Few things kill the mood faster than a crash reporter window before you even see the main menu. Star Wars Zero Company players run into this on PC, and one fix gets thrown around constantly: run the game as administrator. It works. But it doesn’t work for every crash, and if you apply it at the wrong time, you’ll waste hours thinking you fixed a driver problem with an access-rights patch.
So here is the defensible position: setting Star Wars Zero Company to always run as administrator is a valid, targeted fix for permission-related launch failures. You should use it after a handful of precondition checks and not before. And you should apply it to the game’s .exe file directly, not to a desktop shortcut that Steam may bypass.
This guide shows you the exact steps, the logic behind them, and why the most common objection to admin mode doesn’t hold up.
What Running as Administrator Actually Fixes
Windows restricts write access to certain folders. Games often try to write save files, config files, and shader caches into their own installation directory. If that directory sits inside C:Program Files (x86)codecodecodecodecodecode, the game needs elevated privileges to modify anything there.
Star Wars Zero Company uses an Unreal Engineaa-style structure. It loads DLSS shaders, creates local config files, and writes crash logs. If any of those operations gets blocked by user account control, you’ll see the crash reporter pop up within seconds of launch. Running as administrator tells Windows to give the process full access to those protected areas. That directly solves the “can’t write to its own folder” class of crashes.
You’ll also fix a second issue: UAC virtualization. When an app tries to write to a protected folder without admin rights, Windows might silently redirect the write to a virtual store under your user profile. That causes weird behavior, like settings that don’t stick or saves that vanish. Admin mode bypasses that redirect entirely.
Step-by-Step: Set Admin Mode on the Game Executable
Do this only after you’ve updated your GPU driver, verified game files, and confirmed your PC meets the minimum requirements. Those fixes address different root causes. If the game still crashes after those, permission errors are a reasonable next suspect.
Here is how to set it up correctly:
- Open Steam and go to your library.
- Right-click Star Wars Zero Company, select Manage, then Browse local files.
- Find the game’s main executable file. It’s usually named
StarWarsZeroCompany.execodecodecodecodecodecode or similar. - Right-click that .exe, then choose Properties.
- Go to the Compatibility tab.
- Check the box next to “Run this program as an administrator.”
- Click Apply, then OK.
Launch the game through Steam as you normally would. Steam will trigger the admin prompt, and the game will start with elevated permissions.
One detail most guides miss: if you right-click the game’s shortcut and select “Run as administrator,” that works only for that one session. The compatibility flag applies every time, including when Steam launches the game. That is the difference between a one-off test and a permanent fix.
Also Consider Running Steam as Administrator
If the game exe still crashes, the problem might be upstream. Steam itself may lack write access to its own directories, especially if you installed Steam to a system drive location. Close Steam completely, right-click the Steam shortcut, select “Run as administrator,” and then launch the game. If that works, you can set Steam to always run as admin the same way, using the compatibility tab on steam.execodecodecodecodecodecode.
Don’t do this permanently unless you need to. Running Steam elevated all the time triggers unnecessary UAC prompts and can cause issues with drag-and-drop in the library. Use it as a test, not a lifestyle.
The Counterargument: Admin Mode Is Overused and Risky
A common objection goes like this: modern Windows games don’t need administrator rights. They should write user data to AppData or Documents, and forcing admin mode just teaches bad habits while giving malware more surface area.
That logic sounds clean on paper. It falls apart when you look at how this specific game is built. Star Wars Zero Company writes into its install directory. The installer may not request the correct permissions, the anti-cheat system may need to inject a driver, and the shader compiler may want to create files next to the executable. All of those are legitimate needs. Security software that flags the exe because it requests admin rights is responding to a generic heuristic, not to actual malicious behavior.
The risk argument also weakens when you consider the alternative. If you don’t run it as administrator and the game can’t write its own config file, you’ll chase a crash that no driver update will ever fix. You’ll verify game files ten times, clear shader caches, and still hit the same wall. Admin mode is the logical solution for a permission-denied error, and the so-called risk disappears once you download the game from an official source.
Testing Whether Admin Mode Is the Actual Culprit
Before you commit to the compatibility flag, run a quick diagnostic.
Open the Windows Event Viewer by searching for “Event Viewer” and go to Windows Logs > Application. Look for entries related to Star Wars Zero Company or Unreal Engine. If you see error codes like 0xC0000005codecodecodecodecodecode (access violation) or warnings about file permissions, admin mode is worth trying.
Alternatively, right-click the game executable once and choose “Run as administrator.” If the game launches successfully and runs without crashing, that confirms your diagnosis. Then apply the permanent compatibility flag.
What Admin Mode Won’t Fix
Be honest about the limits. Admin mode does not solve GPU driver conflicts, overheating, corrupted shader caches, or missing Visual C++ runtimes. Those require their own fixes. That is why the order matters. A full crash troubleshooting sequence goes like this:
- Update the GPU driver
- Verify integrity of game files
- Clear the DirectX shader cache
- Disable overlays from Discord, Steam, and NVIDIA
- Close background recording software
- Increase virtual memory if Windows crashes under load
- Then, and only then, enable administrator mode
Skip ahead and you’ll mask one crash while another one waits for you at a higher graphics setting.
FAQ
Will running Star Wars Zero Company as administrator delete my saves?
No. It won’t touch your save files. If anything, it gives the game the ability to write to folders it couldn’t reach before, which means your saves and settings may finally persist correctly.
Can I run the game as administrator without going through Steam?
Yes. You can launch the .exe directly from its folder after setting the compatibility flag. But you’ll miss Steam-specific features like achievements and cloud saves. Better to keep the flag on the .exe and still launch through Steam.
Do I need to disable fullscreen optimizations as well?
Many Unreal Engine games respond well to disabling fullscreen optimizations alongside admin mode. In the same Compatibility tab, check “Disable fullscreen optimizations.” It reduces input latency and frame pacing issues on some setups. It doesn’t hurt to toggle it while you’re already there.
Why does the game still crash even with admin mode enabled?
That points to a different root cause. Check the Event Viewer again, update your chipset drivers, and make sure your BIOS recognizes your GPU correctly. A persistent crash after admin mode means your problem is bigger than a permissions flag.
One last thing to remember. After a major game update, Steam sometimes replaces the executable file with a new version. When that happens, your compatibility flag can reset. If a patch lands and the crashes come back, reapply the admin setting. It takes ten seconds, and it beats a full reinstall.
