- Image by Stijn Vogels via Flickr
We had a problem today in the office with a new laptop that is running windows vista.
Whenever we tried “ipconfig /release” or “ipconfig /renew” – we would get an error “The requested operation requires elevation”.
We finally found the solution, instead of simply opening a command prompt like before, we now need to run the command prompt as administrator.
To do this, all you need to do is go to:
All Programs > Accessories > right click Command Prompt and click Run as administrator!
I hope this helps you !

#1 by Cormac Moylan at May 30th, 2007
| Quote
What a terrible terrible error message. Will they ever get a clue? Elevation FFS.
Can’t they just say ‘Administrative rights are required to run this application’? Jasus wept.
#2 by Tom Doyle at May 31st, 2007
| Quote
Nah – that would make too much sense…..
#3 by Jacob Bardin at June 4th, 2007
| Quote
Thanks – this seems to do the trick. As usual MSFT help was not helpful but Google, and you, came thru…
#4 by Alastair McDermott at June 6th, 2007
| Quote
I’ve been running Vista on my Inspiron 9300 a while now and despite the usual early adopter pains of periodic hangs and crashes I find it to be ok for the most part. (Thankfully my sound card is supported)
Here’s another strange one that Vista users might find useful – have you tried finding the Send To menu yet?
$SYSTEMDISK:\Users\$USERID\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows
That took me a while to track down!
– Alastair.
#5 by Paul Christiane at June 18th, 2007
| Quote
after running the command prompt as Admin, it still would say “The requested operation requires elevation.”
any solution?
#6 by Cormac Moylan at June 18th, 2007
| Quote
Linux/OS X?
#7 by Tom Doyle at June 18th, 2007
| Quote
Never come across it not working! Anyone else?
#8 by Forrest Fouraker at June 21st, 2007
| Quote
I did that and it still is not working for me!
#9 by Joe Brouillette at July 10th, 2007
| Quote
Yea! I’m using a Vista laptop as my network utility computer and now I can get my NMAP to work. Does anyone know if there’s a way to setup an account on Vista so every time a command prompt is opened it will automatically run with administrative privileges?
Thanks,
Jobee 1
#10 by Moira at July 24th, 2007
| Quote
To always have a command prompt in admin mode, I created a shortcut to cmd on my desktop. Enter the properties for the shortcut, under the shortcut tab click Advanced button, choose option to run as Administrator.
#11 by Mike at August 8th, 2007
| Quote
This did help in a tight situation!!!
#12 by Tom at August 15th, 2007
| Quote
I tried, like Forrest Fouraker, and I still can’t get it to work.
#13 by Mike H at August 29th, 2007
| Quote
Cheers, that did the tick!
#14 by Kevin at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
Hey Guys,
This discussion was helpful… i was able to get across another vista bump
Thanks
#15 by Raj at October 24th, 2007
| Quote
g8 it all works now thanks!! pls let us know if there are any other complicated path for other applications too!!
#16 by rick at November 28th, 2007
| Quote
im trying to install an update and it says the elevation error, anyone know solution?
#17 by Ken at December 21st, 2007
| Quote
Thanks for the fix, saved me with a customer 😉
Helped get over one of the many bumps when trying to fix probs running on a Windows Vista system ;-(
I vote for Windows XP!
#18 by Patrick at December 28th, 2007
| Quote
thanks! (should have never upgraded to Vista…sigh.
#19 by Jack at January 18th, 2008
| Quote
I can run the command prompt with no problem, but it won’t let me run netstat with options… ie netstat -b
I get the Requested Operation Requires Elevation message.
I find this odd as my account is the administrator account. Why would I need to run somethine as administrator when I am the administrator, that makes zero sense.
#20 by ESQ at February 11th, 2008
| Quote
Check this out
http://gaskell.org/the-requested-operation-requires-elevation-in-windows-vista/
#21 by Ron Spruell Sr. at March 11th, 2008
| Quote
I can’t talk to my other XP machines. I was able to and did ultil I tried to install HyperTerminal and all went to pot. I got internet connection back for all 3 machines but I have yet been able to see directors on the onter machines altho Printer sharing works. I am hoping someone can tell me what to do.
