I'm actually trying to run an application as another user and while it works really nicely in a cmd.exe prompt, it doesn't always work if I go with the Windows Run prompt (it actually depends on what application I'm trying to run).
For example, this works fine both from cmd.exe or from W-Run prompt (using either Windows XP or Windows 7):
runas /user:ME regedit.exe
While this only works in a cmd.exe prompt (it does ask for my password in both cases but it does nothing after that if launched from W-Run on either WinXP or W7):
runas /user:ME services.msc
It's actually kind of inconsistent, with cmd it always works but with Windows Run, it's really unreliable and random.
Any ideas where there is such a difference? To get around the problem, I'm actually using batch files to launch applications as another user and then just type the batch file full path in Windows Run prompt. It does ensure reliability but I still would like to know if I'm doing something wrong.
cmd /k "runas /user:ME ""regedit.exe"" && exit"
The "problem" with runas are
It needs all the command as only one argument, so if you are running something with arguments you have to enclose all the command in quotes, and if the command includes its own quotes, they need to be escaped.
It is designed to call .exe files (well, windows valid executable files).
This two options should handle your program start
runas /user:ME "cmd.exe /c \"start services.msc\""
runas /user:ME "mmc.exe %systemroot%\system32\services.msc"
In the first case, it is using the ability of cmd.exe to find the adecuated executable to run the .msc file. In the second case, it directly calls the adecuated executable to handle the .msc file.
For your batch files, instead of cmd /k .... & exit, you can directly use cmd /c ... that will close the console when the command finishes.
Redirecting CMD Commands To An EXE File
Long story short, basically I have the problem that every time I run BCDedit on the .BAT that I converted into an .EXE it never worked and I thought that the reason why it wasn't work was because it wasn't on Path but my Path was fine and even if it was on Path is set by default thanks to foxidrive.
Now my main problem is that is there a way I can convert it to an .EXE file with every single command working, is there a technique I could use to get BCDedit working as an .EXE file?
All of the commands do work it just BCDedit and I say if every single command would work so if somebody has a similar command problem like me they know how to figure it out, it works perfectly as batch but is there a way I can convert it and make BCDedit still work as an .EXE?
Please answer As Soon As Possible and if you want to take a look at my Path and Batch the visit the link at the top.
Thank you so much!
Compile this batch file and see if it works:
#echo off
bcdedit /?
pause
Then try this version:
#echo off
c:\Windows\System32\bcdedit.exe /?
pause
Just as the SysWow64 Redirection link you listed states. If you want a x86 application to call the 64-bit system directory you need to call the bcdedit application as follows.
%SystemRoot%\SysNative\bcdedit
This is because of Windows backwards compatibility measures, it is looking at C:\Windows\SysWOW64 instead of C:\Windows\System32. Another alternative would be to compile the script as both x86 and 64-bit, but then you could only use each on the respective systems.
Update for Comments
Even though the path is correct, an x86 application will execute commands or batch scripts against the C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cmd.exe which will cause the path redirection issue. Example to illustrate my point. On a 64-bit version of Windows, open C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cmd.exe and using Windows explorer create two unique files , one is C:\Windows\System32\unique_test64.txt and the other in C:\Windows\SysWOW64\unique_test86.txt. Now on the x86 command prompt enter if exist C:\Windows\System32\unique_test86.txt echo true. You will see that it is being redirected to SysWOW64 and will print true. And if you enter if exist C:\Windows\System32\unique_test64.txt echo true, nothing will be found.
Screenshot Example: http://i.imgur.com/K4kkI29.png
The Problem
In one part of a batch file (kind of, see Extra Information) I need to restart
Explorer, so I use the, tried-and-tested method of
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe >nul
explorer.exe
Then this happens
explorer.exe is successfully terminated
explorer.exe is started (see Image 2), but only an
Explorer window opens, which I am left with indefinitely (see Image 1)
I can then only properly restart Explorer by starting a new task from Task
Manager, as, I'm assuming, Win + R is part of Explorer.
Extra Information
Now, I say "kind of" as I'm running the batch file from a self-executing SFX
archive, created with WinRAR. So, when executed, the contents of the archive are
extracted to %temp% and a user-defined file (usually a boot-strapper and, in
this case, my batch file) is run upon successful extraction.
So far, I've deduced
explorer.exe definitely is being fully killed.
The batch file definitely is called and executed correctly, as it runs and
everything else in the script works as designed, except for the line that
starts explorer.exe
The command to restart Explorer isn't "badly timed", or anything, as I've
tried delaying it.
