Quickbooks Pro 2002 in limited user account

[JRS]

In an attempt to further secure my system I changed my account in XP Pro to
limited from admin. QB now complains and will not run. How can I get it to
run without reverting to an admin account?

TIA

Jon

 

[Guest]

Hi, please be aware I am not an expert, but have some knowlege of this
situation:

From what I understand of limited user accounts, some programs do not run
properly in such accounts due to how the registry is set up. Some programs
require access to certain areas of the registry, of which limited accounts do
not have access. There is a work around, run the program under a different
user account with the proper permissions. You do this by right clicking the
program shortcut and selecting the Run As command. When you select this
option a dialog box opens where you can submit a user name and password of an
account with the proper permissions, usually an administrator account. This
way you can run the program in a limited account and not in the more
dangerous admin account. Here is an article:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windo...e0b1-471c-8dc2-be28672a48d91033.mspx?mfr=true

 

[Malke]

In an attempt to further secure my system I changed my account in XP Pro to
limited from admin. QB now complains and will not run. How can I get it to
run without reverting to an admin account?

Only with Vista and QuickBooks 2007 has Intuit finally gotten the
concept of writing proper software that uses Least Privilege. MVP Susan
Bradley has the workaround for earlier versions of QB here:

http://msmvps.com/bradley/archive/2005/04/23/44205.aspx


Malke

 

[Bruce Chambers]

In an attempt to further secure my system I changed my account in XP Pro to
limited from admin. QB now complains and will not run. How can I get it to
run without reverting to an admin account?

TIA

Jon

Intuit has been stubbornly refusing, for years now, to properly
design their products to work on a properly secured operating system.
This is a key reason that I refuse to purchase their software. Frankly,
I'd recommend that you chose a different product, if possible.

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

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

 

[Guest]

Hi Bruce, I really appreciated all you said regarding improperly written
programs which do not fair well under the WinXP multiple user accounts with
the different levels of permissions. I am having a simular problem with a
photo editing program I purchased, "Corel Paint Shop Pro XI" where it refuses
to run properly under a Limited Account & is continually attempting to
self-install under the Guest Account.

It is throwing out error after error in Event Viewer and the Corel technical
department claims "registry permissions is not covered under the warranty".
Figures huh? Anyway, do you think the instructions you gave regarding the
Quckbooks Pro Program would work with this Corel program too?

I really don't want to have to remove it as it is a good photo editing
program, but it is a good photo editing program and I paid about a hundred
dollars for it. I am not a beginner, but not anywhere near an expert computer
user. I have worked in the registry, know how to back it up and merge when
needed, so I suppose I am just looking for some reasurrance that this may
work. If so, exactly which permissions and in what key do I change to give
"full" control to all users, even in the Guest Account?

I don't currently have the Guest Account enabled, and really don't intend
to, but this program is still attempting to install itself. Do you have any
idea if these permissions are changed in the registry if it will finanally
finish the install process and stop throwing out all these errors?

Sorry to go on so long, I do tend to chatter too much, but when I read what
you wrote it gave me hope you might be able to finally help me fix this
problem which Corel refuses to touch, (unless I pay them!). Thank you in
advance for any advice you can offer,

Seree

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hi Bruce, I really appreciated all you said regarding improperly written
programs which do not fair well under the WinXP multiple user accounts with
the different levels of permissions. I am having a simular problem with a
photo editing program I purchased, "Corel Paint Shop Pro XI" where it refuses
to run properly under a Limited Account & is continually attempting to
self-install under the Guest Account.

It is throwing out error after error in Event Viewer and the Corel technical
department claims "registry permissions is not covered under the warranty".
Figures huh? Anyway, do you think the instructions you gave regarding the
Quckbooks Pro Program would work with this Corel program too?

They should, although ti sounds like Corel's Tech support isn't going
to cooperate and tell you which specific registry keys will need
modifications. You may have to experiment a bit.

I really don't want to have to remove it as it is a good photo editing
program, but it is a good photo editing program and I paid about a hundred
dollars for it. I am not a beginner, but not anywhere near an expert computer
user. I have worked in the registry, know how to back it up and merge when
needed, so I suppose I am just looking for some reasurrance that this may
work. If so, exactly which permissions and in what key do I change to give
"full" control to all users, even in the Guest Account?

Impossible for me to say, not having a copy of that specific program to
test.

I don't currently have the Guest Account enabled, and really don't intend
to, but this program is still attempting to install itself. Do you have any
idea if these permissions are changed in the registry if it will finanally
finish the install process and stop throwing out all these errors?

Sorry to go on so long, I do tend to chatter too much, but when I read what
you wrote it gave me hope you might be able to finally help me fix this
problem which Corel refuses to touch, (unless I pay them!). Thank you in
advance for any advice you can offer,

Seree

--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

 

[Guest]

Bruse, thank you for responding to my question. You're right, Corel won't
cooperate with this issue at all. I did go back to the support sites Q&A
section and low and behold I found an entry directly related to this issue.
However, it simply explains "some" people may have these errors, then gives
the exact error code, decription, including specific registry keys involved,
but nothing in regards to correcting it. It goes on to say that the program
is still able to fully function. This is technically true, as long as you
only use it in an Administrator account that is! Which is what I was trying
to avoid, as I follow Microsoft Security Best Practices and use a Limited
Account for daily use and the Administrator account for, well, administering
and maintaince of the machine. I will do as you suggested and fiddle around
and see whether or not I can find my own answer to this issue.

Again, thank you very much for all your suggestions and thoughts on this
subject and sorry for typing too much!