A system administrator is preparing to deploy an in-house developed software utility to corporate Windows 11 desktop workstations. During pre-deployment testing, the installer prompts for elevated credentials via User Account Control (UAC) and completes successfully under an administrator account. However, when standard domain users launch the installed application from their desktops, the application immediately crashes with a file access permission violation when attempting to write temporary working files. Which of the following configuration changes should be made to resolve this issue while adhering to security best practices?
- Modify the application configuration so that temporary files are written to the logged-in user's %LOCALAPPDATA% folder rather than the application's Program Files directory.Answer
- BGrant the standard domain users group Full Control NTFS permissions on the application installation directory located inside Program Files.
- CConfigure the application shortcut to execute using administrator privileges via the System applet in Control Panel.
- DUpgrade the client operating systems to Windows 11 Enterprise edition to enable administrative privilege inheritance for standard domain accounts.
Answer
Modify the application configuration so that temporary files are written to the logged-in user's %LOCALAPPDATA% folder rather than the application's Program Files directory.
The correct answer addresses the root cause of the permission violation. In modern Windows operating systems, standard user accounts have read and execute rights in the Program Files directory but are blocked from creating or modifying files there. Applications designed for standard users should store temporary data, logs, and user settings inside the user's profile directory (such as %LOCALAPPDATA%), where standard users naturally hold write permissions.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Application Data Storage Locations and User Access Permissions