How do I run Powershell.exe/command prompt as the LocalSystem Account on Windows 7?

How do I run Powershell.exe/command prompt as the LocalSystem Account on Windows 7?

Every once in a while I will need to troubleshoot something with the LocalSystem Account.  Using the Runas.exe command with "Nt Authority\System" doesn't work; I'm left trying to supply a password. I don't remember if it ever worked in WS2003.

C:\>runas /user:"Nt Authority\System" cmd.exe Enter the password for Nt Authority\System: RUNAS ERROR: Unable to acquire user password

There were a few ways to do this in the older Operating Systems.  The two I used to use were creating a scheduled task to run cmd.exe using the LocalSystem account and creating a Service to do the same thing.  However on Windows 7 these didn't work for me.  I tried a bunch of different ways but the way that worked the best was to launch Powershell.exe using PSExec.exe.

C:\>psexec -i -s Powershell.exe PsExec v1.97 - Execute processes remotely Copyright (C) 2001-2009 Mark Russinovich Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com

This will launch a new window.

PS C:\Windows\system32> whoami nt authority\system