XP requires administrator rights to play Age of Mythology, how do I fix that

[Randall Goodwin]

It really seems unreasonable to require the kids to be administrators or not
allow them to play. One is a security risk and the other is contrary to the
reason for getting the games in question.
Any tips on what needs to be done to correct this problem. I have a new P4
with all the trimmings and the games play fine as administrator. This is
what I consider a serious design flaw on the part of Microsoft.

 

[Chris H.]

Limited accounts don't have the rights needed to manipulate files on the
hard drive. You need the proper permissions. Achieving this depends on
which version of XP you have, Home or Pro. Take a look at this Knowledge
Base article: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307091
The purpose of having Limited accounts is to prevent exactly what you're
talking about, however there are means within the Knowledge Base article
cited above without allowing total access.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone -

 

[Randall Goodwin]

Thank you for your answer, it still seems slightly insufficient at the
moment,
I was able to get the game to run in the other accounts, however the
properties of running as the administrative user are not persistent.
So .....
Either the kids need the administrative password or I need to be there to
start the game. Is there a way to make the runas properties persistent.

 

[Chris H.]

Sorry, but with the information, I needed to give a generalized answer. The
procedure, as noted in the Knowledge Base article, depends on which version
of Windows XP you're running - Home or Pro. The latter, as you may have
seen, is easy. In the former, it is more difficult. You may wish to do a
simple search on this newsgroup for posts on this subject from Jimmy, where
he furnishes an alternative method.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone -

 

[Paul Smith]

Sorry, but with the information, I needed to give a generalized answer.
The procedure, as noted in the Knowledge Base article, depends on which
version of Windows XP you're running - Home or Pro. The latter, as you
may have seen, is easy. In the former, it is more difficult. You may
wish to do a simple search on this newsgroup for posts on this subject
from Jimmy, where he furnishes an alternative method.

Which is also mirrored up on here;
http://windows.dasmirnov.net/troubleshooting/commonproblems.php#limited

Hope Jimmy (I would of asked but couldn't find your e-mail anywhere!)
doesn't mind borrowing of some great ideas.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
http://windows.dasmirnov.net/ Windows XP Resource Site.

*Replace nospam with smirnov to reply by e-mail*

 

[Jimmy S.]

Hey Paul,

You should have looked harder ;-) It's in the CG NG.

Cheers,
Jimmy.

 

[Paul Smith]

Hey Paul,

You should have looked harder ;-) It's in the CG NG.

Ahh the thought didn't cross my mind to look there.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
http://windows.dasmirnov.net/ Windows XP Resource Site.

*Replace nospam with smirnov to reply by e-mail*

 

[Randall Goodwin]

I am running the Media Center Version of XP

Sorry, but with the information, I needed to give a generalized answer.
The procedure, as noted in the Knowledge Base article, depends on which
version of Windows XP you're running - Home or Pro. The latter, as you
may have seen, is easy. In the former, it is more difficult. You may
wish to do a simple search on this newsgroup for posts on this subject
from Jimmy, where he furnishes an alternative method.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone -

 

[Chris H.]

You are running Windows XP Pro then, Randall, and should be easily able to
follow the steps in the KB article to allow usage of certain programs and
folders by a Limited account without giving away the farm.

Basics are this: Go into Control Panel/Folder Options/View tab. All the
way at the bottom, remove the check mark from Use simple file sharing
(Recommended). You can then easily go to Windows Explorer, locate a game
folder, right-click it, and then allow the Sharing... for certain users.
They are still prohibited from changing any other files, except the ones you
allow.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone -

 

[Randall Goodwin]

So I applied the workaround by creating a dummy administrative accound that
is invisible and has an auto logout, (just sharing the folders i had tried
before my first post and it didn't seem to work) and the workarond worked
fine. Now i need one more thing to make the system secure. How do I remove
the ability of a user with a limited account from using the runas command on
programs other than those that i want them to be able to, eg, it is fine if
they play a game with it but if they started explorer or any system related
tools with the administrative user id then they can go a lot of places that
they don't belong. Any further advice along this line would be appreciated.

 

[Jimmy S.]

Hi Randall,

As long as they have access to the computer, they can just
as easily boot from a CD and do whatever you're afraid of.

If they cannot be trusted, then they shouldn't be playing on
the system. You can always explain to them that you can
monitor their activities using the Administrative Tools. ;-)

--
Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / User
Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Game FAQs: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
Visit my Zone.com / Gaming Helpsite: http://nibblesnbits.tk or Call / Contact
MS Support at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=sz;en-us;top
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________

 

[Randall Goodwin]

If I worked at a company doing IT I would not get to choose the users, that
is in the domain of the HR dept. Why isn't there a simple and secure method
to establish who does what without making blanket assumptions like gamers
should be administrators or gamers should have access to system settings
through a back door. I repeat that I bellieve this problem is a design flaw,
either in the games, the operating system or both!

Hi Randall,

As long as they have access to the computer, they can just
as easily boot from a CD and do whatever you're afraid of.

If they cannot be trusted, then they shouldn't be playing on
the system. You can always explain to them that you can
monitor their activities using the Administrative Tools. ;-)

--
Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / User
Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Game FAQs: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
Visit my Zone.com / Gaming Helpsite: http://nibblesnbits.tk or Call /
Contact
MS Support at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=sz;en-us;top
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any
rights.
_________________________________________________________

So I applied the workaround by creating a dummy administrative accound
that is invisible and has an auto logout, (just sharing the folders i had
tried before my first post and it didn't seem to work) and the workarond
worked fine. Now i need one more thing to make the system secure. How do
I remove the ability of a user with a limited account from using the
runas command on programs other than those that i want them to be able
to, eg, it is fine if they play a game with it but if they started
explorer or any system related tools with the administrative user id then
they can go a lot of places that they don't belong. Any further advice
along this line would be appreciated.

 

[Paul Smith]

If I worked at a company doing IT I would not get to choose the users,
that is in the domain of the HR dept. Why isn't there a simple and secure
method to establish who does what without making blanket assumptions like
gamers should be administrators or gamers should have access to system
settings through a back door. I repeat that I bellieve this problem is a
design flaw, either in the games, the operating system or both!

There is with the Professional Edition. You can make groups limit access
the lot to A and not B the lot.

A game needs write access to the registry and to it's directory that
obviously needs the correct rights.

Newer games are starting to get around this, writing everything that needs
to be done on the install and holding data in My Documents. This will
obviously take time.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
http://windows.dasmirnov.net/ Windows XP Resource Site.

*Replace nospam with smirnov to reply by e-mail*

 

[Neil Dela Osa]

Chris and Jimmy are right. This is an application level issue that arises
because of user permission access rights to the registry and NTFS file
system permissions. Limited users can only read files from the \Program
Files folder and cannot change or delete existing files (like saved games or
configuration settings) under NTFS but they can edit files under FAT32.
Ideally a game designed to run on Windows XP would be programmed to save
those settings to the individual user's \Documents and Settings folder
because limited users can read/write from their own Documents and Settings
folder or the All Users folder.