MakeMKV Only Runs as Administrator

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IFireflyl
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2020 4:28 am

MakeMKV Only Runs as Administrator

Post by IFireflyl »

Is there a reason this program doesn't do anything when running it without Administrator permissions? If I run as Administrator, the program opens. Otherwise, nothing happens. What is the reason this program requires Administrator privileges? It's annoying that I need to right-click and run as Administrator each time I want to open MakeMKV.

I even have it set to Run as Administrator automatically, but if I double-click the application nothing happens unless I right-click and explicitly tell it to Run As Administrator. At that point, both makemkv and makemkvcon64 will both show up in Task Manager, and the program will open.

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the program to no avail. I am using the latest non-Insider/Preview version of Windows 11. Is this expected behavior? Is there a reason we should have to run this as Administrator that I am not understanding?
Woodstock
Posts: 10380
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2011 11:21 pm

Re: MakeMKV Only Runs as Administrator

Post by Woodstock »

MakeMKV has to talk to hardware. That's an admin function on most operating systems.

Running as a "normal user" will impose limitations on what commands can be passed to the drive.

You CAN set the executable to always run as an administrator, though.
IFireflyl
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2020 4:28 am

Re: MakeMKV Only Runs as Administrator

Post by IFireflyl »

Woodstock wrote:
Mon Jul 29, 2024 3:01 pm
MakeMKV has to talk to hardware. That's an admin function on most operating systems.

Running as a "normal user" will impose limitations on what commands can be passed to the drive.

You CAN set the executable to always run as an administrator, though.
I have other programs that require them to run as Administrator that don't have the executable set to Run As Administrator, but they still prompt the UAC pop-up as it is built into the program itself. Would it be possible to have this run as Administrator by default in a future release? If we can't even run it without being Administrator, then it seems to be an unnecessary point of confusion to not have this enabled by default.

By the way, this isn't a criticism of the software at all. I purchased the full version, and I have been loving it for almost half a decade now. I now have a Plex library of 792 movies, and 145 TV shows! I really do appreciate the work that has gone into this software. I just think the launching of the program could be a bit more streamlined.
jinx100
Posts: 158
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2013 5:58 pm

Re: MakeMKV Only Runs as Administrator

Post by jinx100 »

Isn't the optional "CdRom Device Arbiter" service supposed to allow MakeMKV to run without administrator privileges? There is a choice, normally checked, when you install MakeMKV. Only one user for me so I have administrator privileges.
IFireflyl
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2020 4:28 am

Re: MakeMKV Only Runs as Administrator

Post by IFireflyl »

I figured out what was causing it! I use CCleaner, and that has the ability to put apps to sleep. Unfortunately, any app that is put to sleep can only be opened when run as Administrator. As it turns out, at some point I had added MakeMKV to the sleeping apps. After removing MakeMKV from CCleaner's sleeping apps, there is no longer a need to run MakeMKV as an Administrator.
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