When working with Windows 7 as an administrator, you'll notice network shares mapped under your standard user context become inaccessible when running elevated processes. This occurs because User Account Control (UAC) creates two completely separate security contexts:

// Standard user context (non-elevated)
Token: Restricted (Filtered) Token
Network drives: Visible
Security context: Medium Integrity Level

// Elevated context
Token: Full Administrator Token  
Network drives: Not visible
Security context: High Integrity Level

The registry setting HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\EnableLinkedConnections (DWORD=1) modifies this behavior by:

• Creating a symbolic link between the two security contexts
• Sharing network connection information across integrity levels
• Maintaining drive letter mappings in elevated processes

Here's how to programmatically check and set this value:

using Microsoft.Win32;

public bool CheckLinkedConnectionsEnabled()
{
    using (RegistryKey key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(
        @"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System"))
    {
        return (int?)key?.GetValue("EnableLinkedConnections") == 1;
    }
}

public void EnableLinkedConnections()
{
    using (RegistryKey key = Registry.LocalMachine.CreateSubKey(
        @"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System"))
    {
        key.SetValue("EnableLinkedConnections", 1, RegistryValueKind.DWord);
    }
    // Requires reboot to take effect
}

While convenient, this setting does weaken UAC protections:

For more secure approaches consider:

// Method 1: Explicit credential usage
NetworkCredential creds = new NetworkCredential(username, password, domain);
using (new NetworkConnection(@"\\server\share", creds))
{
    // Elevated operations here
}

// Method 2: Group Policy mapping
// Configure "Computer Configuration > Policies > Windows Settings > 
// Security Settings > Network List Manager Policies"

• The setting requires a reboot to take effect
• Only affects network drives - local folder junctions remain separate
• Doesn't work with IP-based UNC paths (must use DNS names)
• Windows 8+ handles this differently through UAC virtualization

When working with Windows 7 in a local (non-domain) environment, administrators frequently encounter a frustrating limitation: network shares mapped under a standard user context become inaccessible to elevated processes. This occurs because User Account Control (UAC) creates separate security contexts:

// Demonstration of the context separation
HANDLE hToken;
if (!OpenProcessToken(GetCurrentProcess(), TOKEN_QUERY, &hToken)) {
    // Error handling
}

TOKEN_ELEVATION_TYPE elevationType;
DWORD dwSize;
if (!GetTokenInformation(hToken, TokenElevationType, &elevationType, 
    sizeof(TOKEN_ELEVATION_TYPE), &dwSize)) {
    // Error handling
}

// Elevated processes get TokenElevationTypeFull
// Non-elevated get TokenElevationTypeLimited

The EnableLinkedConnections registry setting (located at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System) modifies this behavior by:

• Creating a symbolic link between the non-elevated and elevated network namespaces
• Allowing token sharing for network resource access
• Maintaining the security boundary for local resources

Implementation example to check the setting programmatically:

#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>

BOOL IsLinkedConnectionsEnabled() {
    HKEY hKey;
    DWORD dwData, dwSize = sizeof(DWORD);
    
    if (RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, 
        L"SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\System", 
        0, KEY_READ, &hKey) != ERROR_SUCCESS) {
        return FALSE;
    }
    
    if (RegQueryValueEx(hKey, L"EnableLinkedConnections", NULL, NULL, 
        (LPBYTE)&dwData, &dwSize) != ERROR_SUCCESS) {
        RegCloseKey(hKey);
        return FALSE;
    }
    
    RegCloseKey(hKey);
    return (dwData == 1);
}

While convenient, this setting does have security considerations:

To safely implement this solution:

1. Create a PowerShell script to toggle the setting:

# EnableLinkedConnections.ps1
param (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [ValidateSet("Enable", "Disable")]
    [string]$Action
)

$regPath = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System"
$valueName = "EnableLinkedConnections"

if ($Action -eq "Enable") {
    New-ItemProperty -Path $regPath -Name $valueName -Value 1 -PropertyType DWORD -Force
    Write-Host "Enabled network share linking between elevated and standard contexts"
} else {
    Remove-ItemProperty -Path $regPath -Name $valueName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    Write-Host "Disabled network share context linking"
}

Remember that changes require a reboot to take effect. The setting specifically affects:

• Mapped network drives (both drive letters and UNC paths)
• WebDAV connections
• VPN-connected network resources

For environments where modifying this registry setting isn't desirable:

// Programmatic solution using explicit credentials
NETRESOURCE nr;
ZeroMemory(&nr, sizeof(NETRESOURCE));
nr.dwType = RESOURCETYPE_DISK;
nr.lpRemoteName = L"\\\\server\\share";

DWORD result = WNetAddConnection2(&nr, L"password", L"username", 0);
if (result != NO_ERROR) {
    // Handle error
}

This approach maintains security isolation while providing access to needed resources.