Running Visual Studio and the Visual Studio SDK on Windows Vista

Both Visual Studio and the Visual Studio SDK run on Windows Vista, but they can only be installed by a user who has elevated administrative credentials. For more information, see Windows Vista and Visual Studio.

Installing Visual Studio

If you do not have elevated administrative credentials before you install Visual Studio, you may have to save Setup.exe to a temporary location and then run it as administrator.

Installing the Visual Studio SDK

If you do not have elevated administrative credentials before you install the Visual Studio SDK. Visual Studio SDK Setup will prompt you to elevate credentials before installation starts.

Command-Line Considerations

The Devenv.exe command-line switches, /setup, /installvstemplates, and /associatefiles, require administrative permissions for correct operation. Invoking these commands without the appropriate permissions could cause data loss.

To address this concern, run a Command Prompt window that has elevated administrative permissions and then start Devenv.exe by using the required command-line switch.

Programming Considerations

Administrative credentials are not required to develop and run Visual Studio packages on Windows Vista. However, because installing a package modifies the system registry and subfolders of the Program Files folder, administrative credentials are required to install packages.

Programming Files to Prompt for Credentials on Windows Vista

You can program an executable file built in Visual Studio to prompt for administrative credentials by setting the UAC manifest in the portable executable header. For more information, see Windows Vista Application Development Requirements for User Account Control Compatibility on the Microsoft Download Center Web site or Developer Best Practices and Guidelines for Applications in a Least Privileged Environment on the Windows Vista Developer Center Web site.

Running Visual Studio SDK Samples

All Visual Studio SDK samples, except the Iron Python sample, can be compiled and run without administrator credentials. Because the Iron Python sample accesses the Program Files folder, administrator credentials are required to compile and run it.

See Also

Concepts

UAC Common Error Dialog Box Extensibility

Change History

Date	History	Reason
July 2008	Updated to reflect UAC changes in Visual Studio 2008 SP1 and Visual Studio 2008 SDK SP1.	SP1 feature change.