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Run as error

henderson1977
Grafter
Posts: 191
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Run as error

Hi all
Our users have restricted domain user accounts (i.e. no admin rights).  So we use the Run As command from time-to-time for admin tasks, such as running a defrag.  However, since we upgraded from Windows XP SP2 to Windows XP SP3 with all critical hotfixes upto 25-March-2010, logon as a standard domain user & execute the Run As command, we get the error "windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item".  We can logon as an admin, right-click any EXE file & Run As fine but this defeats the object & is unnecessary, although it suggests it's a permissions issue.
We have uninstalled IE8 and Run As works fine for standard domain users but it's not a practical solution because our company needs IE8 for various reasons.  It seems the Run As command is reliant on Internet Explorer.  Is it anything to do with the "enable memory protection to mitigate online attacks" option in IE8's Advanced settings?  We've searched but cannot find any related Group Policy setting(s) to disable this option.
We then looked at the Data Execution Protection (DEP) settings in 'Control Panel > System > Advanced > Performance Settings'.  We changed the DEP setting from "Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only" to "Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select:", rebooted when prompted and Run As now works fine for standard domain users.  But we are concerned this will cause problems down the line so want to avoid changing the default DEP setting and even if we did we would need to find a way to automate this change on 1500+ machines (reg key or GPO?). 
Has anyone else encountered this Run As problem and overcome it, if so, how please? 

Thanks
Scott
2 REPLIES 2
henderson1977
Grafter
Posts: 191
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: Run as error

We discovered the "secondary logon" service was stopped and set to manual so we started it and set it to automatic and Run As works as before.
Hope this helps others.
Scott
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Run as error

I Googled your problem and came to the conclusion that most people experiencing it found that the same solution worked for them.  I thought about posting this but I have no direct experience and I wasn't sure if this was a solution or just a workaround.