Every once in a while you come across a nasty application which is required in the line of business work, but it would not run without the user being an administrator. There could be various reasons why such an application might demand to be run with administrative privileges, for example, an old DOS based application not being compatible with the installed operating system or simply the fact that it might be writing to folder and registry locations on the workstation or the network, where the user simply does not have access permissions to.

- Download "Run As GUI" application from http://www.smart-x.com/?CategoryID=223&ArticleID=181

- Extract all the files to a temporary directory (eg; C:\runasguiinstallfiles)

- On an administrators workstation, install the Admin Module, this module would later help you create an encrypted RAG file which you can supply to a client's workstation who is not an admin and can still run the desired application.

- Double click the installable .exe file in the C:\runasguiinstallfiles and start the install by clicking on Next

- Choose default values on the next screen for program directory and click next

- Choose next to proceed with the install and finish the administrative machine install

- Double click the icon on the desktop and start the wizard. Provide the name and path of the exe file you want users to run with different credentials (C:\VMware-converter-4.0.0-146302.exe)

- Provide executable target and working directory. The executable target file should also be placed on the end users workstation in the same location as you specify here, alternative you can also choose to have the program executable on a network drive. Also, note that on the users machine the working directory must have change permission allowed for the user. In our scenario we are using C:\Temp which has been granted change permissions to the user already

- Provide Network or local path to RunAsGui application

- Provide the information as what credentials should be used, in our case we are using the local machine user account but you have the option of choosing a domain account as well

- Create the shortcut, specify its storage location and you can also choose what icon you want to use.

- Finally press Finish to end the install. Make a note of the exact path where the .rag file is located. You would need to create this exact path on the end users machine and place this rag file in there by copying it there.

- On the client machine, place the executable on the local machine where specified in the previous step along with the shortcut, also copy the .rag file generated with encrypted credentials (located at C:\Program Files\Smart-X\RunAsGUI\vmware-converter-4.0.0-146302_administrator.rag) to a network location or thumb drive, so that on a client machine you can copy it back to the same location

- Install the client on the client's machine by running RunAsGUI1300.Setup.Client.msi (a copy of this should be available to you from the location you extracted files on the administrative machine C:\runasguiinstallfiles )and choose all defaults, choose to install the application for anyone who uses this computer, note that the install does not create any Start Menu or Desktop icons

- Copy the .rag file saved earlier to the C:\Program Files\Smart-X\RunAsGUI\ location (as mentioned earlier)

- Run the shortcut to the application from C:\Temp directory, the exe application should now launch under the context of the user you earlier chose to