Runas account/DFS Problem

[bharkol1]

Hi -

We have created an application that uses runas to use a single domain
application account for file system (DFS) and database access. We have run
into very strange compatibility problems depending on what version of
OS/Office is installed on the client machine.

When the application runs correctly:
1 - user logs in - user is checked for access in the ms sql db
2 - access is granted then runas starts the app using the domain app account
3 - The user then needs to load data, a file dialog is used and the mapped
DFS drive is listed and data is loaded.

Further setup information:
1 - the app account has full access to both the DFS root as well as all ntfs
targets
2 - the app account is not a domain admin account
3 - no db connectivity issues have come up
4 - Dot Net framework 1.1 SP 1 installed

The problem:
1 - when installed on a win2k prof. system without office or with office
2000/XP the application works if we make both the user as well as the app
account local admin. If this is not done, the file dialog box does not
display the mapped DFS drive.
2 - when installed on XP with office 2003 the above doesn't work unless we
add the domain account to the domain admin group. Again, this results with a
file dialog with no DFS drive.
3 - When we log into the system using the application account and then run
our app the DFS is some cases is displayed yet does not contain the targets
to the NTFS shares, it just displays the root DFS and 1st sub directories.

We need to get this to work under the following conditions:
1 - user and application account can not be local admin
2 - application account can not have domain admin security

Has anyone seen anything like this before?

Please advise!!!
Thanks,
Bryan