UAC Self Elevation

Question

Hello experts,
I found a sample by Microsoft for UAC Self Elevation:

Dim proc As New ProcessStartInfo
proc.UseShellExecute = True
proc.WorkingDirectory = Environment.CurrentDirectory
proc.FileName = Application.ExecutablePath
proc.Verb = "runas"
Try
Process.Start(proc)
Catch
' The user refused to allow privileges elevation.
' Do nothing and return directly ...
Return
End Try

I need to run this from my app which is not admin.
Adding some keys to HKLM is needed, just wonder which process to start?
Don't want my whole app to get admin rights, just add some registry keys.
Can I make a reg file and use the above code? or some better ways to do it?
Thanks for helping :)

Answer 1

Yes, you can use a .reg file. Keep in mind that UAC will ask for an Administrator's credentials if the application is started from a non-Administrator account.

For demo purposes the .reg file is in the non-admin account's Documents folder. The "/s" switch tells regedit not to issue a confirmation prompt.

Module Module1  
  
    Sub Main()  
        Using proc As New Process()  
            Try  
                proc.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = True  
                proc.StartInfo.Verb = "runas"  
                proc.StartInfo.FileName = "regedit.exe"  
                proc.StartInfo.Arguments = "/s " + Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.MyDocuments) + "\Bozo.reg"  
                proc.Start()  
            Catch ex As Exception  
                Console.WriteLine($"Exception: {ex.Message}")  
            End Try  
        End Using  
    End Sub  
  
End Module