The issue regarding installing software for a user with administrative privileges on Windows Professional Edition.

huaz 0

Hello, all the PCs in our company are installed with Windows Professional Edition, both Windows 10 and Windows 11, and the users all have "User" level permissions. The issue we are encountering is that when logged in as a user, attempting to install software using "Run as Administrator" or "Run as Different User" results in the software not being installed in the user directory. As shown in the image I uploaded, the username is "zhujj", but the software defaults to displaying the administrator "kssadmin". If the installation continues, the files used by the software will be saved in the administrator's directory. Additionally, if Office files are opened directly from WeChat, it is unable to recognize the activation information for the current user.

I have tried reinstalling Windows on a new computer without joining it to a domain, purely for testing purposes, but the issue persists. Could you please help explain why this happens? Thank you. bug1

2 answers

Daisy Zhou 26,946 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2024-12-25T07:44:28.2033333+00:00
Hello

Thank you for posting in Q&A forum.

Here are the answers for your references.

When you use "Run as Administrator" or "Run as Different User," the software installation process runs under the administrator's profile, which is why the files are being saved in the administrator's directory. This is expected behavior in Windows.

During the installation process, check if the installer allows you to specify the installation directory. If possible, manually set the installation path to the user's directory (e.g., C:\Users\zhujj\AppData\Local).

Ensure that there are no Group Policy settings that might be redirecting user profiles or affecting software installations. You can check this by running gpedit.msc and navigating to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > User Profiles.

Consider using software deployment tools like Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (formerly SCCM) or Group Policy Software Installation (GPSI) to deploy software. These tools can help manage installations across multiple user profiles more effectively.

For the issue with Office files opened from WeChat not recognizing the activation information, ensure that Office is properly activated for each user profile. You might need to run the Office activation process for each user individually.

I hope the information above is helpful.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to let us know.

Best Regards,

Daisy Zhou

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huaz 0 Reputation points

2024-12-25T08:31:02.91+00:00

Thank you for your reply.

When using "Run as administrator" or "Run as different user," the software installation process is carried out with administrator privileges. Generally, the software either specifies or allows the user to manually select the installation path, which is not an issue. However, software typically requires other directories for storing configurations or files, such as configuration files and certificates. The default behavior in such cases can lead to the installation of these configuration files and certificates in locations that the user does not have permission to access, causing errors. It’s important to emphasize that this issue had never occurred before providing feedback. When logged in as the user, using "Run as administrator" did not affect any software functionality, and the installer would automatically detect the directory of the currently logged-in user.

Additionally, when using "Run as administrator" or "Run as different user" and clicking the "Browse" button in the installation path, the default folder displayed is the administrator’s folder, and the user’s folder is not visible unless you manually navigate through the directories.

Regarding the issue with opening Office files in WeChat and not recognizing the activation information, I believe it is caused by the above-mentioned reason. Similarly, this problem did not exist before I reported it. It’s possible that Office recognized the administrator’s information or accessed the administrator's configuration files.

I reinstalled the computer without joining the domain, but the problem still persists. I believe this is expected behavior in the Windows system because it did not behave this way previously.

I look forward to your response. Thank you.

MotoX80 34,856 Reputation points

2024-12-25T16:28:30.24+00:00

I would think that it would all depend on how the software vendor configured their installation package.

The installer can be configured on a per-machine and per-user basis.

https://zcusa.951200.xyz/en-us/windows/win32/msi/installation-context

The vendor may assume that the person running the install is the only person who is going to use the software and has admin privileges.

You might have better luck if you contact the software vendor's support and explain the situation and the errors that you get.

That is: if the user who runs the install does not have administrator rights, then you get error XXXXXXX.

if the user who runs the install is an administrator, then when other non-admin users try to run the software, they get error ZZZZZZ.

I do not have any experience with WeChat, but this user is not happy.

https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/10scedd/wechat_now_requiring_full_admin_access_to_the_pc/?rdt=37449

huaz 0 Reputation points

2024-12-26T01:16:36.7933333+00:00

Actually, what I really hope for is that someone can tell me what the correct handling logic of Windows is when a user with "user" permissions installs software using "Run as administrator" or "Run as different user." Who can provide me with an accurate answer? Does it mean the software is authorized to be installed with administrator privileges, or is it installed through the administrator's account? If it’s the latter, then using "Run as administrator" or "Run as different user" seems to lose its meaning. Why not just log in as the administrator and install the software?

The key issue here is that it's not just WeChat that has this problem, but almost all mainstream software. Furthermore, no matter which permission is used to install the software, it shouldn't affect the ability to open Office files. Could it be that because some configuration files of chat software were installed in the administrator's account directory, Office can’t even recognize its own activation information anymore?

huaz 0 Reputation points

2024-12-26T01:27:11.0666667+00:00

Additionally, I'd like to add: when using "Run as administrator" or "Run as different user" to install software, the installation package only shows the administrator's directory for selecting the installation path.

