I'm working on a Desktop application, and to allow frequent updates without too much hassle, I want to install a simple bootstrap application to the Program Files directory, and the actual application to C:\ProgramData. This would allow me to automatically update the application without administrative access, since ProgramData is writable by all users.This application will only be used in corporate IT environments that have an agreement with my company. Most of these environments have users running as non-admins, which has limited our ability to update our software, as we have to coordinate with the IT departments to roll out an upgrade. Are there any problems with this approach that may not be obvious? I'm wondering around permissions, common corporate policies, antivirus, etc.
Is it a bad idea to use ProgramData to allow non-admin users to update our program?
windows;software updates;automatic update