How to start a command prompt in admin mode with arguments to install inf file

Question

I know its a old question but my problem is very critical I tried many ways suggested in So or in google but didn't get any help. I want to install an inf file during our product installation. So I have to do it using a command line argument. I unpack the file in "C:\\Program Files\\Com\\ProductName" In this location I have the inf and the sys file. Now I have written a C# code to install the driver.

class install
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
       string str = "RUNDLL32.EXE SETUPAPI.DLL,InstallHinfSection DefaultInstall 132 .\infname.inf";
         commandtorun(str);
      }
      static void commandtorun(string commandexecuted)
      {
         string currentstatus;
         ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
         Process myprocess = new Process();
         try
         {
            startInfo.FileName = "cmd"; //
            startInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
            startInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
            startInfo.UseShellExecute = false; 
            startInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
            startInfo.WorkingDirectory = @"C:\Program Files\Com\ProductName";
            startInfo.Verb = "runas";

            myprocess.StartInfo = startInfo; 
            myprocess.Start();

            System.IO.StreamReader SR;
            System.IO.StreamWriter SW;
            Thread.Sleep(200);
            SR = myprocess.StandardOutput;
            SW = myprocess.StandardInput;
            SW.WriteLine(commandexecuted); 
            SW.WriteLine("exit"); 
            Thread.Sleep(200);
            currentstatus = SR.ReadToEnd();
            SW.Close();
            SR.Close();
         }
         catch (Exception e)
         {

         }
}

Now the problem is if I run the same command from start menu cmd-> run as administrator and go to the path where is the inf file and then run the command, the driver installs successfully, but using the code if I run, I don't get any exception but I could not find out the driver in the C:\\Windows\\System32\\Drivers folders

So the driver dididn't get installed.

Anybody please help me to figure out whats the mistake I am doing.

Please

Answer 1

Your running application should be granted with administrator privilege,there are several methods to grant the access

1- Manifest

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> 
<asmv1:assembly manifestVersion="1.0" xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" 
xmlns:asmv1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" 
xmlns:asmv2="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2" 
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<assemblyIdentity version="1.0.0.0" name="MyApplication" />
<trustInfo xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2">
    <security>
        <requestedPrivileges xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
            <requestedExecutionLevel level="requireAdministrator" 
    uiAccess="false" />
        </requestedPrivileges>
    </security>
</trustInfo>

2-Self-Elevation

a complete guide with samples are provided by Microsoft, here is the link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981778

3-Registry

You can add grant administrator privilege as Compatibility flag through registry, for doing this you should add a key with a name as full path of your application and value ~RUNASADMIN to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\AppCompatFlags\\Layers key

Answer 2

If you want to run your console application with Admin Privilege you should first add a manifest[app.manifest] file to your console application, follow the steps given here .

Once you add the manifest file you will have to change the following settings in the manifest file,

Change this to

<requestedExecutionLevel level="asInvoker" uiAccess="false" />

This

<requestedExecutionLevel level="requireAdministrator" uiAccess="false" />

Please note that user should have admin privilege in the local machine also sometimes user will be prompted to enter credentials during the application execution.