ShellExecute get access to open folder

Question

I'm using ShellExecute(NULL, L"open", szSomeDirectory, 0, 0, SW_SHOWDEFAULT) to open a directory in explorer.

I'm trying to open a directory that I would normally be prompted with You currently do not have permission to access this folder. and would give me option to get access and show a UAC prompt.

When I'm executing ShellExecute, Explorer gives me a error message saying Access Denied.

My program is running with administrator privileges but that doesn't seem to matter.

How can I get access to open this folder?

Answer 1

Figured it out.

My user account didn't have access to the file.

My solution was to use AccessCheck before ShellExecute to see if I could access the file, and if I couldn't, use SetNamedSecurityInfo to add an ACE for the logon user account with full access.

Answer 2

you can set the UAC level in the linker manifest for your program.

Take a look at this: Strange file-permissions if apps run as administrator