How Can I Request and Detect UAC Elevation in a Python Script?

UAC Elevation Request and Detection from Python Script

To copy files on Windows Vista from a Python script, it is necessary to elevate the user's privileges to bypass User Account Control (UAC). Here's an accessible method to achieve this:

UAC Elevation Request:

import ctypes, sys

def is_admin():
    try:
        return ctypes.windll.shell32.IsUserAnAdmin()
    except:
        return False

if not is_admin():
    # Re-run the program with admin rights
    ctypes.windll.shell32.ShellExecuteW(None, "runas", sys.executable, " ".join(sys.argv), None, 1)

This code checks if the script is running with elevated privileges. If not, it relaunches the script with administrator rights.

UAC Detection:

If requesting UAC elevation is not feasible, you can detect whether the script is elevated or not:

if is_admin():
    # Code that requires elevated privileges
else:
    print("Error: Script must be run with elevated privileges.")
    sys.exit()

This approach allows you to handle the lack of elevation gracefully or display a warning message to the user.

Advantages of the Proposed Method:

• Utilizes standard library modules (ctypes and sys), eliminating the need for external libraries.
• Compatible with both Python 2 and 3.
• Does not require modifying file resources or creating a manifest file.
• Prevents multiple script executions by executing the code only when necessary.
• Captures the return value from the API call and allows for error handling.
• Provides flexibility in customizing the display of the spawned process.

For further information, consult the documentation for the ShellExecute API call.

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