Problem storing files in Explorer.Please help !

[Trond]

Hi,
I have bought a new PC with Vista Home Premium.
I am logged on as Administrator
I am running amongst other Flight Simulator X installed under "Program
Files" and Microsoft Games
When I change for instance a .cfg (configuration) file from FSX in Word Pad
in Explorer, I am not allowed to store the change.
It says "No access to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games" and so on
I have started the Explorer both in the traditional way (leftclick) and in
the Vista way (rightclick and run as administrator)
I notice that in "properties" for Flight Simulator X and in all sub folders
it says "write protected."
I have run a sequence in order to remove the write protection,(rightclicked
FSX icon, unticked write protection in properties and pressed apply), but it
did not help even though it went through all files in FSX and did not come
up with an error message.
The properties for Explorer itself is not write protected and the user (me),
administrator (me) and system are reported to have got "all permissions"

Is there an easy way to give me control over my own PC ?

Please help

Trond

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Trond.

When Microsoft first introduced the Program Files folder (in Windows 95, as
I recall), it was intended to operate much as it does now in Vista. That
is, executables and other application files go into PF; each app was
supposed to create a separate folder and store its data there. Many
programs did not follow that rule, but simply stored their data in PF along
with the program files.

Vista enforces that rule. The Program Files folder is now protected and
can't be written to without Administrator credentials. Properly coded
programs have no problem with it, but it is a problem for those who still
try to use the PF folder. You may have noticed that running a Setup.exe
program brings up a prompt for the Administrator password, even if the user
is a member of the administrators group.

This is frustrating when setting up a new Vista installation because that's
when we have to install a lot of new applications, so it seems that UAC
(User Access Control) is prompting for the password "every time we turn
around". By the second week, though, after our apps have been installed and
our folder structure has been built and the search index has been built and
Vista has finished its other initial housekeeping chores, those password
prompts become much less frequent. In fact, I've come to expect and welcome
them (most of the time) because it means that Vista's system is working to
protect me from "drive-by" programs that try to masquerade as an
administrator.

Some users turn off UAC for the first week or so until things get settled
down. (I hope they also mostly work offline during this time.) I like to
open an Administrator Command Prompt window; any app run from there
automatically "runs elevated", eliminating a lot of the prompts. And a few
powerful programs can't be run any other way.

I haven't run Flight Simulator in years; doesn't it provide an option to put
its data files outside Program Files? Instead of "C;\Program
Files\Microsoft Games", how about "C:\Users\Trond\Saved Games\Microsoft
Games"?

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64)

 

[Zebra Code]

"R. C. White"

Vista enforces that rule. The Program Files folder is now protected and
can't be written to without Administrator credentials.

that's the standard behavior in all w2k pc's of my lan.
for progs which want to write in there, after installing i've got to change
permissions on their folders to let simple domain users run them.
ciao, ZC