How to tell Windows 7 that an application does not need to run with admin rights?

Question

I am using an application that was written before Windows Vista/Windows 7. Windows has decided that the application needs to run as an admin (i.e. it has the shield icon). I'm pretty sure the application has nothing in it's manifest that indicates that it needs to run with elevated privileges (it was written way before Windows Vista).

Is there any way to tell Windows that a specific application does not need elevated privileges?

Update: Looks like this is a duplicate question

http://superuser.com/questions/24631/prevent-elevation-uac-for-an-application-that-doesnt-need-it

Answer 1

Windows automatically elevates applications based on various criteria (listed in Understanding and Configuring User Account Control in Windows Vista):

Before a 32 bit process is created, the following attributes are checked to determine whether it is an installer:

• Filename includes keywords like "install," "setup," "update," etc.
• Keywords in the following Versioning Resource fields: Vendor, Company Name, Product Name, File Description, Original Filename, Internal Name, and Export Name.
• Keywords in the side-by-side manifest embedded in the executable.
• Keywords in specific StringTable entries linked in the executable.
• Key attributes in the RC data linked in the executable.
• Targeted sequences of bytes within the executable.

If you can't prevent elevation by renaming the file, you should be able to create a manifest that prevents elevation.

Answer 2

If the application was written well before Windows Vista/7 then there's a good chance that it could well require admin rights to run. A lot of programs assumed that the person installing would have admin rights so just wrote to the sections of the registry and file system the programmer thought best.

I know this from my own personal experience. About a decade ago I was working for a company that sold it's software into a big automotive company. All their PC's were locked down. We had to modify our code so it could be installed by some one running with just "User" rights.

Answer 3

Are you sure it's asking for elevation, and not just warning you because it's from an 'unsigned publisher'? I've run into that a few times with older EXEs.

What does the nag actually say?