PowerRun is a free program for the Microsoft Windows operating system that lets you run programs with TrustedInstaller/System rights on Windows.
TrustedInstaller is the process of the Windows Modules Installer service. This service is used primarily for the installation, modification or removal of Windows updates and components.
Files and Registry keys owned by TrustedInstaller cannot be manipulated in any way by regular users or even system administrators.
When you try to rename a file owned by TrustedInstaller, you get a “you need permission to perform this action” prompt.The same is true for Registry keys or folders.
PowerRun: run programs as TrustedInstaller
The prompt itself does not provide you with the means to get those permissions. Up until now, you had to go through a lengthy process to get the rights to manipulate the file or Registry key.
This changes with PowerRun, a free program for Windows that starts programs as TrustedInstaller.
Update: The latest version of PowerRun ships with a graphical user interface and other improvements. Other new features of interest include creating vbs or bat files, running with parameters, and jumping straight to a Registry key.
You can use the application to run the Registry with TrustedInstaller rights. This in turn enables you to edit keys that are blocked by default.
PowerRun is a portable program that you can run without installation. Simply download the program and extract the archive it is provided in to get started.
The program ships without graphical user interface. It starts the Registry Editor with System rights by default giving you full access to otherwise locked Registry keys.
You may change that to another program, for instance cmd.exe to run the Command Prompt with the same rights.
Simply modify the “TargetApp” parameter in the ini file — it is the only parameter there — to make the change.
You may run commands from the command line with these privileges then, for instance to delete files that you cannot delete.
The easiest way to verify that PowerRun is working correctly is to check the Windows Task Manager, or another process manager, and look at the user name associated with the process you just started.
If you see System listed as the user name, the operation worked and you have the rights needed to make changes to the system.
Verdict
PowerRun is a handy program that runs select programs as TrustedInstaller / System. It offers two main advantages over manually changing access rights: first, the access it grants is just temporary which means that everything is back to normal once you close the program window. Second, it speeds things up significantly. Manipulating access rights manually, and reverting them later on, takes quite a bit of time.
Since the latest version ships with a graphical user interface, it is easier to manage items in the program.