On Windows Vista, is there a way to allow an application to always run with elevated permissions?

Question

Here is the scenario, I have an application that requires elevated permissions to run on my Windows Vista based HTPC, but I don't want to disable UAC because the computer is always connected to the internet. The normal user account that is used when viewing TV has the bare minimum of permissions and thus, if the application is run, the UAC kicks in and requires me to provide my administrator credentials. Since this is hard to do with a remote, I would prefer to not do it. As such, is there a way to white list the application so the UAC does not require the credentials?

Answer 1

Unfortunately MS did not include a way to white list apps with UAC. However there are some hacks to get round it, by checking applications on startup, there's an excellent article on doing this here. You can do so either by using scheduled task, or an appliation called elevate me

Answer 2

According to this article you can skip UAC prompts using the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit.

Answer 3

In a case like yours where you do not want to provide Administrator credentials every time the application is launched, you can use Elevate Me.

To answer the more broad question On Windows Vista, is there a way to allow an application to always run with elevated permissions? you can follow these steps:

1. Create a shortcut to the application.
2. Open the Properties for the shortcut.
3. Select the Compatability tab.
4. Turn on the checkbox labeled "Run this program as an administrator."
5. Always use this new shortcut to launch the application.