On Windows 7, is there a command prompt line that can start cmd as an administrator?

The runas command is the closest thing to what you're looking for:

runas /user:username cmd.exe

The format is runas, the username you want to run as, other options, and then the program you want to run.

If you're on a domain, you can use:

runas /user:DOMAIN\USERNAME cmd.exe

This can be run from the Run box ( Win+R ) or from a command window.

Note, however, that this is not exactly like sudo - you can't use it to elevate yourself, just run something as a different user. If you're already have administrative rights, a runas to your account will give you the same access as the regular command (unless, of course, you runas a different administrator account, which will grant those administrator's rights to the new shell).

Try creating a shortcut to cmd.exe. Right Click > Properties. Click on Advanced button. And tick the box "Run as Administrator" and click OK.

Assign it a shortcut key if you want.

And you could also assign the default location for the CMD prompt to start in.. eg %CD%

Another alternative is to click Start and type cmd, followed by Ctrl + Shift + Enter

Source: Microsoft Technet

Use SuRun.

It works on Windows 8 as well. It runs the application in "admin" mode without a prompt, yet you have greater control on what applications are run (you can see it on the SuRun's control panel applet). It works great in a batch file too...

If you want a command-line solution: download hstart from http://www.ntwind.com/software/hstart.html and extract hstart.exe or hstart64.exe to somewhere on your path. You can start an elevated command prompt with hstart /runas cmd or hstart64 /runas cmd.

But the fastest way (as noted in a comment for the question) is still to press Windows, type cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter.