MUST be run as admin?

Riverdome · 04-13-2010, 10:11 PM

When I run OOTP11 as a user I am always prompted to license the game. When I run as admin the license is already applied and I can play.

Great game but a PITA if I have to remember to run as admin everytime I play.

Win7 64-bit, if it matters.

SlyBelle · 04-13-2010, 10:13 PM

I believe it needs to run under the user you registered the game under. For example if during your install you ran under an admin account, the license would be applied to that user account. Sounds like you might be trying to start the game under a different user then the account it was installed. I thought it would be a computer wide license too, but appears to be user specific.

Just a thought.

megamanmatt · 04-13-2010, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riverdome

Great game but a PITA if I have to remember to run as admin everytime I play.

If you right click on the OOTPXI icon, and go into it's properties, go to the Compatibility tab, you can tell Windows to always run it as Admin. Least it'll be less annoying that way.

molarmite · 04-13-2010, 10:23 PM

Or put it on the taskbar down below and you just have to click it.

numbuh48 · 04-13-2010, 10:28 PM

Confirmed as a problem; same thing happened to me.

Riverdome · 04-13-2010, 10:29 PM

Ran as admin and unlicensed. Closed OOTPXI, opened as user and tried to license - fail. Ran as admin again and was able to apply license.

Thanks for the tip to always run as admin, but I will still have to type my admin password each time.

Chaos81 · 04-13-2010, 10:33 PM

If you haven't already check and see if there is an extra space at the end of your license key. If so, delete that and see what happens.

I wasn't able to get it to stay licensed when running as admin like you can, so maybe that's not the issue, but it's worth a shot.

SlyBelle · 04-13-2010, 10:33 PM

I haven't tried this myself, but someone mentioned it elsewhere. If your setup on your computer with one user account that you use for admin purposes and another for general use, you may want to try the following. Temporarily change your general use account to admin and then install and license the game. Then change your general use account back to regular account user. See if that works, best case scenario is you no longer have to login as admin. Again, not sure if it will work, but maybe worth a try.

megamanmatt · 04-13-2010, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chaos81

If you haven't already check and see if there is an extra space at the end of your license key. If so, delete that and see what happens.

I wasn't able to get it to stay licensed when running as admin like you can, so maybe that's not the issue, but it's worth a shot.

No, that is a different issue.

megamanmatt · 04-13-2010, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlyBelle

I haven't tried this myself, but someone mentioned it elsewhere. If your setup on your computer with one user account that you use for admin purposes and another for general use, you may want to try the following. Temporarily change your general use account to admin and then install and license the game. Then change your general use account back to regular account user. See if that works, best case scenario is you no longer have to login as admin. Again, not sure if it will work, but maybe worth a try.

And I personally wouldn't recommend that. But I'm the type of person who doesn't want a security hole like that even for a minute.

SlyBelle · 04-13-2010, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by megamanmatt

And I personally wouldn't recommend that. But I'm the type of person who doesn't want a security hole like that even for a minute.

I'm certainly not saying it will or won't work, just something stated elsewhere. I am curious though what security hole you think this would created. Either way it is an admin account being used to install the game, whether it is the special admin account or the user account temporarily used as an admin account.

megamanmatt · 04-13-2010, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlyBelle

I'm certainly not saying it will or won't work, just something stated elsewhere. I am curious though what security hole you think this would created. Either way it is an admin account being used to install the game, whether it is the special admin account or the user account temporarily used as an admin account.

I'm really not going to get in a huge arguement over this, all I'm saying is it is beyond a bad practice to do that, and as an admin I am trained to not ever do this. It is a horrible practice, but it doesn't really matter with a personal network as the usually isn't anything worth protecting. However after hundreds of thousands of hours of being taught what is and isn't a good practice in network security when I see a horrible practice it bothers me as much as watching parents belittle children at little league games.

SlyBelle · 04-13-2010, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by megamanmatt

I'm really not going to get in a huge arguement over this, all I'm saying is it is beyond a bad practice to do that, and as an admin I am trained to not ever do this. It is a horrible practice, but it doesn't really matter with a personal network as the usually isn't anything worth protecting. However after hundreds of thousands of hours of being taught what is and isn't a good practice in network security when I see a horrible practice it bothers me as much as watching parents belittle children at little league games.

Wasn't attempting to get into an argument at all, was genuinely inquiring about what the potential issue would be in case I was unaware of something. That was all.

megamanmatt · 04-13-2010, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlyBelle

Wasn't attempting to get into an argument at all, was genuinely inquiring about what the potential issue would be in case I was unaware of something. That was all.

I know you weren't man, that was more of me reminding myself.

The problem is an administrator account allows you access to all parts of a system which could be used as a back door in. If you remembered to switch back every time there would really be no issue, but people do tend to forget stuff and that wouldn't be a great thing to forget. Again though, like I said by and large on personal networks it's less of a security issue since there often isn't as critical of data on them. I just don't like taking chances and that's where my opinion starts from.

edit: Also as a secondary thing I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be less work anyway, as he'd still have to log in as an admin to change the account to an admin account. MS makes the purposefully difficult.