All of the issues I’ve described were completely nonexistent before I posted this. In other words, suddenly, all the software I could find started having this problem, even with old installation packages, even after reinstalling the operating system. Therefore, I believe it doesn't make sense to say this issue is related to the software.
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MotoX80 34,856 Reputation points

2024-12-27T00:31:54.4366667+00:00

All of the issues I’ve described were completely nonexistent before I posted this.

Posting a question on this forum would have nothing to do with how software is getting installed on your pc's. Something else must have happened.

installs software using "Run as administrator" or "Run as different user."

I think that it is all going to depend on what the software does and if the "target audience" is the person running the install or potentially all users who can log on to the pc.

For example, the FileZilla install shows the normal UAC prompt if the user is a member of the Administrators group.

If the user is not an admin, then FZ/UAC wants the ID and password of an admin.

But the FZ installer is configured to allow the software to be installed only for the current, non-admin user. If you decline the UAC prompt you get this.

This might be where "run as a different user" would come into play. That is, if you wanted to install the software for another non-admin user.

I downloaded "Zoom Workplace Installer.exe" from Microsoft.com just to see what that would do. It took me to the Windows Store to complete the install. It did not prompt me for an installation folder or for admin credentials.

My conclusion is that every software install is different and that is determined by the developer who builds the package based on what the program does and what resources it requires.

even with old installation packages,

You'll have to tell us the name of the "old" software that you are trying to install. If there is a free internet download available, I can give it a try.
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huaz 0 Reputation points

2024-12-27T14:57:31.5466667+00:00

Thank you for your response.

I understand what you are saying, and I appreciate your help with the testing, but this is a different situation from the issue I reported. For software that doesn't require configuration files or certificates, your installation method will obviously not cause any problems. However, for WeChat, it needs to store chat history in the current user's directory to have the proper permissions to access it. Of course, this path can be changed, and I am fine with that. But the issue is that before I discovered this, running the installer as an administrator did not require changing the installation directory—it would automatically detect the current logged-in user.

Okay, let's assume we change the path. However, when you click the "Browse" button in the installer to change the installation path, you will find that the default user directory is the administrator's directory, not the logged-in user's directory. This was not the case before. Moreover, as I mentioned earlier, when using chat software, if someone sends you an Excel file via the software, you cannot open it directly because it will prompt you that Office is not activated, but if you save it to the local disk, it opens fine. This is clearly an abnormal situation. What is affecting Office and preventing it from correctly recognizing the activation status? At least I don't think WeChat should be able to affect Office's activation state. So, this should not be an issue with the software installation.

Therefore, what is the correct logic when using "Run as Administrator" in a normal user login state?

Authorize the user to install the software by entering the administrator's account and password.

Install the software for the administrator account while logged in as a user.

If it's the first option, at the very least, when you click the button to select the installation path, the administrator directory should not be the default. If it's the second option, then why would the software need to be installed for the administrator account while the user is logged in? Clearly, that doesn't make sense.

I downloaded 7-Zip, and when using "Run as Administrator" and choosing the installation path, you can see that it defaults to the administrator folder. 7-Zip doesn't seem to require any configuration files to be installed in the user directory, so it works fine. But for other software that needs to save files in the user directory, installing it in the administrator folder might cause issues with permissions and prevent some features from working properly.

Due to internet restrictions in China, I am unable to access commonly used software for testing, but I have provided the WeChat download link here: https://pc.weixin.qq.com/.

I also remember that Steam, during use, saves some files in the user's configuration directory.

If possible, could you let me know when you choose to run as an administrator, what the default user folder name is when you browse the folder path? Is it the current user or the administrator user? Thank you.

MotoX80 34,856 Reputation points

2024-12-27T19:21:51.8066667+00:00

I found WeChat on the Microsoft Store here in the US. I tried to install it on a crash+burn VM that I play with software on. But it seems to be taking forever to install. I'm not using a MS account, just a local testuser account. I gave up on that.

But I did see this..

Note that it says "launched", not "installed".

That would appear to match up with the user's comments that I found on the reddit site.

So if you are installing WeChat with an admin account, and then trying to run it with a non-admin account, then I have to say that I'm not surprised that you are having problems.

I also read through all of the other user replies on that reddit post and some users were suggesting that installing VirtualBox or Hyper-V and build a VM just to run WeChat on. Then the user can be granted admin access on just the VM. That might work.

I searched for help but there is nothing for Windows. Just IOS and Android.

This looks to me like it is an issue with WeChat.

On a test machine, grant the desktop user admin access. Then run the WeChat install.

If everything works, then you will need to ask WeChat support as to how you can run their software without granting admin access.

As to your question about Excel... I don't know where Office stores its license data. If you can open an .xls file from the C: drive, then the Excel.exe process is going to run with your desktop account credentials. So "you" have access to wherever that license is. That would indicate to me that WeChat is trying to launch Excel.exe in the context of a different user account. It could be running as the SYSTEM account, or maybe NETWORK SERVICE if it uses DCOM. Or it might be related to how you installed WeChat.
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