Why doesn't the ArcGIS Desktop Administrator allow switching of software types or the license manager?

Answer

Note:
This article applies to retired ArcGIS versions 8.x and 9.x. Later versions of ArcGIS may contain different functionality, as well as different names and locations for menus, commands and geoprocessing tools.

Note:
See also: How to: Change the ArcGIS Desktop seat type for Citrix or restricted permissions environments

The Desktop Administrator allows switching between ArcInfo, ArcEditor and ArcView (Concurrent Use) and ArcView (Single Use).
Full use of the Desktop Administrator requires a user's permissions to include the ability to write to the following registry keys:

• HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID and
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ESRI

For 64-bit operating systems the keys are:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ESRI
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Classes\CLSID\{E6BDAA76-4D35-11D0-98BE-00805F7CED21

If these permissions are not granted, the user is only able to view Availability. All other functionality is disabled.

Note:
In a network environment, do NOT give permissions to the registry keys to domain users or authenticated users (both need access to the domain to authenticate). If this is done then it will slow the computer down to a crawl. The system administrator needs to give full control permissions to the local users group in order to authenticate everything locally rather than across the domain.