easy_install requires admin rights on Windows

Question

Python is installed in a directory all users have full access to, but when I run easy_install, a consent window appears asking for administrator credentials. Why?

Answer 1

Is this not what you would expect? On every computer I've ever used, admin privileges are required to make any type of modifications that will affect all users.

Answer 2

I think I have found a solution:

easy_install.cmd

@echo off
C:\Python26\python.exe C:\Python26\Scripts\easy_install-script.py %*

This script does not require admin rights.