I’m using a Linksys WRT54GS router.
#22 by Ron Spruell Sr. at March 12th, 2008
| Quote
I want to thank you for your help. There are great folks on the internet and I met a friend half way across the world. Thank you.
I made a bad mistake I was that desperate. Right after I pressed the enter key my stomach gave a lurch and then I looked at what I had done and realized I really messed up, real bad.
I will never be able to thank you for what you did for me a stranger, a dumb one, border line idiot, but still a stranger.
Ron Spruell Sr. Hueytown Alabama USA
#23 by Nataly at March 12th, 2008
| Quote
OH THANK YOU! it was really helpful!!
#24 by vektorika at April 14th, 2008
| Quote
i had the same problem until i tried the link below,
http://whatismyipaddress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=8112
this guy explains it very good and very efficient. In case more problems, feedback please!
#25 by Anne Ete at April 16th, 2008
| Quote
Thanks. This has been driving me crazy. MS really need lessons on how to use Plain English!
Cheers,
Anne
#26 by Budgie at May 13th, 2008
| Quote
Anne, that’s the point – if it was in plain English they would not be able to copyright it. Oh, wait…
#27 by majorcodec at August 8th, 2008
| Quote
when im trying to run the two batch file, it was run fine, but i think only for LAN adapter only. i would sugest that i would also works on wireless LAN adapters because when i try to run the batch it changed only on LAN settings not for wireless LAN settings.
#28 by chris at October 4th, 2008
| Quote
Works for me! Thanks.
#29 by manjula at November 6th, 2008
| Quote
Great it worked
#30 by Will at December 22nd, 2008
| Quote
Thanks you!!! My internet has been crashing at the worst moments and we had no idea what “elevation” was.
#31 by saro at January 9th, 2009
| Quote
Brilliant Tips. Thanks a ton. Microsoft again prompted a lousie error message.
#32 by lol@ms at January 20th, 2009
| Quote
How long has it been now that one is able to so “su root” in linux right from the command prompt?
#33 by Asif Qazi at March 7th, 2009
| Quote
Thanks a lot, It works fine.
#34 by matthew at March 10th, 2009
| Quote
it says that ‘Run’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
#35 by Tom Doyle at March 11th, 2009
| Quote
@Matthew – sounds like you are typing run into the command prompt. Follow the instructions above again.
#36 by james at March 27th, 2009
| Quote
I believe this might answer another problem that eluded me for months. I knew it was a Vista security issue but the errors I got were completely non contextual. Why should I have to run as an administer when logged in as administer? Like someone else said Just say it! I hope they didn’t do anything crazy with Windows 7 other then the stupid name. Where the heck did the 7 come from?
#37 by Tom Doyle at March 30th, 2009
| Quote
@James that’s a very good point… I never thought of that at all!
#38 by thedomini at March 31st, 2009
| Quote
when I turn on my computer a erros is “The requested operation requires elevation” sometime it also occours while I am working
#39 by christina at April 17th, 2009
| Quote
ahhhhhh thank you!
#40 by annababeful at April 17th, 2009
| Quote
big help
#41 by khairudin at April 17th, 2009
| Quote
I did as u told but a pop-pup pops stating that I need the administrator passwordto continue.what should I do??plz help me.
#42 by ctc_donnie at April 22nd, 2009
| Quote
thanks for this info! it helped us a lot in troubleshooting.
#43 by Joe russell at June 20th, 2009
| Quote
Great article. Thanks for the help!
#44 by Curtis R at June 27th, 2009
| Quote
After reading this, I’ve come to the realization that Microsoft sucks a$$. That is absolutely the most useless “protection” along with “UAC”. C’mon Windows 7!, lets see if this “feature” sticks around.
