Codejock Developer Community : Vista Registry VirtualStore

Vista Registry VirtualStore : I'm using a manifest, but...

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 12:48:31 +0000

Author: Ark42
Subject: 9303
Posted: 20 January 2008 at 12:48pm

I'm using a manifest, but only for XP theme support. Until just now, I hadn't put in the magical "don't break my app" Vista lines.

Vista Registry VirtualStore : Ark42 wrote:A separate app...

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 07:46:12 +0000

Author: Sven
Subject: 9303
Posted: 20 January 2008 at 7:46am

Ark42 wrote:

A separate app or COM object for a couple-line popup dialog that does the registration simply isn't worth it. "highestAvailable" it is then.Is there an API to check what level of permissions the applications is actually running with, since before I only checked if the key I wanted in HKLM was writable, and if that failed, greyed out the text box and put up a message stating that you must be administrator to activate the software. Now with Vista, that key will always be writable, even if it is virtualized.

If you are using a manifest, Vista doesn't virtualize registry and file access. You can check the virtualization status with Task Manager, there is a special column for virtualization.

Vista Registry VirtualStore : This may help:http://www.codep...

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 22:57:52 +0000

Author: ijwelch
Subject: 9303
Posted: 15 January 2008 at 10:57pm

This may help:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/vista-security/VistaElevator.aspx

Vista Registry VirtualStore : A separate app or COM object for...

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:25:56 +0000

Author: Ark42
Subject: 9303
Posted: 15 January 2008 at 4:25pm

A separate app or COM object for a couple-line popup dialog that does the registration simply isn't worth it. "highestAvailable" it is then.

Is there an API to check what level of permissions the applications is actually running with, since before I only checked if the key I wanted in HKLM was writable, and if that failed, greyed out the text box and put up a message stating that you must be administrator to activate the software. Now with Vista, that key will always be writable, even if it is virtualized.

Vista Registry VirtualStore : Only elevated apps can write to...

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:21:32 +0000

Author: Sven
Subject: 9303
Posted: 15 January 2008 at 4:21pm

Only elevated apps can write to HKLM. Elevation is only possible for the whole process, impersonation for a few lines isn't possible. An alternative is an elevated COM object.

Vista Registry VirtualStore : So the entire app must run as...

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 23:32:24 +0000

Author: Ark42
Subject: 9303
Posted: 14 January 2008 at 11:32pm

So the entire app must run as elevated-admin, not just the dialog where registration happens then?

Vista Registry VirtualStore : To get elevate admin you need...

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:58:42 +0000

Author: ijwelch
Subject: 9303
Posted: 14 January 2008 at 8:58pm

To get elevate admin you need to say so in a manifest file. eg:

        xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1"
     manifestVersion="1.0">
            processorArchitecture="x86"
       version="5.1.0.0"
       type="win32"
       name="MYAPPNAME.exe"/>



                            type="win32"
               name="Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls"
               version="6.0.0.0"
               publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df"
               language="*"
               processorArchitecture="x86"/>

Vista Registry VirtualStore : Ok, can you point me towards the...

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:46:09 +0000

Author: Ark42
Subject: 9303
Posted: 14 January 2008 at 3:46pm

Ok, can you point me towards the API functions I need to use to elevate admin to real-admin and a better way to test if the current user is actually an admin to begin with?

What I still don't really understand though, is when the key is created at "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\VirtualStore\MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Morpheus Software\Morpheus Photo Morpher" because of a write to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Morpheus Software\Morpheus Photo Morpher", why does a read from "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Morpheus Software\Morpheus Photo Morpher" for the same key then fail? Shouldn't the READ be virtualized too?

Vista Registry VirtualStore : Like I said, non-elevated admin...

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:05:37 +0000

Author: kinook
Subject: 9303
Posted: 14 January 2008 at 2:05pm

Like I said, non-elevated admin users on Vista can't write to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and %ProgramFiles%. Most likely your installer is running elevated, but when the user starts your program after installing, it is running unelevated. See the links in the blog post for more details.

Vista Registry VirtualStore : My app is not exactly legacy,...

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:51:30 +0000

Author: Ark42
Subject: 9303
Posted: 14 January 2008 at 1:51pm

My app is not exactly legacy, and the user IS running as an administrator, I verified that the InnoSetup installer ran correctly for them with the same user logged in, and it did not prompt for a different username/password to run. My InnoSetup configuration requires Admin privileges to run, so it shouldn't even install if that is not present. It was clearly able to create C:\Program Files\Morpheus Photo Morpher and write to that location, as well as HKLM in the registry from the installer. But then my application, from the same user account, can't write to HKLM for some reason still.

Should the only conclusion be that the user is wrong, and they are simply not running as an Administrator?
The only test I have in the program code to prevent the user from activating as a non-admin account was to check if I can open the "registration" key for writing or not (which works on 2000/XP to tell Admin from non-Admin).