Charlie Hough · 04-13-2010, 11:39 PM

If you have your original case from your OS purchase or you can find your documentation, call Microsoft Support. There will be a number in your OS documentation, and surprisingly you can get through quickly and get good support. I did this last year when I upgraded to Vista and encountered some administrator problems.

SirDrexl · 04-14-2010, 01:08 AM

Where did you install the game? Have you tried installing in a folder that is NOT under Program Files (x86), such as C:\OOTP? Maybe it has something to do with the permissions assigned to "important" folders like Windows, Program Files, etc.

megamanmatt · 04-14-2010, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirDrexl

Where did you install the game? Have you tried installing in a folder that is NOT under Program Files (x86), such as C:\OOTP? Maybe it has something to do with the permissions assigned to "important" folders like Windows, Program Files, etc.

This is a great point. I didn't even think about it.

laimheloc · 04-14-2010, 03:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirDrexl

Where did you install the game? Have you tried installing in a folder that is NOT under Program Files (x86), such as C:\OOTP? Maybe it has something to do with the permissions assigned to "important" folders like Windows, Program Files, etc.

It is a permissions issue, but changing the install path will not resolve the issue.

When you install applications like OOTP on Windows 7 or Windows 2008 using the built-in admin account, a portion of the config information is written to c:\users\administrator\appdata\roaming\ and it looks like a component of the activation is in c:\users\all users (which is a hidden directory by default). A user account is not going to have write access to either location. That is why when you launch the app as a user you are prompted to enter the license key again because your account cannot access the key you entered while logged in as an admin.

So, that is why is does not work for you. Now, how to fix it? That depends on your level of comfort.

RunAs Admin is the easiest/safest method. You can also disable some or all of Windows User Account Control and that will get rid of the prompt. If you are unsure what that means, just stick with RunAs Admin unless OOTP advises otherwise.

If it makes you feel any better, this issue is by no means exclusive to OOTP. Many non-enterprise apps are like this. On the flip side, this app is actually tailor made to be published in a Citrix environment, although we are not licensed to do so.

jarmenia · 04-14-2010, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by numbuh48

Confirmed as a problem; same thing happened to me.

I'm running Win 7 x64 and don't have the problem so I'm guessing its user error.

megamanmatt · 04-14-2010, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jarmenia

I'm running Win 7 x64 and don't have the problem so I'm guessing its user error.

Well is the account you use an admin account? It isn't user error regardless, it's just the way windows 7 works.

04-13-2010, 10:11 PM	#1
Riverdome All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 964	MUST be run as admin? When I run OOTP11 as a user I am always prompted to license the game. When I run as admin the license is already applied and I can play. Great game but a PITA if I have to remember to run as admin everytime I play. Win7 64-bit, if it matters. __________________ I was at the first OOTP Conference, where were you?..........

04-13-2010, 10:23 PM	#4
molarmite Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Minnesota Posts: 4,924	Or put it on the taskbar down below and you just have to click it. __________________ From the wise mind of Davey Eckstein "Now all you need is a signature. A quote or initial, perhaps." [

04-13-2010, 10:28 PM	#5
numbuh48 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 90	Confirmed as a problem; same thing happened to me. __________________ It is out.

04-13-2010, 10:29 PM	#6
Riverdome All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 964	Ran as admin and unlicensed. Closed OOTPXI, opened as user and tried to license - fail. Ran as admin again and was able to apply license. Thanks for the tip to always run as admin, but I will still have to type my admin password each time. __________________ I was at the first OOTP Conference, where were you?..........

04-13-2010, 10:33 PM	#7
Chaos81 Bat Boy Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Overland Park, Kansas Posts: 16	If you haven't already check and see if there is an extra space at the end of your license key. If so, delete that and see what happens. I wasn't able to get it to stay licensed when running as admin like you can, so maybe that's not the issue, but it's worth a shot. __________________ Mike Roth Saskatoon Sun Kings http://cbl-online.info/phpBB3/portal.php

04-13-2010, 10:13 PM	#2
SlyBelle All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 633	I believe it needs to run under the user you registered the game under. For example if during your install you ran under an admin account, the license would be applied to that user account. Sounds like you might be trying to start the game under a different user then the account it was installed. I thought it would be a computer wide license too, but appears to be user specific. Just a thought.

04-13-2010, 11:39 PM	#15
Charlie Hough Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 3,642	If you have your original case from your OS purchase or you can find your documentation, call Microsoft Support. There will be a number in your OS documentation, and surprisingly you can get through quickly and get good support. I did this last year when I upgraded to Vista and encountered some administrator problems.

04-14-2010, 01:08 AM	#16
SirDrexl Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 35	Where did you install the game? Have you tried installing in a folder that is NOT under Program Files (x86), such as C:\OOTP? Maybe it has something to do with the permissions assigned to "important" folders like Windows, Program Files, etc.