On the context menu that appears, left-click Run as administrator. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
    or
  1. Press the Windows logo key Windows logo key + X to bring up the Power User command menu.
  2. Left-click on Command Prompt (Admin). If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Clean up your hard drive in Windows 8 with Disk Cleanup

During your computer's everyday use, you will accumulate some unnecessary files (temporary setup/internet files, recycle bin, etc.). You can remove these files with the built-in Disk Cleanup (cleanmgr.exe) utility inside of Windows 8. When it comes to computer repair, I use it all the time on my client's systems. And it can be run a couple of different ways and with different options.

Running Disk Cleanup on demand

There are a couple of different ways to run Disk Cleanup on demand. The following procedure cleans up files associated with your user account. You can also use Disk Cleanup to clean up all the files on your computer.

Windows 8 Disk Cleanup dialog box with standard options
Windows 8 Disk Cleanup dialog box with standard options

  1. On the Start menu, swipe in from the right side of the screen or press the Windows logo key Windows logo key + C to bring up the Charm bar.
  2. Left-click on the Settings button in Charm Bar.
  3. Left-click on Tiles in Settings.
  4. Drag the Show/hide administrative tools slider to the Yes position.
  5. Left-click on the background of the Start menu, making the Charm bar disappear.
  6. Once the administrative tools appear, left-click on Disk Cleanup.

or

  1. Swipe in from the right side of the screen or press the Windows logo key Windows logo key + C to bring up the Charm bar.
  2. Left-click on Search button in Charm Bar.
  3. Left-click on Apps in Search.
  4. Type Disk Cleanup in the Search field on the Search pane.
  5. In the results on the left-hand side, left-click on Disk Cleanup.

After selecting the drive you want to clean, Disk Cleanup scans it for possible files to delete. It then allows you to choose which files to delete. When you click the Clean up system files button, it restarts with a More Options tab. This tab includes two additional ways to free even more disk space:

Windows 8 Disk Cleanup dialog box with more options
Windows 8 Disk Cleanup dialog box with more options

  • Programs and Features. This option opens Programs and Features in Control Panel, where you can uninstall programs that you no longer use. The Size column in Programs and Features shows how much disk space each program uses.
  • System Restore and Shadow Copies. With this option, you can delete all but the most recent restore point on the disk.
    System Restore uses restore points to return your system files to an earlier point in time. If your computer is running normally, you can save disk space by deleting the earlier restore points.
    In some editions of Windows 8, restore points can include previous versions of files, known as shadow copies, and backup images created with Windows Complete PC Backup. These files and images will also be deleted.

Running Disk Cleanup with predefined options

You can also run Disk Cleanup from a command prompt. This gives you the option of predefined settings for running Disk Cleanup as a scheduled task in Task Scheduler or a shortcut on your Desktop or Start menu. Click here for more information on how to open a Command Prompt with Administrator privileges in Windows 8.

Windows 8 Disk Cleanup run at a command prompt with sageset option
Windows 8 Disk Cleanup run at a Command Prompt with sageset option

You can start the Disk Cleanup tool by running cleanmgr.exe. Disk Cleanup supports the following command-line switches:

  • cleanmgr /d driveletter: - This switch selects the drive that you want Disk Cleanup to clean. Note that the /d switch is not used with /sagerun:n.
  • cleanmgr /sageset:n - This switch displays the Disk Cleanup Settings dialog box and creates a registry key to store the settings you select. The n value is stored in the registry and allows you to specify different Disk Cleanup tasks to run. The n value can be any integer value from 0 to 65535. To get all the available options when you are using the /sageset switch, you may need to specify the drive letter that contains the Windows installation.
  • cleanmgr /sagerun:n - This switch runs the specified tasks that are assigned to the n value by using the /sageset switch. All drives in the computer will be enumerated, and the selected profile will be run against each drive.

To run Disk Cleanup with the /sagerun:n switch in Task Scheduler or in a Desktop or Start menu shortcut, you would use something similar to the following:

C:\Windows\System32\cleanmgr.exe /sagerun:n

How to open a Command Prompt with Administrator privileges in Windows 8

During the course of using your Windows 8 computer, you may need to run some commands from the Command Prompt. But most of them require you do it with Administrative privileges. Here's how to open a Command Prompt with Administrator privileges in Windows 8.

A Command Prompt in Windows 8 with Administrator privileges
A Command Prompt in Windows 8 with Administrator privileges

    Using a mouse
  1. Go to the Start menu.
  2. Right-click the Start menu background to bring up the app commands.
  3. Select 'All apps'.
  4. Right-click the 'Command Prompt' tile to bring up the app commands.
  5. Select 'Run as administrator'. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
    Using a keyboard
  1. Go to the Start menu.
  2. Press the Windows logo key Windows logo key + Z to open the app commands.
  3. Press Enter to select 'All apps'.
  4. Use the arrow keys to navigate to the 'Command Prompt' tile.
  5. Press the Application key Application key to bring up the app commands.
  6. Use the arrow keys to navigate to 'Run as administrator' and press Enter. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
    Using touch
  1. Go to the Start menu.
  2. Swipe up from the bottom of the Start menu to bring up the app commands.
  3. Select 'All apps'.
  4. Scroll to the 'Command Prompt' tile and press and hold it to bring up the app commands.
  5. Select 'Run as administrator'. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

How to use the Command Prompt and Open Command Window Here in Windows 7

In this article, I will show how to use another one of my favorite applications, Command Prompt and Open Command Window Here.

What is Command Prompt / Command Window?

Command Prompt is a feature of Windows that provides an entry point for typing MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) commands and other computer commands. The most important thing to know is that you can perform tasks on your computer without using the Windows graphical interface by typing commands. Command Prompt is typically only used by advanced users.

When you're using Command Prompt, the term command prompt also refers to the right angle bracket (>, also known as the greater than character), indicating the command line interface can accept commands. Other important information, such as the current working directory (or location) where the command will be run, can be included as part of the command prompt. For example, if you open the Command Prompt window and see the C:\> command prompt with a blinking cursor to the right of the right angle bracket character (>), the command you enter will be run on the entire C: drive of your computer.

How do I get to a Command Prompt?

There are three ways to get to a Command Prompt:

  • Click the Start button, then All Programs, then Accessories, then click on Command Prompt.

or

  • Click the Start button. In the search box, type Command Prompt, and then, in the list of results, click Command Prompt.

or

  • Hold down the Shift key while right-clicking on a folder in Windows Explorer and selecting Open command windows here from the context menu.

What commands can I run using Command Prompt?

You can run MS-DOS commands and other computer commands.

To view a list of common commands, type help at the command prompt, and then press Enter. To view more information about each of these commands, type help‌ command name, where command name is the name of the command you want more information about.

For a complete list of tasks and tools, you can use from the Command Prompt, click here.

How do I change the Command Prompt window?

You can change the appearance of the Command Prompt window by setting Command Prompt options.

To set Command Prompt options

  1. Open a Command Prompt.
  2. Right-click the title bar and do one of the following:
    • To change the settings for all Command Prompt windows, click Defaults.
    • To change the settings for the current Command Prompt window, click Properties.
  3. Select the options you want, and then click OK when you are done.

How do I run a command with elevated privileges?

Some commands that you can run using Command Prompt might require elevated or administrative privileges. To run these commands, you can use the Run as administrator command.

To run Command Prompt as an administrator

There are two ways to run a Command Prompt as an administrator:

  • Click the Start button, All Programs, then Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

or

  • Click the Start button. In the search box, type Command Prompt, and then, in the list of results, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

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