Can the 'Run as' feature be set permanently

[Michael]

I am using XP Home and share the PC with my kids who have
restricted accounts. Some games will only run if they have
administrator access (needs to update files in the
program's own folder). I can get around this by using
the 'Run As' feature to run the program as an
administrator even though a restricted user is logged on.
The problem is that I have to enter my password every time
the kids want to play that game. Is there way to set a
program run with administrator access without having to re-
enter the password every time?

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

Yes, but there's a but with this solution that retains the credentials, no
matter what they run, if they use the "runas" command to run it. They can
access anything on the system, with Administrator privileges. Some things
won't run using "runas", but they aren't many.

Open a command prompt window and type RUNAS /? You're interested in the
/SAVECRED switch.

 

[Kent W. England [MVP]]

If your game or application works with admin accounts, but not with
limited accounts, you can fix it to allow limited users to access the
program files folder with "change" capability rather than "read" which
is the default.

C:\>cacls "Program Files\appfolder" /e /t /p users:c

where "appfolder" is the folder where the application is installed.

If you wish to undo these changes, then run

C:\>cacls "Program Files\appfolder" /e /t /p users:r

If you still have a problem with running the program or saving settings
on limited accounts, you may need to change permissions on the registry
keys. Run regedit.exe and go to HKLM\Software\vendor\app, where
"vendor\app" is the key that the software vendor used for your specific
program. Change the permissions on this key to allow Users full control.