Simply running as administrator will not cure all of your problems - BUT the solution for the remainder is a one-time fix. Unfortunately, since it has been two years since I last needed to do it, I can't walk you through, but Google is your friend.

What you need to do (and to Google how to do) is Take Ownership of your "Program Files" and "Program Files (x86)" folders. By default, Windows reserves some permissions for itself, no matter how much you turn off or how many things you "Run As Administrator". By taking ownership, you gain those permissions normally reserved for Windows - which gives you a free hand to do whatever you like in that directory.

As long as you take ownership of you FS directory, it doesn't matter where you install it. Which is why I've been able to run FS9 and FSX with no issues at all in the default directory for two years now - while I've heard others complain at times of permissions issues when they've installed FS into a separate folder!

Thanks all. Have done a clean re-install of FS( outside of normal Win 8 path and all seems to be working so far with add-ons except the PMDG 737 which is not allowing the install. PMDG 744 works just fine.

 

Ed Ryan