Newbie question about old progs and user acctss

I am pretty new with my XP Pro and the whole user profile thing. My son wanted my to install Sim City 2000, an old program, to be sure. I did so on my admin acct and it works fine from there. But, he cannot access it on his limited user acct. I get an error code that the program was not registered properly with Windows.,

Is there another way of installing or modifying it to work this way? It did not ask me if I wanted it to be accessible from all users (prob too old). Thanks.

Lar

 

Many older games, including your SIM City 2000, can only run from accounts with Administrator priviliges.

I have an old list, but a decent workaround: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/893677

 

Hmmm, but in the end I read the Knowledge Base article as stating that I would still have to give my 15 year old an admin ID and password to open the program from his limited account. Right?

 

Not really.

For example, use a RUN AS wrapper. This hides the password, and the session expires when the Game exits as you would be using the Secondary Logon Service. A nice freeware one from friend Greg Palmer: http://www.palmersoft.co.uk/software/runasuser.asp

 

Hi Bill, great suggestion. Not sure how to use it, though.

I created a new exe file in the program's folder and created a shortcut to that in the ltd acct. When I start the program in the ltd acct, the program gives a standard start window but never opens up on the screen. It is, however, shown as a running process that can only be ended from the admin acct.

Do you know what I did wrong? I did not check the box for embedding the executable in the target file.

Thanks, Larry

 

You are going to have to fiddle. Suggestion:

Use notepad and create a small .cmd file. The command file should:
. change to the folder where the SIMS game is installed. I suspect that this is at least one problem with the current setup.
. call the startup executable file for the SIMS program.
. the last line in the CMD file should read EXIT

Create this file in the SIMS program folder.
Do a runasuser on this little .cmd file, indicating type Batch.
You do not need to embed the program.

Create a new shortcut to the new runasuser file.

I believe one issue was that the program could not find its other files, as it was not pointing to the SIMS folder.

Example of SIMS.CMD -- (I do not know the actual details of your installation, so your actual paths and names will be different. This is just a fake example.).

@echo off
cls
c:
cd \Program Files\SIMS\SIMSGAME NUMBER ONE
simgsamestartup.exe
exit

 

Hi Bill, please let me know where I have veered of the road......

As a function of appreciative blind obedience, I created a cmd file named SimCity2000.cmd and saved it in the program folder containing:

@echo off
cls
c:
cd \Program Files\MAXIS\SIM CITY 2000
andysimcity1.exe (which is my new runasuser.exe batch file that refers to the cmd file)
exit

I then created a new desktop shortcut to new rau.exe file.

When I use the new shortcut to the cmd file, a blank cmd.exe file opens up and the 2 usual small windows that preceed the opening of the game appear, but that is all. No game still.

almost there?

 

You are looping.

I wanted the program executable in this line, not a call to the runasuser file.

Then run runasuser again, and compile a new wrapper for the .CMD file and not the .EXE for SIM CITY.

You shortcut to this new runasuser wrapper.

The entire batch file then is run under the secondary logon service as Administrator, including the .CMD line reference to the SIM CITY executable.

The best way to find a working method is to test first at the command line, logged in as the limited user. You can use .CMD files, or the actual executable. When you find the winning combination, use Greg Palmer's little application and create a new wrapper around the winning cominbation:
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/runas.mspx

 

Hi Bill, sorry if this is frustrating for you.

Did as you instructed with same result. I get the initial sounds on the first attempt (about 3 seconds) of the program starting up but no image. CMD.exe window remains blank with a blinking cursor that accepts no input.

Everytime I do this, the ltd acct's Task Mgr Processes shows an additional running Simcity.exe and and rau.exe. which cannot be closed via End Task as it is inaccessible by the ltd user and invisible to the Admin Acct. Reboot needed. Maybe Logoff would be enough.

Sorry, but command line smarts are not in my repertoire.

You can give up when you want to. My feelings will not be hurt (my son's will, however.. but he will survive). Thanks so much for your help, Lar

EDIT: I found a notation in an NG somewhere that sometimes one can change the ltd acct to an admin acct, install the program, play it once and then return the acct to ltd in order to get an old relic game like this to work... and it DOES! He'll play it tomorrow and it will be put to the real test. I'll report back on this. Thanks. Lar

 

Using Admin rights software in a limited account

This digs up some old dirt for me but I thought that it would be great to have a little summation and closure for those that would find this helpful. Maybe the moderator could add a link at the end of the original thread for continuity sake or even attached this to the end of that original thread instead of being a new thread. The link to the original thread is found below.

I just ran across some software for my son's cellphone that would not work in his limited user account (V-Cast MusicManager). The oft referred way to solve this is based upon using the Run User As function of XP (Pro only?) to provide specific admin rights while in a limited account. The shortcomings are that it is a one-shot deal with the admin password having to be used everytime the program was opened.

My earlier efforts at cirumventing these limitations were based upon Greg Palmer's great applet called RunUserAs v4.2, thanks to Bill Castner. It's was a little over my head at the time and I lucked out in that the program in question was one that could be used in the limited user account if it was installed while that user was temporarly reset as an Admin acct. Once set back to limited, it woked fine. Not so lucky in this new case, however.

That history can be found at Newbie question about old progs and user accts. This is my story, just change the folders and files accordingly to suit your own situation.

The main exe file in the MusicManager folder is MusicExpress.exe. I downloaded RunAs User and installed it via my admin acct. I created a CMD file with Notepad (created as a txt file and renamed with a cmd extension) that I called MusicExpressRUNAS.cmd and put into the program file of the software at issue. The CMD file contained (thanks again to Bill Castner):

@echo off
cls
c:
cd\Program Files\Verizon Wireless\V CAST Music Manager
musicexpress.exe
exit

RunAsUser will later need to use an exe to compile this info with so to prevent altering the original exe file, I created a copy of it in the same Program folder and renamed it MusicExpressRUNAS.exe.

Then I opened up RunAsUser and did the following:

Screen 1. Selected "Batch Files ", Continue
Screen 2. Browsed to and selected the CMD file in the Program File, Continue
Screen 3. Entered my user ID with admin rights and password, Continue
Screen 4. Browsed to the copied and renamed exe in the Program folder

That does it. Now the program opens and closes without incident in the limited user acct. The ID and password are saved in the registry and are encrypted. This helped me and I hope that it helps someone else.

 

another way to do this is to use the FileMon & RegMon utils from SysInternals to monitor the file and registry as the program runs as admin and as non admin.

You can then compare logs to see where the non-admin account gets access denied.

Simply then set permissions on the appropriate parts of the registry and program files so the user has admin rights just to those sections.