Run Explorer as another account

Here is a thing that is really annoying, and the solution.

When you're not allowed administrative rights on your computer with your standard account you often need to run certain programs under another account. This works fine, with a simple right click and choosing Run As... (even for MSI-files).

But for some reason the Explorer.exe cannot be started this way. This is how to make it work:

Create a .bat-file on your desktop (or where you want it)

Enter the following line into it:

runas /user:[your domain]\[your account] "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"

Save the bat-file
Double-click the bat-file and provide the password for your account when asked
This will start Internet Explorer. Enter C:\ as the URL

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Published by Marcus Hammarberg on August 28, 2008 Last updated December 14, 2010