How to Set up MicroStation As Administrator to resolve some installation related issues
Sometimes an installation and/or activation of MicroStation can be problematic and show unexpected behaviour even though the setup and activation processes completed apparently without any warnings or errors.
This can often be caused by the Setup and Activation process not having been able to correctly write all installation files and registry keys.
In Windows 7 and 8 processes and applications are by default initiated as "normal user" rather than with "administrator rights" even if the logged in user starting this processes has "Administrator" privileges.
This is a safety feature that's part of the User Account Control (UAC) meant to prevent harmful processes to run with administrator rights and gaining access to the registry and other protected areas of the OS without the user being aware of it.
Windows essentially keeps you running as a common user even while on an Administrator account.
A user need to explicitly tell Windows to run a process or application with "Administrator Rights".
MicroStation (and other Bentley products) must be installed and activated with "Administrator Rights" for a successful installation and activation.
In several cases it may be required to uninstall and reinstall MicroStation "As Administrator" using one of the options here below.
In some environments it may be required to enter Administrator credentials when running an application "As Administrator". Make sure such credentials are available.
One easy step to identify if an issue could be caused by an installation without sufficient privileges is to try starting MicroStation "As Administrator".
1. Right click on MicroStation's shortcut
2. Select "Run As Administrator" from the context menu as shown in the picture below
If the unexpected behaviour does not re-occur when the application is started "As Administrator", it may be necessary to uninstall and reinstall it following the steps in the following paragraph.
IMPORTANT: Make sure you have access to the correct MicroStation installation files before attempting the following procedure. In some environments it may be required to enter Administrator credentials when running an application "As Administrator". Make sure such credentials are available.
1. Uninstall MicroStation.
2. Locate MicroStation's setup file, either the downloaded setup executable (generally named after their version and language, e.g. ms081109459en.exe for version 08.11.09.459 English) or the "setup.exe if the self extracting executable has already been decompressed (default folder e.g. C:\Bentley\Downloads\ms081109459en\)
2. Right click on "setup.exe" (or e.g. "ms081109459en.exe")
3. Select "Run As Administrator" from the context menu as shown in the picture below
As mentioned above, MicroStation should always be installed and activated "As Administrator", even when the currently logged in user is part of the "Administrator" group.
Generally carrying out the "Product Activation Wizard" at the end of the setup, which has been run "As Administrator", will correctly activated the product.
Should there still be activation issues it may be required to uninstall and reinstall MicroStation "As Administrator".
Installing MicroStation as Administrator may not be required when the logged in user is part of the "Administrators" group AND the UAC (User Access Control) is disabled.
For security reasons it is not recommended to disable the UAC.
Troubleshooting Installation and Activation Issues in High Security Environments
How to Start MicroStation "As Administrator"