Why does 'Run as administrator' change (sometimes) batch file's current directory?

Question

I have a batch file that is in the same directory as the file I want to xcopy. But for some reason the file is not being found.

I thought that current directory was always where the batch file was located.

I run batch file as administrator. This occurs on a Windows 7 64-bit desktop computer.

Batch file:

@ECHO OFF
XCOPY /y "File1.txt" "File2.txt"
PAUSE

Error:

File not found - File1.txt
0 File(s) copied

Answer 1

Which directory is current working directory on starting a batch file with context menu item Run as administrator depends on User Account Control (UAC) setting for the current user.

This can be demonstrated with following small batch file C:\Temp\Test.bat:

@echo Current directory is: %CD%
@pause

---

With having selected in User Account Control Settings

Default - Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer

• Don't notify me when I make changes to Windows settings

and using Run as administrator, Windows uses registry key

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\shell\runasuser\command

This registry key does not contain a default string for executing the batch file. Instead there is the string value DelegateExecute with the CLSID {ea72d00e-4960-42fa-ba92-7792a7944c1d}.

The result is opening a dialog window with title User Account Control and text:

Do you want to allow the following program to make changes to this computer?

Program name: Windows Command Processor
Verified publisher: Microsoft Windows

After confirmation by the user, Windows opens temporarily a new user session like when using on command line RunAs.

In this new user session the current working directory is %SystemRoot%\System32 on executing now the command defined in Windows registry with default string of key

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\shell\runas\command

which is:

%SystemRoot%\System32\cmd.exe /C "%1" %*

Therefore a console window is opened with title C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe and the 2 lines:

Current directory is: C:\Windows\System32
Press any key to continue . . .

After hitting any key, batch execution finishes which results in closing cmd.exe which results in closing the user session.

---

But with having selected in User Account Control Settings

Never notify me when

• Programs try to install software or make changes to my computer

• I make changes to Windows settings

the behavior is different as the user has already elevated privileges.

Now Windows uses directly the command

%SystemRoot%\System32\cmd.exe /C "%1" %*

according to default string of key

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\shell\runas\command

in current user session.

The result is opening a console window also with title C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe, but displayed in window is:

Current directory is: C:\Temp
Press any key to continue . . .

The current working directory of the parent process (Windows Explorer as desktop) is used for executing of the batch file because no switch to a different user session was necessary in this case.

---

PA has posted already 2 possible solutions in his answer which I replicate here with a small improvement (pushd with directory in double quotes) and with adding a third one.

1. Change current directory to directory of batch file using pushd and popd:

   pushd "%~dp0"
   %SystemRoot%\System32\xcopy.exe "File1.txt" "File2.txt" /Y
   popd
   

   This works also for UNC paths. Run in a command prompt window pushd /? for an explanation why this also works for UNC paths.

2. Use directory of batch file in source and destination specifications:

   %SystemRoot%\System32\xcopy.exe "%~dp0File1.txt" "%~dp0File2.txt" /Y
   

3. Change working directory to directory of batch file using cd:

   cd /D "%~dp0"
   %SystemRoot%\System32\xcopy.exe "File1.txt" "File2.txt" /Y
   

   This does not work for UNC paths because command interpreter cmd does not support a UNC path as current directory by default, see for example CMD does not support UNC paths as current directories for details.