Can't Write to Program Files folder

Question

I am unable to copy files to the Program Files or Program Files (x86) folders, despite my status as Administrator on a single-user system. As an advanced user, I have many legitimate needs to place files there and cannot live with this level of protection
from myself.
How can I defeat this? Many thanks.
Rick A.
Pleasanton CA

Answer 1

While I understand MS's position, they are unrealistic, and seems to be going the way of iOS by hiding the ability to do simple things.
I can understand the need to set up an operating system for the masses (who don't understand computing concepts very well) so that it's more "idiot proof".  The problem is that people who don't fully understand what they're doing tinker around
and destroy their ability to run Windows.  Or malware does it for them.
And I don't think anyone ever said that the file system security setup - originally developed by Digital Equipment Corporation - is simple or easy to deal with.  I got training in it at a 1980 DEC conference that has proven oh so
valuable in dealing with permissions issues over the decades.  It's funny the little things that prove useful in life.
With suitable knowledge and reconfiguration (and even the application of 3rd party programs) the system CAN be made to be much more powerful FOR the (knowledgeable) user and less protected FROM the (knowledgeable) user.  This suits power-users.
Some things said in this thread that are not accurate or are incompletely stated:
...you can't turn off UAC any more...
Well, you CAN - through a registry modification - though because of Microsoft's decision to arbitrarily limit functionality this completely shuts out the possibility to run Metro/Modern apps.  For those who only need desktop functionality
this isn't a bad thing.
...you should not use an administrator user for day to day tasks. it puts your system at risk..
This is overgeneralized.  In terms of advice for everyday non-technical users, this may be reasonable, but there are cases where computer-knowledgeable people really do need to be able to do that to get all the productivity they can.  There
are ways to insulate oneself from malware that are FAR better than inviting it into your system (IE runs ActiveX from the Internet Zone by default) then trying to block it at the last possible second.  Most people consider UAC prompts nothing more
than irritating and just click through them as quickly as possible.  If avoiding malware is something you'd like to do,
even if you'd prefer to continue to run with UAC enabled, I suggest taking the following three measures:  Get the
hosts file from mvps.org, reconfigure Internet Explorer so as to not allow ActiveX to run from the Internet zone, and replace the out-of-box antivirus protection Microsoft provides with something better (e.g., Avast!).
-Noel
Detailed how-to in my eBooks:  
Configure The Windows 7 "To Work" Options
Configure The Windows 8 "To Work" Options