Always run as administrator and run in compatibility mode. I’ve never had the XP SP2 compatibility mode selection give me any trouble. Use that one for the F4 install and for any other install of any other F4-based modifications, including Allied Force, Free Falcon, and, as I remember, legacy versions of BMS. I actually don’t think it ever does any harm to install anything in this compatibility mode.
I’m hardly the Go-To Guru but this at least I’m pretty comfortable talking about. It’s always worked well for me.