Accessing network shares using RUNAS in Vista
I am starting an evaluation of Vista for our company now that some of our CAD software is starting to support it. Part my security is not running with my Domain Admin account. When I need access to a network directory we have for Domain Admin use only I used to use the following in XP: Code Snippet runas /user:Domain\AdminName "%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /separate,/e,"\\Server\Directory""I would then do what I needed to do and close the window. Once the window was closed it would require another runas to access again.I try the above in Vista and no explorer window appears...no error message either. Just a big fat nothing. This is not the only way this is used in our company. There are other ways that we use it to allow someone to administer data in a share while logged in as there normal account. Switching users and logging out are not viable options. I am also trying to avoid third party software.Does anyone have any ideas?
February 6th, 2008 9:21pm

!bump! Does anyone have an answer for this? I am currious of the same! -Mike
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February 27th, 2008 7:05pm

Hello, This issue has been reported before. We have investigated the issue and noticed that it is by designed behavior. For security considerations, Explorer.exe cannot be used with runas command to escalate privilege in Windows Vista. For accessing network folder with another credential, please check if the net use command can address the requirement. Here is an example for using net use: net use \\server\directory /user: domain\administrator After finishing the job, you can also use "net use * /delete" command to terminate the session, for security purposes. Hope the information is helpful. Sincerely, Joson Zhou Microsoft Online Community Support
March 5th, 2008 10:37am

Need to be able to supply a password. I can't make 'Net Use' use both a /user switch and a password. If I try just the /user switch I get a bad password error. I also believe this to be inherently less secure than the runas command as it requires a deletion after use. Runas was done when the window was closed.
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May 1st, 2008 3:25am

The wrok arround is start IE and in the URL, pass the UNC.
June 6th, 2008 11:35pm

IE doesn't have any way of running as a different user other than the local administrator account in Vista.
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July 11th, 2008 9:15pm

windows beta users,Have any of you tried to do thisto see if it can be done in that OS?
March 13th, 2009 11:39pm

I have similar issues, complicated by the fact that in the new MSRA.exe, you can't send admin credentials remotely - this is by design to stop someone from disconnecting you & stealing your credentials, apparently. It makes supporting people a hell of a lot more difficult.Basically you can't use any of the "old" tricks from XP - you can't use "runas" to run an escalated iexplore.exe, and none of the in-shell tools (control.exe, explorer.exe) will escalate - you either get a failure to start, or a message saying that "RUNAS is not supported".The only way around this we've found so far is to use MSTSC to the client PC, then run what you need to as administrator while the customer is logged off. Obviously this isn't as good as being able to escalate from the customer's session, and means your support calls will take many, many times longer for Vista than for XP.
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March 16th, 2009 6:29pm

If they are going to take something like this away, the they should supply a GOOD replacement...like an admin only commandlet...maybe? Something an admin could install to accomplish this?
April 16th, 2009 9:17pm

Good news for those looking to do this. There is a way to accomplish this in Windows 7. All you need to do is use SHIFT+RGHT-CLICK on the Windows Explorer shortcut and you get the option to Run as a Different User.
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July 1st, 2010 1:38am

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