One of the basic information any average Windows user should know is how to open an important application in their machine — the command prompt. In this short tutorial, we provide a brief explanation of what a command prompt is, when to use the Administrator Command Prompt, among others. We hope that you’ll find this article helpful.
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From time to time, you may encounter a situation when you need to use a Command Prompt to be able to do a task. While such tasks are expected to be few and far between, you should be ready to perform them when needed.
What is a Command Prompt?
Like everything that you use in your windows 10 computer, a Command Prompt is an application. This application can be used to to execute programs, access files, or change settings. It uses typewritten commands in order to perform a task. Its name is derived from how it’s supposed to work — by receiving commands. These commands are typewritten in a command line, where the blinking cursor is. IT administrators and more advanced users commonly use the command prompt to perform tasks efficiently.
For those who are familiar with older DOS computers back in the day, the Command line interface looks similar to a typical DOS interface although a Windows Command Prompt is technically not a DOS prompt. Officially, the Command Prompt is named Windows Command Processor although many people call it CMD prompt or command shell. There are two types of command prompts:
- normal Command Prompt
- Administrator Command Prompt
When to use Administrator Command Prompt in Windows 10
In Windows, some commands can only be run in elevated command prompt. This means that you need to pull up the Command Prompt with higher administrator level privileges. The most obvious indicator that you need to run elevated command prompt is a message that shows following a command. For example, when troubleshooting an operating system, you may need to execute a chkdsk command and get the message: “Access Denied as you do not have sufficient privileges. You have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode.” Other commands that require elevated command prompt may give similar error.
How to open Windows 10 Command Prompt as Administrator (elevated command prompt)
- Open Task Manager Program by pressing CTRL + SHIFT + ESC.
- Click File tab. If you can’t see File tab, try clicking on More details at the bottom left part. This will open the more advanced view of the program which includes File menu.
- Click Run a new task.
- Once the Create new task window opens, type the following: CMD.
- Check the box for Create this task with administrative privileges.
- Click on OK.
- The elevated Command Prompt window should now appear. This is indicated by the word Administrator on top.
How to open Windows 10 Command Prompt as Administrator using keyboard shortcut
Another way to open elevated Command Prompt window is by doing the keyboard button combinations below.
- In your keyboard, press Windows key and X simultaneously.
- Once more options appear, click on Command Prompt (Admin).
- If User Account Control appears, hit Yes.
How to create a shortcut for Elevated Command Prompt
As mentioned above though, not all commands require that you open an elevated command prompt. Majority of such commands can run perfectly fine in regular command prompt. This is true for most average Windows users.
If you think you’ll be using elevated command prompt more often than not, we suggest that you create a new shortcut. Here’s how:
- Go to your computer’s desktop.
- Right click on an empty space on the desktop
- Click New.
- Click Shortcut.
- Type in %windir%\System32\cmd.exe or %ComSpec%.
- Click Next at the bottom.
- Type in Elevated Command Prompt as the name for the shortcut. If you want to name the shortcut differently, feel free to do so.
- Right click on the Elevated Command Prompt shortcut.
- Click Properties.
- Click on Shortcut tab.
- Click on Advanced button.
- Make sure that Run as administrator box is checked.
- Click OK.
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