User Rights and Visual Studio
User permission requirements for Visual Studio vary depending on the operating system and the Visual Studio version. On Windows Vista, Visual Studio 2008 does not require administrator permissions to perform most tasks, but Visual Studio 2005 must run under administrator permissions to perform tasks correctly. On Windows Server 2003 and earlier, members of the Users group can perform most activities in the integrated development environment (IDE).
User Permissions and Windows Vista
The following sections discuss the user permission requirements for Visual Studio 2008 and Visual Studio 2005 on Windows Vista. Earlier versions of Visual Studio are not supported on Windows Vista.
Visual Studio 2008
Most features and tasks can be completed without administrator permissions. If an operation does require elevated permissions, a message box will appear. In these instances, you may be prompted to restart Visual Studio 2008 with administrator permission to complete the task.
If additional information about user permissions that is specific to a particular programming language or feature is available, it will appear in the following table.
| Topic | Location |
|---|---|
| Running as a Member of the Users Group (C++) | C++ Concepts |
| Windows Installer Deployment on Windows Vista | ASP.NET Extensions for e-dv_deploy_msi |
| Windows Installer Deployment on Windows Vista | Deployment in Visual Studio |
| Windows Installer Deployment on Windows Vista | Deployment in Visual Studio |
| ClickOnce Deployment on Windows Vista | ClickOnce Deployment |
| Running as a Member of the Users Group | C++ Concepts |
| Using Visual Web Developer as a Non-Administrative User | Building ASP .NET Web Applications in Visual Studio |
| Using Visual Web Developer as a Non-Administrative User | Building ASP .NET Web Applications in Visual Studio |
Visual Studio 2005
Each time that you start Visual Studio 2005 with SP1 Update for Windows Vista on Windows Vista, a message box appears and requests that you run Visual Studio under administrator permissions. By elevating permissions for Visual Studio, you enable Visual Studio to perform all tasks that are related to features such as application building and debugging, which might not work correctly under standard user permissions.
To run Visual Studio 2005 under administrator permissions
On the Start menu, right-click Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, and then click Run as administrator.
In the User Account Control dialog box, click Continue.
In the Microsoft Visual Studio dialog box, click Continue.
You can also create a shortcut that automatically runs Visual Studio under administrator permissions.
To create a shortcut that automatically runs Visual Studio 2005 under administrator permissions
In Windows Vista, open \Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\.
Drag devenv.exe to the desktop.
Note
Rename the shortcut to indicate that this shortcut runs Visual Studio under elevated permissions.
Right-click the new shortcut and then click Properties.
Click the Shortcut tab and then click Advanced.
Select Run as administrator and then click OK.
Click Apply and then click OK.
When you double-click this Visual Studio shortcut, you will automatically start Visual Studio under administrator permissions.
For more information, see Windows Vista and Visual Studio.
User Permissions and Windows Server 2003 or Earlier
The following table lists feature areas that require administrator permissions when Visual Studio is installed on supported releases of Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. When a member of the Users group encounters one of these areas, an error message is displayed.
Item |
Description |
|---|---|
Setup |
You must have administrator credentials to install Visual Studio. |
Classic COM |
|
COM Interop |
When you build managed components, and you have selected Register for COM Interop in Compile Page, Project Designer (Visual Basic), the managed assemblies have to be registered. You must have administrator credentials to register the assemblies. |