How to manage user access controls in Vista?

Sujay V Sarma 

Windows Vista draws a protective ring around sensitive areas of the system using something called the UAC (User Access Control). Basically, when programs that modify system level data (like the registry) are invoked, Vista's UAC will throw up a login box asking for Administrator-level credentials. This is particularly irritating if you are on your own PC or notebook or an administrator trying to get the system configured. Thankfully, there is a simple way around that does not require UAC to be turned off completely.

This is a very old concept called 'Shortcuts'! Create a shortcut to the desired program and edit its advanced properties to get it to run in administrator mode. There is one more interesting side effect to running things in the higher-privilege mode of UAC under Vista. Some new objects created (like virtual drives) are visible only to that privilege level. Mapped drives created inside an elevated shell are visible to the outside programs, but will require a login to the remote server before they can be used. Let's examine each of these also below.

Create an elevated shortcut

Find the program you want to run with higher privileges (called UAC Elevation), this can be another shortcut as well (such as those in your Programs menus). Right click on it and select Send To>Desktop (create shortcut). You can create the new shortcut anywhere, including a separate folder called 'Elevated Shortcuts' created for this purpose. Now, navigate to your new shortcut and right click on that to select Properties. On its 'Shortcut' tab, click on the Advanced button and check the 'Run as administrator' option.

Click on OK all the way out. Now every time you launch this shortcut, you will simply be asked for permission to elevate (a simple Continue button) instead of having to login with a password.

Special case: the command prompt

The command prompt is both a dangerous and a useful program to have an elevated shortcut to. The reason is, you can then use it to launch any number of elevated applications without needing to click on any more annoying Continue buttons or login (on the local system). But, note that the

moment you close this command prompt, any mapped drives and virtual drives (mounted through Virtual CD, Daemon Tools and so on) would cease to be available through the Windows Explorer or other programs.

Also, the drive letters are not released so one should take particular care to unload these drives before ending the programs. Luckily, closing the command prompt will not close any already open elevated programs that you launched from that prompt.

Source: PCQuest