How to: Drag and Drop Files to an Elevated Program [Field Notes]

Problem:

I run Visual Studio as an Administrator, which is helpful, but also means that I can’t drag & drop files / folders from Windows Explorer (since it’s not elevated). That’s a pain in the butt.

Solution

Thanks to a handy discussion on the HowToGeek site, I found the following tip.

[Caveat: this works on my machine, a work desktop using Windows 7.]

To enable an elevated windows explorer:

• Right-click on the task bar and select Start Task Manager
• In Task Manager, select File > New Task (Run...)

• You should see a note that this will be run using administrative privileges.

• Enter explorer.exe and hit enter. You can now drag and drop files into other elevated windows with ease!