How does “run as administrator” affect printing?

Question

I noticed that in my Win2008 Server machine, if I start an app by right clinking as selecting "run as administrator", that it can't print anything. But if I run the app normally, it prints just fine.

For example if I open notepad, enter some text, and print, the document prints as expected. But If I right click on notepad in the run menu, enter some text, and print, the document is never printed, nor is any error message shown.

For what it's worth, it is a network printer. I'm am logged in as an administrator.

My question is why and how would running as an administrator effect whether or not an app can print?

Answer 1

The printer is mapped in the context of the currently logged in user. The application is run in the context of the Administrator account, so it does not have access to the printer.

This behavior also manifests itself by mapping a drive with a script on it that calls another file on that network drive and running it as Administrator. It will fail, since the drive is not mapped in the Administrator user's context, causing it to appear as if it does not exist.