Windows 7 - Opening files from Windows Explorer with Elevated Permissions?

Question

I've just started using Windows 7 and am instantly finding one aspect pretty annoying.

When I open certain files from Windows Explorer / Windows Search results etc then I then cannot save them as it throws up the following message box.

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
You don’t have permission to save in this location. 
Contact the administrator to obtain permission.

Would you like to save in the My Documents folder instead?

[Yes] [No]

However I can't see any way of opening the file with elevated permissions.

Is the only workflow to first open the application with elevated permissions then open the file?

Answer 1

When i ran into this issue i worked around it by opening the file, making my modifications, then saving the file to the desktop with the same name and extension. Then i find where its on the system, and drag the modified file from the desktop to the folder it belongs. Hurray MS security.....

Answer 2

Yes, you have to start the application with elevated permissions first. What you can do to make things a little easier is drag the file from Windows Explorer and drop it over the elevated window of Notepad (in this case).

Answer 3

As an alternative, first create a textfile called elevate.js containing

// elevate.js -- runs target command line elevated
if (WScript.Arguments.Length >= 1) {
    Application = WScript.Arguments(0);
    Arguments = "";
    for (Index = 1; Index < WScript.Arguments.Length; Index += 1) {
        if (Index > 1) {
            Arguments += " ";
        }
        Arguments += '"' + WScript.Arguments(Index) + '"';
    }
    new ActiveXObject("Shell.Application").ShellExecute(Application, Arguments, "", "runas");
} else {
    WScript.Echo("Usage:");
    WScript.Echo("elevate Application Arguments");
}

create a windows explorer shortcut to an editor using elevate.js, for example import this .reg file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\elevatevim]
@="Edit with GVim (elevated)"
"HasLUAShield"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\elevatevim\command]
@="c:\\windows\\system32\\wscript.exe c:\\bin\\elevate\\elevate.js \"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Vim\\vim73\\gvim.exe\" \"%L\""

Now you can right click on a file to start an elevated editor.

Answer 4

Open notepad.exe with admin permissions, then do a file-Open, navigate to the hosts file.

Right click on notepad.exe or a shortcut to notepad and select run as administrator.

I don't suggest actually changing permissions on the hosts file or other protected Windows files or folders, that is a bad idea.