

To start a command prompt window with administrative privileges in Windows 7, click the Windows start button, type “cmd” (without the quotes) in the start menu search box and watch for the search results list to appear with cmd at the top of the list. So I’ll walk you through the steps for each version of Windows. Starting a command prompt with administrative rights works slightly different on Windows 7 than on Windows 8 or Windows 10. Sometimes you just need administrative rights in order to fix problems or customize Windows. In that article I describe the steps needed to re-register Windows dll files, which requires administrative privileges. To answer the other question (why would anyone need a command prompt with administrative rights) I can again refer to the same blank control panel article that I mentioned above. One of the steps in that article requires a command prompt with administrative rights.

Example? Take for instance my article on fixing control panel blank screen issues. Heck, even some of the tips and tricks I describe here on these pages actually require an elevated command prompt. Some computer tips and tricks require an elevated command prompt. Administrative rights give you the power to perform tasks that can significantly affect your operating system, impact other users on your computer or install software or hardware. As you may well be aware, you can have user accounts on your computer with “normal” rights and you can have administrative user accounts. An elevated command prompt is a command prompt with elevated (administrative) rights. If you can do most of the work on your computer via the graphical user interface and pointing and clicking of your mouse, why in the world would you want or need a command prompt? Let alone an elevated command prompt? And what differentiates an elevated command prompt from a regular command prompt? You know you’re old when you walk past a cemetery and two guys start chasing you with shovels, that’s when you’re getting up there in age. My opinion? If you’re interested in finding out how to open an elevated command prompt, that doesn’t necessarily make you old. Some people will say that command prompts are a thing of the past and that individuals who consciously choose to use them are old.
