Q. How can I test if my application will work on Windows 7 as a standard user instead of as an administrator?

A. Microsoft provides an Application Compatibility Toolkit that includes several of tools, including the Standard User Analyzer (SUA). SUA lets an application launch within the SUA environment and removes any administrator privileges. You then perform actions within the application, and if items fail because you don't have sufficient permissions without administrator privileges, the SUA will track those failures. Once you've tried all the actions within the application, SUA will generate a report of the failures and recommendations on how to get the application to run using various shims, such as file system/registry redirection. You can use the Compatibility Administrator to actually see all the recommended shims to enable the application to correctly run as a non-administrator. This is a very useful tool when you're looking to migrate your applications to Windows 7 from Windows XP, because hopefully you'll be moving from having all users as local administrators.

Once you've installed the Application Compatibility Toolkit, you should also install the Microsoft Application Verifier and then launch SUA. You can select the application you want to scan and unselect Elevate under the launch options. Then launch the application and try all the different functions—you want to hit any problems so SUA can help find solutions. Once you've run the application, you can also navigate to various tabs, such as File and Registry, to see any problems that were found.