Unable to install software as Power User in XP--so what's the point of PU?

[86plymouthcolt]

I setup myself as a power user, per Microsofts warning not to runas admin, and tried to install Mafia. XP Pro tells me I don't have that privilige.

Now I can install Mafia as admin, but when I try to run the game, it tells me I have to runs as admin.

What's the use of a power user if I have to do everything as admin?

 

[prosaic]

Hi, 86plymouthcolt!

Apparently the people who wrote Mafia didn't intend for it to be used with an NT-style OS -- or, if they did, they're not very competent at that facet of programming for the OS that deals with required user permissions. There are a lot of programs that don't work well without admin credentials. Many of those programs should be rewritten properly, though there are some program functions that should quite rightly be controlled only by an admin level user.

You can still use your Power User account to run these programs through use of one of two features.

1. Sometimes just setting the program to run in a compatibility mode for an older (DOS-based) version of Windows will fix the problem.

2. If that doesn't work, or if you'd prefer not to use that tack, then use the RUNAS executable. Look it up in Windows XP's Help. Also, open a CMD line and type "RUNAS /?", and hit the Enter key. You'll get a screen of info about RUNAS. The point is that you can use RUNAS with the /SAVECRED switch in the "Target" field of the Properties dialog for your program's shortcut. Once you've started the program and entered the appropriate admin account password one time you'll never have to enter it again. You'll be logged in as the power user, but when you invoke the program from the shortcut, the program (and ONLY THAT PROGRAM) will be run under the admin user's credentials.

I hope that helps.

- prosaic

BTW, you can also use runas from the CMD line or in the Start | Run dialog to execute installation routines to enable you to install programs and drivers while logged in as a Power User. However, I think it's probably best just to use an admin account to do this since, if something goes haywire during an install, you'll probably want to be logged in as an admin anyway.

 

[86plymouthcolt]

Thanks man...I'll have to experiment with the RUNAS command.

 

[prosaic]

I hope RUNAS works out for you. I've found it to be very useful in a wider variety of situations than the compatibility mode trick. But I always try the compatibility mode trick first on recalcitrant software -- unless I know for certain that the program actually does something that won't fly under a non-admin account. Programmers who are used to writing for DOS-based Windows sometimes have initialization routines in their software which check for the presence of some specific file or try to write a temporary file somewhere in the file system or do something with the registry that is forbidden to a program being run in a lower level account. Microsoft has accounted for a lot of this sort of behavior with compatibility mode and provides workarounds for many examples of this type of software. So it doesn't hurt to try compatibility mode first -- just to see.

Good luck!

- prosaic