Now the program (e.g., cmd.exe) would run as SYSTEM ( NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM )

The above method can also be used to launch any program under TrustedInstaller.

Using NirCmd.exe from NirSoft

NirCmd is a multipurpose command-line tool which we’ve covered in this site before.

NirCmd can start a program elevated as well as launch it under the SYSTEM account.

Use this command-line to start the Registry Editor elevated and under the SYSTEM account:

Context menu implementation

Make a .reg file from the following contents and run the file.

Using RunAsSystem from Uwe Sieber

RunAsSystem (from Uwe Sieber) is a console tool that launches a program under the SYSTEM account or context. It also passes the window style and its process priority to the executed process by default. You can override the window size as well as the child process priority using command-line arguments. Uwe Sieber is the one who developed the famous USB Drive Letter Manager program.

It waits for the started process to end and then passes back its return code (aka errorlevel). However, in a batch file, you have to add start /wait .

Usage:

Examples:

Context menu implementation

Make a .reg file from the following contents and run the file.

The above .reg file adds a Run as SYSTEM command in the right-click menu for .exe files. The .reg file assumes that the file RunAsSystem.exe is placed under the d:\tools folder. If not, alter the path accordingly in the .reg file.

Using “NSudo” from M2Team

NSudo (GitHub) is a similar portable utility like Advanced Run, except that it is not digitally signed. It can launch programs under SYSTEM, Current User, Current Process, or the TrustedInstaller account. We’ve earlier seen how to use NSudo to launch programs as TrustedInstaller.

Select the mode (System) from the dropdown, type in the executable path, and click Run.

Optionally, you can also add a predefined set of programs or commands in the Open: drop-down list box by editing the file named NSudo.json located in the same folder as the executable.

To run a program under the SYSTEM context using NSudo command-line, use this syntax:

See below for the full list of command-line arguments supported by this utility.

NSudo: Command-line support

Context menu addition

• Run NSudo with -Install parameter. It copies NSudo to the Windows directory and adds the context menu.
• To remove the context menu, run NSudo with the -Uninstall parameter. It removes NSudo from the Windows directory and the context menu.

Editor’s Pick: Advanced Run for GUI (and CLI), and PsExec for CLI.

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About the author

Ramesh Srinivasan founded Winhelponline.com back in 2005. He is passionate about Microsoft technologies and he has been a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for 10 consecutive years from 2003 to 2012.

Microsoft → Windows → How to Run a Program as SYSTEM (LocalSystem) Account in Windows

2 thoughts on “How to Run a Program as SYSTEM (LocalSystem) Account in Windows”

This is a really useful article and information. Thank you for that!

I use this feature at the login screen by renaming a few files while Windows is offline. While this is a handy feature for technicians like myself, shouldn’t this be a security issue that Microsoft addresses?

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Run batch file as a Windows service

In order to run one application, a batch file has to be kicked off (which does things like start Jetty, display live logs, etc). The application will work only if this batch file is running. I am hence forced to have this batch file running and not logout from the Windows server.

Can this batch file be run as a service? I am experimenting with one of the suggestions from a similar question.

8 Answers 8

NSSM is totally free and hyper-easy, running command prompt / terminal as administrator:

then a dialog will appear so you can choose where is the file you want to run.

Why not simply set it up as a Scheduled Task that is scheduled to run at start up?

There’s a built in windows cmd to do this: sc create. Not as fancy as nssm, but you don’t have to download an additional piece of software.

• start=demand means you must start the service yourself
• whitespace is required after =
• I did encounter an error on service start that the service did not respond in a timely manner, but it was clear the service had run the .bat successfully. Haven’t dug into this yet but this thread experienced the same thing and solved it using nssm to install the service.

No need for extra software. Use the task scheduler -> create task -> hidden. The checkbox for hidden is in the bottom left corner. Set the task to trigger on login (or whatever condition you like) and choose the task in the actions tab. Running it hidden ensures that the task runs silently in the background like a service.

Note that you must also set the program to run «whether the user is logged in or not» or the program will still run in the foreground.

On Windows 2019 Server, you can run a Minecraft java server with these commands:

sc create minecraft-server DisplayName= «minecraft-server» binpath= «cmd.exe /C C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\rungui1151.lnk» type= own start= auto

The .lnk file is a standard windows shortcut to a batch file.

— .bat file begins —

java -Xmx40960M -Xms40960M -d64 -jar minecraft_server.1.15.1.jar

All this because:

service does not know how to start in a folder,

cmd.exe does not know how to start in a folder

Starting the service will produce «timely manner» error, but the log file reveals the server is running.

If you need to shut down the server, just go into task manager and find the server java in background processes and end it, or terminate the server from in the game using the /stop command, or for other programs/servers, use the methods relevant to the server.

As Doug Currie says use RunAsService.

From my past experience you must remember that the Service you generate will

• have a completely different set of environment variables
• have to be carefully inspected for rights/permissions issues
• might cause havoc if it opens dialogs asking for any kind of input

not sure if the last one still applies . it was one big night mare in a project I worked on some time ago.

While it is not free (but $39), FireDaemon has worked so well for me I have to recommend it. It will run your batch file but has loads of additional and very useful functionality such as scheduling, service up monitoring, GUI or XML based install of services, dependencies, environmental variables and log management.

I started out using FireDaemon to launch JBoss application servers (run.bat) but shortly after realized that the richness of the FireDaemon configuration abilities allowed me to ditch the batch file and recreate the intent of its commands in the FireDaemon service definition.

There’s also a SUPER FireDaemon called Trinity which you might want to look at if you have a large number of Windows servers on which to manage this service (or technically, any service).

Install NSSM and run the .bat file as a windows service. Works as expected