I have been struggling with a security issue that occurs under .NET
2.0, but does not occur under .NET 1.1.  Essentially I am trying to
open up a performance counter on a remote server and monitor its value.
In .NET 1.1 this worked fine, however under .NET 2.0 it fails when I
am not an administrator on the remote server.

To provide a lean demonstration of the issue, I created the following
class:

============================

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Threading;

namespace ConsoleApplication3
{
    class Class1
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// The main entry point for the application.
        /// </summary>
        [STAThread]
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            try
            {
                string machineName = null;

                // Was exactly 1 argument was passed?
                if (args.Length != 1)
                {
                    // Prompt for machine name
                    Console.Write("Please enter a machine name: ");
                    machineName = Console.ReadLine();
                }
                else
                {
                    // Use command line argument
                    machineName = args[0];
                }

                // Get the performance counter
                PerformanceCounter c = new PerformanceCounter("Processor", "%
Processor Time", "_Total", machineName);

                // Display counter value once every second for 5 seconds
                for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(c.RawValue);
                    Thread.Sleep(1000);
                }
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("==============");
                Console.WriteLine(ex);
                Console.WriteLine("==============");
            }
            finally
            {
                Console.WriteLine();
                Console.WriteLine("Hit ENTER to quit application.");
                Console.ReadLine();
            }
        }
    }
}

============================

I then created a batch file that compiles this file under both .NET 1.1
and .NET 2.0:

c:\windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.4322\csc.exe
/out:CounterTest11.exe /t:exe Class1.cs
c:\windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\csc.exe
/out:CounterTest20.exe /t:exe Class1.cs

Now, when I run either version against a server on which I am an
administrator, I get the following output:
--------
C:\Projects\ConsoleApplication3>CounterTest20.exe
Please enter a machine name: speck
6708935078125
6708945000000
6708954921875
6708964609375
6708974687500

Hit ENTER to quit application.
--------

When I run the .NET 1.1 version against a server on which I am only a
member of the "Performance Monitoring" group, I get the following
results:
--------
C:\Projects\ConsoleApplication3>CounterTest11.exe
Please enter a machine name: bonnie
114549931445312
114549938945312
114549946445312
114549954023437
114549961523437

Hit ENTER to quit application.
--------

But when I run the .NET 2.0 version against the same server, I get the
following:
--------
C:\Projects\ConsoleApplication3>CounterTest20.exe
Please enter a machine name: bonnie
==============
System.Security.SecurityException: Requested registry access is not
allowed.
  at System.ThrowHelper.ThrowSecurityException(ExceptionResource
resource)
  at Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey.OpenSubKey(String name, Boolean
writable)
  at Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey.OpenSubKey(String name)
  at
System.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounterLib.FindCustomCategory(String
categor
y, PerformanceCounterCategoryType& categoryType)
  at System.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounterLib.GetCategoryType(String
machine, S
tring category)
  at System.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounter.Initialize()
  at System.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounter..ctor(String categoryName,
String co
unterName, String instanceName, String machineName)
  at ConsoleApplication3.Class1.Main(String[] args)
The Zone of the assembly that failed was:
MyComputer
==============

Hit ENTER to quit application.

Now, I posted this earlier to another forum but the only suggestion was
that I was not running with Full Trust.  I am launching the application
locally, and so I don't understand how I could not be running under
Full Trust.  I poked around in the .NET 2.0 configuration tool, but
could not come up with any ideas.

Any insight into this problem would be very much appreciated!

Geoff McElhanon