Just installed TurboTax: Says I need Administrative privileges to run

[CaptainTrips]

I just installed TurboTax. Every time I open it, it takes forever to start up. Then it displays a runtime error message directing me to Run as Administrator. If I click OK, it eventually opens on its own. Very annoying. I've been installing TurboTax/QuickTax every year for the past 25 years. Never had this problem before. 

[TurboTaxSusan]

Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling the software?

You can find the installation file from our website to install TurboTax here: https://turbotax.intuit.ca/tax/software/install

If you are still not able to resolve this issue, please contact our phone support team at 1-888-829-8608.

[CaptainTrips]

Okay, after three iterations of installing, I finally got it to start up clean. It still takes almost a full minute to startup. I don't know what the secret was, but it eventually sorted itself out when I ran the shortcut multiple times as Administrator. 

In addition, it took three tries to register the software, because your form kept telling me that it was incomplete. I eventually had to put some characters in the second address line to get to complete. 

Your installers don't clean up after themselves. They leave their shortcuts behind on the desktop and in the Start menu (see pic) which I can't remove. 

This software has gotten quite sloppy and bloated. 

[TurboTaxSusan]

When you try to remove the shortcuts, do you get an error message? Have you tried booting into safe mode and deleting them? 

[CaptainTrips]

The shortcuts are installed in the Start menu as part of the TurboTax installation. If you right-click on them, you can launch the TurboTax uninstaller, but the program is already uninstalled. They are orphaned with no way of removing them. 

[TurboTaxSusan]

When you right click on an unneeded shortcut, do you see the option "Open file location"? That will take you to where the shortcut actual is, and you can try deleting it from there.