How do I give limited users accounts access to certain programs in XP Pro?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Beds
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Beds

Hi there,

I am ruuning XP SP2 Pro but am unsure how I grant access to certain
programs for a user with a limited user account.

Can anyone possible explain how to do this please ?

Thanks
Karl
 
Beds said:
I am ruuning XP SP2 Pro but am unsure how I grant access to certain
programs for a user with a limited user account.

Can anyone possible explain how to do this please ?
Click to expand...

By "access", do you mean they cannot see the icon to start the application
or...?
 
Beds said:
I am ruuning XP SP2 Pro but am unsure how I grant access to certain
programs for a user with a limited user account.

Can anyone possible explain how to do this please ?
Click to expand...

Shenan said:
By "access", do you mean they cannot see the icon to start the
application or...?
Click to expand...
Yes that is correct
Click to expand...

Copy the icons to the All Users start menu/desktop.
(C:\Documents and Settings\All Users is for everyone to see/use.)

In the future - leave some of the thread in your response so that everyone
can follow along. =)
 
One way to do this is through a third-party registry "tweaker" program that
lets you change user settings for each user (rather than for all users like
Group Policy does, although I guess there is a way to do this from Group
Policy Editor, but I think it is convoluted). There are many "tweaker"
programs out there, but one example is 'Tweaki...for Power Users' from Jermar
software (www.jermar.com). (I'm not recommending any particular program, this
is just one that I can think of right now.) You logon to the user's account
and the changes you make apply only to that account. In this case you could
prevent the user account from dislaying the Notification area of the taskbar.
This keeps the program icons from displaying. You need Administrator
privledges to do this. You can then edit the user's Start Menu from your
account (Window's Explorer) by changing the individual user's and All User's
Start Menu\Programs\. You can also prevent/allow the user from/to run any
programs you choose from the "tweaker" program (among many other things). You
might also check MVP websites for scripts and other ways to do this. They are
usually free and the MVP sites are very helpful.
 
Beds said:
Hi there,

I am ruuning XP SP2 Pro but am unsure how I grant access to certain
programs for a user with a limited user account.

Can anyone possible explain how to do this please ?

Thanks
Karl
Click to expand...



You may experience some problems if the software was designed for
Win9x/Me, or if it was intended for WinNT/2K/XP, but was improperly
designed. Quite simply, the application doesn't "know" how to handle
individual user profiles with differing security permissions levels, or
the application is designed to make to make changes to "off-limits"
sections of the Windows registry or protected Windows system folders.

For example, saved data are often stored in a sub-folder under the
application's folder within C:\Program Files - a place where no
inexperienced or limited user should ever have write permissions.

It may even be that the software requires "write" access to parts
of the registry or protected systems folders/files that are not normally
accessible to regular users. (This *won't* occur if the application is
properly written.) If this does prove to be the case, however, you're
often left with three options: Either grant the necessary users
appropriate higher access privileges (either as Power Users or local
administrators), explicitly grant normal users elevated privileges to
the affected folders and/or part(s) or the registry, or replace the
application with one that was properly designed specifically for
WinNT/2K/XP.

Some Programs Do Not Work If You Log On from Limited Account
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q307091

Additionally, here are a couple of tips suggested, in a reply to a
different post, by MS-MVP Kent W. England:

"If your game or application works with admin accounts, but not with
limited accounts, you can fix it to allow limited users to access the
program files folder with "change" capability rather than "read" which
is the default.

C:\>cacls "Program Files\appfolder" /e /t /p users:c

where "appfolder" is the folder where the application is installed.

If you wish to undo these changes, then run

C:\>cacls "Program Files\appfolder" /e /t /p users:r

If you still have a problem with running the program or saving
settings on limited accounts, you may need to change permissions on
the registry keys. Run regedit.exe and go to HKLM\Software\vendor\app,
where "vendor\app" is the key that the software vendor used for your
specific program. Change the permissions on this key to allow Users
full control."


--

Bruce Chambers

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