Running Visual Studio and the Visual Studio SDK on Windows Vista
Updated: July 2008
Both Visual Studio and the Visual Studio SDK run on Windows Vista, but they can only be installed by a user who has elevated administrative credentials. For more information, see Windows Vista and Visual Studio.
The Devenv.exe command-line switches, /setup, /installvstemplates, and /associatefiles, require administrative permissions for correct operation. Invoking these commands without the appropriate permissions could cause data loss.
To address this concern, run a Command Prompt window that has elevated administrative permissions and then start Devenv.exe by using the required command-line switch.
You can program an executable file built in Visual Studio to prompt for administrative credentials by setting the UAC manifest in the portable executable header. For more information, see Windows Vista Application Development Requirements for User Account Control Compatibility on the Microsoft Download Center Web site or Developer Best Practices and Guidelines for Applications in a Least Privileged Environment on the Windows Vista Developer Center Web site.