Windows 10 – Does Task Manager Run as Administrator by Default?

task-managerwindows 10

I was trying to close a non-responsive process, and after the first time I clicked "End Process", nothing happened. So I did it again and this time a window popped up saying "Access is Denied". Eventually the process did close, but this got me thinking..

If I had ran task manager as an administrator, would it have still gave me this "Access is Denied" message? Or, in-fact, does Windows 10 run task manager as an administrator by default (when the user account is an administrator). Furthermore, is there any difference between running it as administrator or not?

Running it as admin via this method:

I don't see any noticeable differences between that and just doing Ctrl+Shift+Escape.

Note: This question is specifically for Windows 10 (and possibly 8/8.1) and I am running Pro. Also, my UAC set to 'Never notify'.

Best Answer

Does task manager run as administrator by default on Windows 10?

Only if it is being run from an administrator account. Ben N's answer below has a great explanation of how this is actually implemented.

If I had ran task manager as an administrator, would it have still gave me this "Access is Denied" message?

Yes. There are plenty of processes that even an administrator is not permitted to end. Furthermore, trying to end a non-existent task also produces this error message.

If the reason you had got the "Access is Denied" message was due to Task Manager not running as Administrator, you would get this very explicit message telling you so:

Furthermore, is there any difference between running it as administrator or not?

Yes, but you'd have to run it from a non-administrator account to see it.

Incidentally all the above behaviours are exactly the same as in Windows 8/8.1

Related Solutions

Windows – Run task manager (process explorer) as administrator

RUN IT AUTOMATICALLY ON WINDOWS BOOT

Starting anything with administrator privileges on Windows boot is fairly easy, you have just to schedule a task. Here is how it is done for Process Explorer in Windows 8.1. Works in Windows 10 too.

Press Win+S to open search charm, type in sched in the search field and choose a Schedule tasks option.
Task Scheduler window will open, click the Create Task... from the right actions panel.
On the tab General enter any name you like, and check the Run with highest privileges box in the bottom, just like this:
Go to the tab Triggers, push New... button, and set Begin the task to At log on, press OK:
On the tab Actions push New... button and set Action to Start a program; in the Program/script specify a path to the Process Explorer executable and finally in the Add arguments (optional) type in /t (this one will get Process Explorer started minimized to tray):

Basically you're done here, press OK in the main Create Task window. The Process Explorer will start minimized with highest privileges once you log on. You can adjust rest of the settings to your preference, for example make this task run when computer is run on battery (useful for laptops).

RUN IT MANUALLY ON DEMAND

If it is needed to run the task on demand, you'll need to set it begin At task creation/modification at step 4. Also on the Settings tab, check the Allow task to be run on demand. The rest options should be the same.

Then create a shortcut on Windows desktop, set its Target:

C:\Windows\System32\schtasks.exe /run /tn "Process Explorer with Administrator Privileges"

(Note that the task name should be exactly the same as you set it during the task creation).

If you would like, you can set a Shortcut key in the corresponding field. Screenshot for a reference:

enter image description here

That's it, now you can double-click this shortcut or use a shortcut key you set to start any task with administrator privileges and even the annoying UAC will not interfere.

For the hint, thanks to the author of this answer.

Windows – Cancel AVG through task manager gives “Access Denied”

How about you just use the AVG application (from the Start Menu) to disable AVG's features and services, rather than killing processes.

http://www.avg.com/au-en/faq.num-4498

As magicandre1981 correctly points out, AVG will protect itself from being shut down even by a user with Admin privileges. Why? Because if you could shut it down, then so could malware that has gained Admin privileges. And that wouldn't be a good thing!

Incidentally, Admin privilages don't give you unlimited powers. Windows still prevents an interactive user with Admin privilages from doing things it deems out of bounds. If I can find some documentation on this I'll add the link here.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Windows – Run task manager (process explorer) as administrator

Windows – Cancel AVG through task manager gives “Access Denied”

Related Question