My company produces a cross-platform server application which loads its configuration from user-editable configuration files. On Windows, config files are locked down at Setup time to allow reading by all users but restrict editing to Administrators only.

Unfortunately, on Windows Server 2008, even local administrators no longer have admin privileges (because of UAC) unless they're running an elevated app.

My question is: if a Windows Server 2008 admin wants to edit an admins-only config file, how does he normally do it? Is he forced to use a text editor which is smart enough to auto-elevate when elevation is needed, like Windows Explorer does in response to access denied errors?

Or is there something that we can do in our app (e.g. in ACLs we lay down at setup time) which signal apps (or explorer) that elevation is needed before editing the file or which otherwise make our app friendlier to admins running on modern Windows OS's?