I have a C# app that creates a settings file for itself to store the current state of certain visual elements. This app works just fine on any machine that isn’t running Windows 7, but on those machines we get an error that the settings file can’t be created because the user doesn’t have permission. Now, I could fix this issue by going to each computer, logging in as the administrator and giving the user read and write access on the program folder for the application that we’ve installed, but there has to be a better way.
It seems like in XP, you got write access on the folders you created by default, but that isn’t the case anymore. Is there a setting I need in the setup package to make this work?
The point is that you shouldn’t be storing settings files in the program folder. Microsoft have advised against this for a long time, but started making things stricter with Vista IIRC.
Use
Environment.SpecialFolders.ApplicationData(etc) to find the most appropriate place to put settings. Or use the .NET settings infrastructure which does this automatically for you.