The batch file works perfectly when manually extracted from the archive, so
it's not a problem with the compression or extraction processes.
Even with commands like start explorer.exe | cmd.exe Explorer doesn't
restart properly, so it's definitely not a problem with the .bat file.
I can confirm that it works on Windows XP and Windows 7 x86 but not Windows 7
x64 (which is my system).
Status
At the moment, I'm suspicious of WinRAR, as I've proved that the code itself
works. So, I'm creating the self-executing SFX with different versions of
WinRAR. So far, I've tried versions:
4.11 x86
4.11 x64
4.20b3 x86
4.20b3 x64
and had the same results every time.
I submitted a bug report to dev#rarlab.com yesterday and got a reply from
Eugene Roshal himself this morning
Hello,
SFX module uses ShellExecuteEx to start a setup application.
Normally it works well. I do not know why Explorer decides to switch
to windowed mode.
Now I built a small standalone program
#include <windows.h>
void main()
{
SHELLEXECUTEINFO si;
memset(&si,0,sizeof(si));
si.cbSize=sizeof(si);
si.lpFile="test.bat";
si.nShow=SW_SHOWNORMAL;
ShellExecuteEx(&si);
}
which runs test.bat with contents as in your sample. This program
shows exactly the same behavior as WinRAR SFX, so Explorer is started
in window.
and a second email this morning
Sorry, no advice now. I replaced ShellExecuteEx with CreateProcess
#include <windows.h>
void main()
{
STARTUPINFO si;
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
memset(&si,0,sizeof(si));
si.cb=sizeof(si);
CreateProcess(NULL,"test.bat",NULL,NULL,TRUE,0,NULL,NULL,&si,&pi);
}
but result is the same. I tried to use other SW_ flags like
SW_SHOWDEFAULT or SW_RESTORE with ShellExecuteEx also as "open"
and "explore" lpVerb, but it does not help. For now I do not
understand the logic behind this windowed versus desktop mode.
I realise the outlook is grim but, I hope that's of help to someone..
Proof / Evidence
Link to an SFX archive demonstrating this, if anyone wants it:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/27573003/Social%20Distribution/restart-explorer.exe
You may notice here that I'm running the commands inside a VM (as denoted by
VMwareTray.exe) but it is not a VM-caused conflict. I've tested the exact same
files on my own host system (which is the same OS) and have had the same
results.
Update
I'm experiencing similar "works outside of an SFX archive but not from one"
problems when using REG ADD in a completely different project.
I just don't think SFX archives play nice with batch files.
I think user1631170 is on to something, "I wonder if some part of Win-RAR is running in 32-bit mode? Could you even start explorer64 running from a 32-bit process? I am pretty certain that Windows won't do that."
When I start explorer.exe from ProcessHacker (32-bit process manager), I get an explorer window.
But I can force it to start the 64-bit explorer with this:
%systemroot%\sysnative\cmd.exe /c start /B explorer.exe
sysnative is a keyword that Windows recognizes to bypass the file system redirection for 32-bit/64-bit (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa384187(v=vs.85).aspx
Enjoy!
I had this same problem and found that all the solutions here still didn't work from a batch script.
None of these worked completely:
start explorer.exe
start explorer
explorer.exe
explorer
because they all either opened a window (and didn't show the taskbar again), or the batch script then hung thereafter and couldn't execute any more commands
I found that this line in the batch file did work (after killing explorer.exe):
start "" "%windir%\explorer.exe"
and also allowed other commands to be executed after it in the script
This works in Windows 7:
taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
start explorer.exe
exit
For restarting explorer.exe, this worked for me.
powershell.exe Stop-Process -processname explorer
When you run explorer.exe from an 32-bit application in 64-bit windows, the path will be redirected to the SysWOW64 directory which contains the 32-bit explorer.exe.
In XP64 it wasn't not such a big deal. In the taskmanager you can see the 32-bit explorer.exe running but it did start as the shell. In Windows 10 (as I came to this problem, it looks like it is introduced in Windows 7), the 32-bit explorer.exe is a stub which creates a new instance of the 64-bit explorer.exe. It probably passes a path on the commandline here so the 64-bit explorer.exe opens a window instead of starting the shell.
So it is still like before that you can control whether a window or a shell should be started by starting explorer.exe with or without a path as commandline parameter.
