Vista - "Run this program as an administrator" always grayed out

The checkbox to "Run this program as an administrator" under the Compatibility tab of an .exe's properties is always grayed out. I did a search for executable files and randomly checked about 15 different applications, located in a variety of folders (C:\Program Files, Program Files (x86), C:\HP, etc).

I am running Vista Ultimate 64 on an HP Pavillion notebook which I just purchased. I disabled UAC because it broke TortoiseCVS, which is necessary for my development work (and in my previous experience UAC was a nightmare on a development box where I'm constantly adding/testing/removing software). Visual Studio 2005 needs to run with elevated privileges, but now I can't enable this by checking the previously noted box for devenv.exe, as MS recommends.

I will address the specifics regarding Visual Studio on another forum, but for now, I would like to know why this feature is not available for any applications, and what I can do to restore it.

Thanks - Dan

As an update to my previous comment ... I re-enabled UAC for now and the "Run this program as an administrator" option is back. Since the user account I am logged in as has administrative privileges, it follows that any .exe would run as administrator if UAC is disabled, but it doesn't seem like that should cause the Run-as-Admin feature to be disabled, since you would want this property to be associated with the file, regardless if UAC is turned on/off.

Also, what added to the confusion is that Visual Studio informs me that it needs to be run as an Admin when I start it, even if I already checked Run-as-Admin. This seems like its own bug.

Please note that I am NOT saying that the solution to my problem is to re-enable UAC, so I would still like any feedback on this topic. I'll see how long I can endure with UAC for now, but it has created enough problems in the past that I'm not optimistic.

"developer_dan" <developer_dan.319rm3@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:developer_dan.319rm3@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net...
Well, that's not the case. If you disable UAC, then any file association
regarding UAC is off.

And on top of that, a user with Admin rights on Vista only has Standard user
rights in a lot situations, and their rights must be escalated.

http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsVista/en/library/
It's not a bug, that's just the way it is.The link talks about developers having to come into line on Vista.


http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=785

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa905330.aspx

<http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsVista/en/library/00d04415-2b2f-422c-b70e-b18ff918c2811033.mspx?mfr=true>

I'll assume you have heard of the Vista UAC manifest.

http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=211271

"developer_dan" <developer_dan.319ngo@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:developer_dan.319ngo@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net...If the software such as TortoiseCVS is not Vista complaint, then it's not
Vista compliant.

The link may do you some good.

http://www.informationweek.com/blog/...hut_off_v.html

Hi Dan,

Welcome to the Vistax64.com forum.

Step 5 in this tutorial will show you how to check (enable) the "Run as Administrator" option in the Compatibility options.

Compatibility Mode List of Programs


If you do not want UAC on and not have these problems with it off, then see:

User Account Control (UAC) - Elevate Privilege Level

and

Administrator Account

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Thank you for your replies, especially the informative links provided by Shawn, which answered my initial question. Although it was not my intention to begin a discussion regarding the pros/cons of UAC, I do appreciate the feedback and tips. I read through all the links and have tried to objectively reconsider the matter. My primary frustration in the past with UAC was not the annoying prompts, which simply reflect poor UI design, but the frequency of problems where software simply didn't work or UAC wouldn't allow me to copy files, even after prompting me for privilege elevation. I don't mind being harrassed nearly as much as I mind being denied functionality without a choice.

A simple example I ran into yesterday: I added Notepad to the SendTo folder so I can right-click to edit a text file that has no file extension. When I then used this method to edit a manifest file for a program in the Program Files folder, I could not save the file. In this case, UAC did not prompt me to ask for approval, which would be the desired behavior; I had to save the file somewhere else and copy it back using Explorer. From a technical standpoint, I understand why this happens, and a workaround in this case is to grant Notepad.exe "Run-as-Admin" rights, but the experience is an everyday occurrence with UAC, and the solutions are not always so simple.

I don't appreciate Mr. Arnold's tone regarding the need for developers to "come into line on Vista." There is a big difference between programming for security and programming for conformity to Vista's requirements. That MS has had a huge number of problems getting Visual Studio to work properly in Vista is evidence. And even now, after applying all the available updates, I still can't open a project or solution file by double-clicking the file because of UAC issues regarding file association and the Visual Studio Version Selector program. I've found workarounds that are sufficient for now, but it's proof that the current implementation of UAC impacts the function of programs that were written according to reasonable security guidelines. They just weren't written for Vista.

In any case, I now have a clearer understanding of how Vista stores the "Run-as-Admin" information (registry), and why it's grayed out when UAC is disabled, which was my original question. I verified that a file for which you check "Run-as-Admin" remains checked even after you turn UAC off, which makes sense. I will continue to run with UAC enabled and keep a log of the problems I encounter, doing my best to be reasonable about when it's the result of third-party sloppiness, and when it's something that could be improved in the implementation of UAC. I'm hopeful that Microsoft will continue to make the needed usability improvements, rather than just stubbornly insisting that all problems are the result of a failure on the part of everyone else. As a loyal Microsoft developer for ten years, I would find that attitude highly distasteful.

>Well, I am a software developer professionally, and I have been so since
1980 and MS since 1995. I don't have any problems using .Net solutions on
Vista -- none. You should stop whining because there is nothing you can do
about it, other than, not use the product.

I'm very happy to hear about your success, but I'm pretty sure you're in the minority. With regard to my "whining," I'm sorry you see it that way, and I couldn't disagree more. Voicing my opinion about what can be improved is called customer feedback. It is a vital step in the process that leads to improved products. As a developer, you should know full well that 'not using the product' is not really a viable option for most developers, and besides, I'm not saying that I don't like the product. Programming with Visual Studio and the .Net framework is more enjoyable than any other type of programming I've done, and I think there are many obvious business benefits to having a single widely accepted platform to build on, and overall I've been fairly satisfied with Microsoft's efforts to produce good products and meet the needs of their customers. They carry a huge burden on their shoulders, and positioning themselves as the dominant force in a huge worldwide industry makes them a ripe candidate for criticism, which is how it should be. They should be held to high standards, and it's disappointing to me that many of the frustrations I've had with Vista can easily be identified as either bugs or poor design. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop using it. It means I'm going to do my part to help Microsoft do what it should have done in the first place, even if it sounds to some people like whining.

"developer_dan" <developer_dan.31coh0@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:developer_dan.31coh0@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net...You can talk to them about Vista II and see if that buys you anything.