How do we create an installer than doesn't require administrator permissions?

Question

When creating a setup/MSI with Visual Studio is it possible to make a setup for a simple application that doesn\'t require administrator permissions to install? If its not

Answer 1

Vista is more restrictive about this kind of thing, so if you can't do it for XP you can bet Vista won't let you either.

You are right that installing to the program files folder using windows installer requires administrative permissions. In fact, all write access to that folder requires admin permsissions, which is why you should no longer store your data in the same folder as your executable.

Fortunately, if you're using .Net you can use ClickOnce deployment instead of an msi, which should allow you to install to a folder in each user's profile without requiring admin permissions.