InstallShield 2010 Premier - Win8- Path Variables will not resolve to actual location

[markhug]

Background:
Had IS2010 installed on Windows XP VirtualBox
Installed IS2010 on Win8.1 VirtualBox
Mapped all the network drives that I need to map to.

Opened my installshield project.
Discovered that all file locations pointed to through Path Variables from within components (either Static or Dynamic) are not seen.

I can point to absolute paths successfully.

Have attached two screen shots; one containing static and the other dynamic. In both cases, the files are not seen.
If I copy the path corresponding to the path variable into my File Explorer, Windows immediately finds the files (meaning there should be no problem with the path variable).

I am in fairly urgent need of an answer, so I hope someone can help.

[DebbieL]

You'll probably want to switch to using UNC paths (such as \\server\share) instead of using mapped drives.

InstallShield runs typically with administrative privileges. When you mapped the drives through Windows Explorer, you were likely not using administrative privileges. Thus, if you can access these drive letters in a non-administrative instance of InstallShield on Windows Vista and later, but not in an administrative instance.

For more information, see Launching InstallShield with vs. Without Administrative Privileges.

[markhug]

DebbieL wrote:
You'll probably want to switch to using UNC paths (such as \\server\share) instead of using mapped drives.

InstallShield runs typically with administrative privileges. When you mapped the drives through Windows Explorer, you were likely not using administrative privileges. Thus, if you can access these drive letters in a non-administrative instance of InstallShield on Windows Vista and later, but not in an administrative instance.

For more information, see Launching InstallShield with vs. Without Administrative Privileges.

Hi Debbie, thanks for your input. Yes, I had considered switching over to UNC paths but it would mean a lot of messing about if any of the servers I link to were to go down/be renamed/etc.
I found the direct solution to my problem on Technet.microsoft.com.....

I added a DWord Value "EnableLinkedConnections" (and set it to "1") in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

That fixed it. Thanks again for your input.

[DebbieL]

Ah, got it. I'm glad that you found a solution that works for your environment. Thanks for sharing what worked for you! It may help other community users.