#45 by Abeer at July 14th, 2009
| Quote
Thanks a million
it worked…
#46 by kakashi at September 1st, 2009
| Quote
Awsome men thanx a mil
#47 by roland at January 15th, 2010
| Quote
nice fixed the issue iv’e been having for about 3 months you da man
#48 by Fiachra at February 18th, 2010
| Quote
Thanks, Tom, that ended my frustration!
#49 by Tom Doyle at February 18th, 2010
| Quote
It’s an annoying one alright!
#50 by Chien Po at April 2nd, 2010
| Quote
So is there no cmd shell equivalent in Windows Vista (and/or 7) to the linux “sudo” command. I open the cmd shell by pressing the WINDOWS-R (windows key) to open the “Run” dialog. Then I just type “cmd” and hit enter.
Navigating the start menu and right-clicking the command shell shortcut to run it as an administrator has two problems. It is much, much slower and awkward. Also, I don’t necessarily want an entire shell session in “administrator” mode. I may just want to run individual commands as an administrator, just like I do with the “sudo” command in Linux.
So, can this be done in Windows Vista and up?
#51 by Vick at April 29th, 2010
| Quote
I am getting “The requested operation requires elevationâ€? on Win Vista, have been trying to sort this out for one of my customers but no joy. Can you help me ?
#52 by Tom Doyle at April 29th, 2010
| Quote
Have you read the article Vick ???
#53 by Ven at July 31st, 2010
| Quote
The steps provided does not work. It provides ‘requires elevation’ even when you do:
All Programs > Accessories > right click Command Prompt and click Run (as administrator).
Do you test your solution before you post?
#54 by Tom Doyle at August 3rd, 2010
| Quote
Hi Ven
Thanks for stopping by – of course it has been tested. If it’s not working for you, you are clearly doing something wrong.
Tom
#55 by hot metal jack balls at August 25th, 2010
| Quote
tom is an asshole.
#56 by andy at October 23rd, 2010
| Quote
lol same thing ”requires elevation” when i tried to open a program then i was looking for what means elevation and get this ty:D
#57 by Naveen at December 23rd, 2010
| Quote
It worked for me though
thanks, Tom!
#58 by Jean at March 5th, 2011
| Quote
It worked – no probs! Thank you Tom. So glad I found you! You’re a star!!
#59 by Dennis Fitzgerald at March 23rd, 2011
| Quote
Your fix DOESN’T WORK!! I an so pissed that My crow shi_ would even add code to screw their os any more than it already is. Can anyone send me a fix and don’t send rehashed CMD prompt instructions cause it doesn’t work
#60 by Tom Doyle at March 24th, 2011
| Quote
Dennis
If this doesn’t work for you, your administrator mustn’t have the rights to perform the task or else there’s something else wrong.
#61 by Abe at May 26th, 2011
| Quote
Hi there,
For those who couldn’t follow this word for word, when you right click go to “Open File Location”. Right click cmd.exe in there and you get “Run as Administrator”. Sometimes it’s not directly available in the Programs Menu
#62 by jean-simon at June 15th, 2011
| Quote
There actually is an issue when using corporate networks on windows vista/7. My account is listed as admin but the windows keeps popping back up. Anyway the IT service isnt able to fix it so I bought my own laptop and it works fine
#63 by Abe at June 16th, 2011
| Quote
Hey jean-Simon,
IF they couldn’t fix that, you need a better IT team…
#64 by AmyK at July 25th, 2011
| Quote
Thanks Abe. Looks like that was the key to getting around Elevation issue.
#65 by Paul at September 21st, 2011
| Quote
Yes!!!! thank you, so simple … phew
#66 by jeff at September 28th, 2011
| Quote
Yes this helps, this problem has been frustrating.
#67 by Slinky at December 19th, 2011
| Quote
Thanks this worked!
#68 by Abdullah at June 1st, 2012
| Quote
Thanks man, it worked.
#69 by patavee at August 16th, 2012
| Quote
Thank you
#70 by tim at July 6th, 2013
| Quote
For me (Vista), the fix does not work, plus my user ID is an administrator.