Windows Vista and Django: Permission Denied Error
We recently upgraded the office to Windows Vista machines and the transition went pretty smoothly. It wasn't until we needed to make some modifications to a few Django projects that we started to run into issues. Namely, while attempting to start the development server for Django (via "manage.py runserver"), the server would seem like it was starting up, but after printing the standard Django output in the command window, it would print out another line giving us "permission denied" and then returning back to the "C" prompt.
In an attempt to fix this, the first step was to mess around with the folder permissions, with checking the setting.py file in the Django project as the follow up. We thought that maybe something went wrong when we transfered data from the backups onto the new system. That didn't fix our problem though.
The next step was to utilize Bing and Google to try to find similar issues online, but nothing specifically mentioned Django with this particular "permission denied" issue.
After reading similar problems with some HTTP servers that had nothing to do with Python or Django (but did have to do with Windows Vista), we decided to go the route of disabling the UAC (User Account Control) feature in Vista. The result? Mission accomplished. After disabling UAC and rebooting the new system, the Django development server starting working properly with no "permission denied" problems.
For those who are experiencing a similar issue and want to disable the UAC, simply type "msconfig" in a command window, click on the tools tab, find "Disable UAC" in the listing and click "Launch." A command window will appear and complete the operation. Once it's finished, close out of that window, click "OK" on MSConfig and then reboot your computer. You should be all set.
