uac - Running a PowerShell script as administrator without typing in passwords

Question

I wrote a script that will switch between having a computer connect via Wi-Fi or wired Internet simply by running a batch file. I wrote this because I don't like having to type in my username and password to switch between the two every time.

NOTE: I HAVE to have UAC enabled so unfortunately just turning it off isn't an option.

It looks at the status of the wireless adapter. If it is currently enabled, it will turn off the wireless adapter and enable the wired adapter. If the wireless is not enabled, it will enabled and disable the wired. This is the code.

$adapter = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration -Filter IPEnabled=TRUE -ComputerName . | Where-Object {$_.ServiceName -ne "hamachi"}
function wirelessOn
{
    $wireless = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapter | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "*Wireless*"}
    $wireless.Disable()
    $wired = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapter | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "*gigabit*"}
    $wired.Enable()
}

function wirelessOff
{
    $wired = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapter | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "*gigabit*"}
    $wired.Disable()
    $wireless = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapter | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "*Wireless*"}
    $wireless.Enable()
}

switch -wildcard ($adapter.description){
    "*wireless*" {
        wirelessOn
    }
    "*gigabit*" {
        wirelessOff
    }
}

Unfortunately, this script only functions properly if run as administrator, thus the whole reason I wrote it is moot. Is there a way I can have this elevate to administrator privileges without me having to do anything?

Answer 1

You can start a new, elevated PowerShell process to run your script e.g.:

Start-Process PowerShell -verb runas -ArgumentList '-noexit','-File','path-to-script'

If you don't want the PowerShell window to hang around then get rid of the '-noexit' but for debugging the launch of your script, it is useful.

If you had access to an admin account username/password, you could do this:

# Capture encrypted password once and store to file
$passwd = Read-Host "Enter password" -AsSecureString
$encpwd = ConvertFrom-SecureString $passwd
$encpwd > $pathpassword.bin

# Afterwards always use this to start the script
$encpwd = Get-Content $pathpassword.bin
$passwd = ConvertTo-SecureString $encpwd
$cred = new-object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential 'domainusername',$passwd
Start-Process PowerShell -Cred $cred -ArgumentList '-noexit','-File','path-to-script'