How to develop an ASP.NET application with a Limited account (IIS problem?)

[DotNet Ed]

Hi,
I have an issue I have not found a way to get around. First of all, I use
Windows XP Professional. I have a user account for administrative & security
purposes (install software, share things, etc.) and then a regular/limited
user account which is the one I use for my every day tasks such as software
development and web browsing.

Obviously if I give administrator rights to my account I open myself to a
myriad of bad things out there that can install software on my machine
without my knowledge, alter my registry, etc. etc. At least I have been
doing it like this since I got "bitten" last year.

The BIG problem now is, in order to develop ASP.NET applications with VS.NET
(or WebMatrix) I need to be able to create a "website" on my local machine
(I have IIS running). As it turns out, with a "limited" account one cannot
set web-sharing on any folder nor create localhost websites! Does this means
I have to either open my system by giving this account admin rights, or
switch back and forth between one and the other (which I must say is QUITE
annoying and unproductive) ?

I hope there is a productive way around this because I find it unacceptable
to have to run as administrator to develop and browse, as well as to have to
do endless swapping between accounts.

Any input on this issue would be greatly appreciated.
Emilio

 

[Patrice]

Try :
http://msdn.microsoft.com/security/...studionetwithnon-administrativeprivileges.asp

Patrice

 

[Nicole Calinoiu]

Emilio,

You might find the MakeMeAdmin utility from Aaron Marosis
(http://blogs.msdn.com/aaron_margosis/archive/2004/07/24/193721.aspx) to be
helpful while developing as a non-admin. It will allow you to lauch
applications from your own user context, temporarily promoted to
Administrators membership without logging off.

If you use it, I would strongly recommend also running his PrivBar
toolbar(http://blogs.msdn.com/aaron_margosis/archive/2004/07/24/195350.aspx)
so that you can tell when your Explorer and IE instances are running with
elevated user permissions.

HTH,
Nicole