Instead, you should force starting the 64-bit explorer.exe from the 32-bit application and all is ok. To do this, one method is using the sysnative directory as mentioned above. But another method is to use Wow64DisableWow64FsRedirection/Wow64RevertWow64FsRedirection.
I did the latter and can confirm it works nicely. For both CreateProcess and ShellExecuteEx API.
Try
%windir%\explorer.exe
start %windir%\explorer.exe
start /d%windir% explorer.exe
I have seen similar problems before doing this in C#. The process had to be invoked by calling explorer shell rather than explorer window, but I haven't had any problems in batch.
Try using this:
taskkill /im explorer.exe /f
explorer
The difference between the other answers being explorer rather than explorer.exe which has caused problems before for me.
This works on my Win7 x64 PC.
Hope this helps!
The other day, I was having a look through some of WinRAR's more advanced options and came across this tab:
As soon as I saw that I suspected it to be part of the problem and solution, as this issue only ever occurs on Windows 7 x64.
As suspected, using the Default64.SFX module instead of the default Default.SFX module entirely fixed the issue. Finally.
I do not understand why, but it will only for me if using the full path, regardless of your PATH variable.
%windir%\explorer
Have same issue with Visual Studio.
What works for me (Win 7 Pro 64bit):
PPM on Project name select "Properties"
Configuration Properties > Build Events > Pre-Build Event
taskkill /im explorer.exe /f
Configuration Properties > Build Events > Post-Build Event
start "" "C:\Windows\explorer.exe"
But this make other problem (the IDE is frozen after the explorer runs) and now I'm only able to restart the IDE to run build command again...
Use this (.bat with administrative privileges) in x64 or x86
tasklist /fi "imagename eq explorer*" | find /i "explorer*"
if not errorlevel 1 (taskkill /f /im "explorer*") else (
start %windir%\explorer.exe
What worked for me in Windows 7 64 bit was
"C:\Windows\expstart.exe"
or just
expstart.exe
Try adding a explorer.exe key to App Paths in the registry.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\explorer.exe
(Default) C:\Windows\explorer.exe
Path C:\Windows
or copy the following to notepad and save it as a .reg file then run it:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\explorer.exe]
#="C:\Windows\explorer.exe"
"Path"="C:\Windows"
To see the start panel you need to execute the explorer.exe from the system32 folder
taskkill /im explorer.exe /f
cd %WINDIR%\system32
start %WINDIR%\explorer.exe
Easy Context Menu
Just right-click on the desktop and choose Restart Windows Explorer. Enjoy!
Whenever I run a batch file on my comuter (64 bit architecture running 64 bit windows 7), the console window that is opened is running in 32-bit mode, and checking the task manager confirms I am indeed running everything as a 32-bit process. I want to run the batch file under a 64-bit process, not a 32-bit process. I have changed the comspec environment variable to point to the proper variable, to no avail. Does anyone know how to fix this so that when I click on the batch file, it everything is run in 64-bit mode.
I realize I could simply open the 64 bit command window and run my batch file. However, this is a workaround and doesn't get at the root of the problem, and won't help when I give file to others.
Thanks,
MM
Are the file associations for .cmd associated with the 32bit cmd.exe or the 64bit cmd.exe?
Can you run the scripts with the full path name to the executable?
"C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe" /c <batch_name> should run 64-bit
"C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cmd.exe" /c <batch_name> would run in 32-bit
Otherwise, you could change the associations to run the extension .cmd with 64-bit (ftype cmdfile=C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c "%1" %*) and .bat with 32-bit (ftype cmdfile=C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cmd.exe /c "%1" %*).
I have created a batch file to run an application automatically but it seems my CMD does not run it. I typed this (using notepad as an example):
CMD /C "C:\notepad2\notepad2.exe"
If I run this from Windows Vista it worked. But running this from Windows Server 2008 (64-bit) it just doesn't work. I even try using that line from the Run menu but no go.
What do I do? My aim is to run a scheduled task that runs the batch file every now and then.
Stupid question, but does the program you're trying to run actually exist on the Server 2k8 machine?
There are no differences in cmd between Vista and Server 2k8 whatsoever.
Besides, why do you need to execute it via cmd? Can't you just run the application directly? Using cmd /c is only necessary for shell built-ins, such as dir or start.
Also remember that there is no NTVDM on 64-bit Windows—you can't run 16-bit programs. I doubt one would still use them nowadays but it may be the only thing I can think of why it doesn't work in 64-bit.