Hi Geert,
Although I created and tested these methods with XP Pro, I believe
they should work just as well, the same, or similar with XP Home:
Some games will work with limited accounts after they have been installed and
run once either using an administrator account, or by temporarily changing the
limited user account(s) to an admin account in Control Panel / User Accounts,
just for the purpose of running the game the first time in order to be able to
create the keys in the registry which CD Copy protection software needs to
generate, but may not be able to due to the restrictive nature of limited accounts.
If that mouthful doesn't resolve the issue, use the "Run As.." command instead:
1. Click Start / Control Panel / User Accounts / Create a New Account /
Name the Account: "able2play" (without quotes) / Next Pick: "Computer-
Administrator" & Click "Create Account";
2. Click on your new able2play account and Create a Password for it;
3. When your limited user wants to play a game that requires Administrator
privileges they can Right-Click the shortcut to that game / Click Run As... /
"The Following User": able2play and enter the password. Simple as that!
I know what you're thinking: That defeats the purpose of the limited user account.
To secure the "able2play" account so that it can't be used to logon to the computer:
What I do is add a shortcut to the windows logoff routine into the RUN key of the
able2play registry. I made a reg patch to simplify this process if you wish to use it:
4. Logon to the "able2play" account,
5. <ONLY RUN THIS PATCH USING THE "ABLE2PLAY" ACCOUNT>
Save this patch to your drive and then doubleclick it to install it to your registry.
http://www3.sympatico.ca/nibblesnbits/OnlyRunUsingAble2PlayAccount.reg
or
*Instead of using the reg patch, click Start / Run / regedt32 / browse to:
[HKCU\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] and
Click Edit / New / String value / ValueName: logoff / Value data: logoff
From now on, if anyone logs on with the "able2play" account, the computer will log
them off immediately. They will not gain access to an administrators desktop!
--
Cheers,
Jimmy S.
Additional Support Resources: My Zone.com Helpsite:
http://nibblesnbits.tk
Microsoft Online Tech Support:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=376
Game FAQ's:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________
| Have a new PC with XP Home
| 1 administrator and 3 limited users.
| Installed Midtown Madness 2 as administrator but game
| won't run on the user accounts. Seems to need
| Administrator rights... Can you setup a game to always
| run with administrator rights or do I need to give my
| administrator password to my kids (huh?) to run their
| games... Thx.
| Alternatives?
