error MSB3216 when registering assembly

Question

Here are the error details:

In the Error List:

Error 1 Cannot register assembly "C:\Users\cboardman\Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\ExcelAddIn1\ExcelAddIn1\bin\Debug\ExcelAddIn1.dll" - access denied. Please make sure you're running the application as administrator. Access to the registry key 'HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ExcelAddIn1...' is denied. C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Microsoft.Common.targets 3019 9 ExcelAddIn1

In the Build Output:

Target UnmanagedRegistration: C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Microsoft.Common.targets(3019,9): error MSB3216: Cannot register assembly "C:\Users\cboardman\Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\ExcelAddIn1\ExcelAddIn1\bin\Debug\ExcelAddIn1.dll" - access denied. Please make sure you're running the application as administrator. Access to the registry key 'HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ExcelAddIn1...' is denied. Done building target "UnmanagedRegistration" in project "ExcelAddIn1.csproj" -- FAILED.

From what I have found online, I need to be running Visual Studio as administrator. This seems like a big hammer for a small nail. Is there a way around this (like a way to run just the registration as administrator)?

Answer 1

Unfortunately there is not an easy way to do this. By default registering the components adds entries to protected keys in the registry (under HKLM in particular). This cannot be done without administrative rights.

It is technically possible to register COM components as a non-admin by using the equivalent keys under HKCU. However it is not a trivial change and I do not believe the .Net tools which register the assemblies can be configured to do this.

I think your best option is to disable registration during build. Then have a separate Admin window open where you can hand register the DLL From for debugging purposes. The re-registration is only really necessary if you change the COM related interfaces or location of the DLL so it doesn't have to be done for every F5.