the standard recommendation is to install PostgreSQL as a service on windows; logging in with an own low privilege user account, usually named "postgres".
That usage of a service is recommended because it solves all the usual problems of services :) (start, shut down, login as seperate user ....)
However: I guess you have an privileged user (=Member of Administrators), and want to start PostgreSQL as an unprivileged user. So just create a command shell as that user:
runas /user:postgres cmd
and start and stop PostgreSQL within that shell. (in the long run, you can change that line to immediately start PostgreSQL instead of going via cmd)
For 8.2 there is scheduled a "drop privilege" method of startup on windows, so that starting PostgreSQL as Administrator is no longer a problem, since PostgreSQL will drop it privileges immediately after start.
hth
Harald
-- GHUM Harald Massa persuadere et programmare Harald Armin Massa Reinsburgstraße 202b 70197 Stuttgart 0173/9409607 - Python: the only language with more web frameworks than keywords.
