This entry is mostly just out of spite. I wanted to open explorer as administrator to copy some files between hard drives. (It turns out I didn't really need to do that, but I digress.)
Shouldn't be too difficult right? I googled "windows explorer administrator" and came up with
this site as the first hit. The description seemed very promising, but when I got to the site, I found you had to register/pay to see the solution.
Here is the extremely easy process to open Windows Explorer as Administrator in Windows 7:
1. Search for "explorer" in the windows menu search box.
2. Right-click "Windows Explorer" and select "Run as administrator"
3. Enter password if needed and enjoy.
That's it. Hope it helps someone.