Installing software for all users

[Chris]

I have 2 users on my Win XP Pro. Both are menbers of the Administrator
Group.
I logged on as user A and installed Hauppauge WinTV. Everything works fine
when loggen on as User A.
However, User B cannot start the WinTV application. The WinTV process will
use 99% CPU and hang.
Is there something I have missed? I thought I had installed the software for
all users and not only for User A.

Any Ideas?

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

Not unusual. Reinstall the software to the same program folder while logged
on as user B.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Chris]

Is there no way of telling XP that a software should be installed for All
Users?
Is the situation the same if a Domain User loggs on or is this problem only
related to local users?
I hate to have to re-install all programs every time I get a new user
profile created.

/Chris

 

[David Candy]

It means the program is not compatable with XP or 2000.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Is there no way of telling XP that a software should be installed for
All Users?
Is the situation the same if a Domain User logs on or is this
problem only related to local users?
I hate to have to re-install all programs every time I get a new user
profile created.

The problem is not Windows XP, the results would be the same under any
multi-user OS (NT/2000/XP.) The trouble is that the software was not
designed with this in mind. The truly "up to date" software puts their
shortcuts and sets their permissions to allow multiple users to access it.

Essentially, your best bet is to manually copy the 'universal shortcuts'
into the "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\ folder under the correct
location (Start Menu or Desktop.) That will put the shortcut into whomever
logs in's area.

Welcome to the wonderful world of IT Management.

 

[Chris]

It's not the shortcuts that are the problem. The installation created
shortcuts for all users.
The program will simply not execute for other users than the one that did
the installation.
For all other users the process will use 99% CPU and hang.
The WinTV2000 is certified for Win2k and XP.

What is causing this behaviour?
/Chris

 

[Shenan Stanley]

It's not the shortcuts that are the problem. The installation created
shortcuts for all users.
The program will simply not execute for other users than the one that
did the installation.
For all other users the process will use 99% CPU and hang.
The WinTV2000 is certified for Win2k and XP.

What is causing this behavior?
/Chris

As I said - that sounds like permissions.. (partly said.. heh)

Are the users it will not run for Administrative users?

 

[Chris]

Like I said. I have 2 users: User A and User B. Both are members of the
Administrators Group. User A can run the software but User B cannot.

Any Ideas?
/Chris

 

[David Candy]

Get Regmon or Filemon from www.sysinternals.com and run your app monitoring it. This will tell you what it's not allowed to do.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Like I said. I have 2 users: User A and User B. Both are members of
the Administrators Group. User A can run the software but User B
cannot.

Any Ideas?

The only other possibility then is that it either gives strict permissions
(file or registry) on a per user (not group) basis when it installs to its
files or registry entries...

Or it installs USER specific (not permissions, but inside the NTUSER.DAT
file - for registry - or in the C:\Documents and Settings\User A\ directory
structure) files/registry entries when it is installed.

FILEMON and REGMON could help you trace what it does when it installs, but
if you do this for every program you install and you only have two users,
it's really not worth the time over just installing it for each user. If
you had a domain full of users and dozens of people using any single machine
in a given timeframe, then it would be worth it. I know - I do that all the
time.

Just because a program says it works in Windows XP does not mean it is
multi-user ready as well, unfortunately.

 

[Chris]

Used regmon and found that only user A had access to the required keys. I
modified the access rights and now uses B can also run the proggy.
Thanks m8's for your help.
/Chris

 

[joust in jest]

You have a permissions issue.

Go to Symantec, which has a step-by-step instructions [Documnet ID:
2001042514362006] for making necessary changes (substituting "your program"
when is says "Symantec".

I had to make these changes for users so that NAV automatic virus updates
would work for Power Users.

steve

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

It's up to the software's manufacturer to properly design their
product(s) for the target OS.

Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:




You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

This is quite common if the software was designed for Win9x/Me, or
if it was intended for WinNT/2K/XP, but was improperly designed. Quite
simply, the installation routine for this application doesn't "know"
how to handle individual user profiles, or the application tries to
make changes to "off-limits" sections of the registry. Quite often,
you can make this software available to other users by _copying_ the
Start Menu folder and Desktop folder shortcuts from the user profile
from which the software was installed in the corresponding folders in
the user profile(s) in which you'd like the software to be accessible.
If the application is something that can/should be made available to
all current and future users, copying the shortcuts into the
corresponding locations of the All Users profile will do the trick.

NOTE: This may not work if the software requires access to parts
of the hard drive and/or registry that are not normally accessible to
regular users. (This won't occur if the application was properly
written.) If this does prove to be the case, however, you're left
with two options: Either grant the necessary users appropriate higher
access privileges (either as Power Users or local administrators), or
replace the application with one that was properly designed
specifically for WinNT/2K/XP.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:




You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Chris,

Is there no way of telling XP that a software should be installed for All
Users?

No, because it's not up to XP. This is a problem with the way the software
installer is written. Older programs, and some newer ones, were not written
for a true user environment. Older OS's had simpler requirements for system
variables and common folders.

Is the situation the same if a Domain User loggs on or is this problem
only
related to local users?

Yes, as again it is not related to the operating system.

I hate to have to re-install all programs every time I get a new user
profile created.

But until the software writers change the way they write the installation
routine to meet the specifications of the user environments, this problem
will crop up with some programs. I wrote up some on this problem here:
http://users.westelcom.com/rogersr/xpsware.htm

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone