Default user access rights in Vista

Dan · Dan

I've had four people using Vista beta test my software and all three have
reported problems related to not being able to write to the application
folder. All right, I can fix that if I have to and send everything to
AppData. The update utility for my software doesn't work since it can't
write the new executable to the installation folder. All right, I can use a
manifest to request admin rights for the app though it's unfortunate that
the user has to answer the "Do you really want to let this program have
admin rights?" question that will bid posed every time the updater runs.
But my app also has a critical time synch function that won't work due to
the user's rights being restricted. Getting around this is proving a
serious hassle. So my questions:

1) It appears that the default user account is a restricted account limiting
the above types of operations. Will every PC that is sold to home users be
configured like this in the box or will the default user accounts have the
same access rights as what customers get when they buy a PC with XP Home
today?

2) If it appears that the answer to question 1 is Microsoft plans to make
the default user account limited in the manner described above is this
carved in stone? It will break a LOT of existing applications and make it
very difficult for them to be updated to keep the same features while
running on Vista (the time synch feature being my biggest concern).

Is Microsoft taking feedback from independent developers on this and if so
where and how?

Thanks!

Zack Whittaker \(R2 Mentor\) · Zack Whittaker \(R2 Mentor\)

> 1) It appears that the default user account is a restricted account

> limiting the above types of operations. Will every PC that is sold to
> home users be configured like this in the box or will the default user
> accounts have the same access rights as what customers get when they buy a
> PC with XP Home today?

I believe so. Not sure if UAP (user account protection) will be on by
default in all versions, but it may well be.

> 2) If it appears that the answer to question 1 is Microsoft plans to make
> the default user account limited in the manner described above is this
> carved in stone? It will break a LOT of existing applications and make it
> very difficult for them to be updated to keep the same features while
> running on Vista (the time synch feature being my biggest concern).

Not necessarily. Applications should run just as they do on XP, except as an
extra security question to make sure they know that running an unsigned
application is dangerous yada yada. Check out this :o)
[url]http://www.vistabase.co.uk/welcome.php?subcats/security/whatisuap[/url]

> Is Microsoft taking feedback from independent developers on this and if so
> where and how?

Yeh, [url]http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=43655[/url] links to the Microsoft
Beta Client enabling you to anonymously file reports. If your Passport
account is not registered by Connect as on the beta program, it won't let
you file it, so make sure you tick the "Send this report anonymously" when
you do :o)

--
Zack Whittaker
» ZackNET Enterprises: [url]www.zacknet.co.uk[/url]
» MSBlog on ResDev: [url]www.msblog.org[/url]
» Vista Knowledge Base: [url]www.vistabase.co.uk[/url]
» This mailing is provided "as is" with no warranties, and confers no
rights. All opinions expressed are those of myself unless stated so, and not
of my employer, best friend, Ghandi, my mother or my cat. Glad we cleared
that up!

--- Original message follows ---
"Dan" <Dan@NoSpam.com> wrote in message
news:FtSdnVRORYOj9YLZnZ2dnUVZ_tSdnZ2d@comcast.com. ..

> I've had four people using Vista beta test my software and all three have
> reported problems related to not being able to write to the application
> folder. All right, I can fix that if I have to and send everything to
> AppData. The update utility for my software doesn't work since it can't
> write the new executable to the installation folder. All right, I can use
> a manifest to request admin rights for the app though it's unfortunate
> that the user has to answer the "Do you really want to let this program
> have admin rights?" question that will bid posed every time the updater
> runs. But my app also has a critical time synch function that won't work
> due to the user's rights being restricted. Getting around this is proving
> a serious hassle. So my questions:
>
> 1) It appears that the default user account is a restricted account
> limiting the above types of operations. Will every PC that is sold to
> home users be configured like this in the box or will the default user
> accounts have the same access rights as what customers get when they buy a
> PC with XP Home today?
>
> 2) If it appears that the answer to question 1 is Microsoft plans to make
> the default user account limited in the manner described above is this
> carved in stone? It will break a LOT of existing applications and make it
> very difficult for them to be updated to keep the same features while
> running on Vista (the time synch feature being my biggest concern).
>
> Is Microsoft taking feedback from independent developers on this and if so
> where and how?
>
> Thanks!
>

Dan · Dan

"Zack Whittaker (R2 Mentor)" <admin@zacknet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:OCxtWKLTGHA.5828@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...

>

>> 1) It appears that the default user account is a restricted account
>> limiting the above types of operations. Will every PC that is sold to
>> home users be configured like this in the box or will the default user
>> accounts have the same access rights as what customers get when they buy
>> a PC with XP Home today?

>
> I believe so. Not sure if UAP (user account protection) will be on by
> default in all versions, but it may well be.

By "I believe so" which do you mean? That the typical Vista machine sold to
home users will have these limitations or that they will have the same
access rights as today's XP Home systems come configured with?

>> 2) If it appears that the answer to question 1 is Microsoft plans to make
>> the default user account limited in the manner described above is this
>> carved in stone? It will break a LOT of existing applications and make
>> it very difficult for them to be updated to keep the same features while
>> running on Vista (the time synch feature being my biggest concern).

>
> Not necessarily. Applications should run just as they do on XP, except as
> an extra security question to make sure they know that running an unsigned
> application is dangerous yada yada. Check out this :o)
> [url]http://www.vistabase.co.uk/welcome.php?subcats/security/whatisuap[/url]

That extra security question is a major problem. My app can be configured
by the user to start when Windows starts and is designed to be able to run
unattended. Requiring an an interactive response from the user breaks this.

I read the article in the above link an there is no "Local Security Policy"
entry in the Control Panel nor can secpol.msc be found. I'm looking an an
XP Home SP2 system with all the latest patches.

>> Is Microsoft taking feedback from independent developers on this and if
>> so where and how?

>
> Yeh, [url]http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=43655[/url] links to the Microsoft
> Beta Client enabling you to anonymously file reports. If your Passport
> account is not registered by Connect as on the beta program, it won't let
> you file it, so make sure you tick the "Send this report anonymously" when
> you do :o)

Clicking the above link brings up a prompt to download and install Microsoft
Beta Client.msi. What is it and what will installing it on an XP Home
system do?

Andre Da Costa [Extended64] · Andre Da Costa [Extended64]

The Microsoft BETA Client is used to report issues with Microsoft
pre-release software, you can install it on either Vista or XP Home and
report your issues anonymously as Zack recommended. Of course your reports
will not be taken into consideration since they are already swamped with
reports from the technical beta program.
--
--
Andre
Windows Connect | [url]http://www.windowsconnected.com[/url]
Extended64 | [url]http://www.extended64.com[/url]
Blog | [url]http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre[/url]
[url]http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta[/url]

"Dan" <Dan@NoSpam.com> wrote in message
news:-4KdnWiVqOOykr3ZnZ2dnUVZ_vWdnZ2d@comcast.com...

> "Zack Whittaker (R2 Mentor)" <admin@zacknet.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:OCxtWKLTGHA.5828@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...

>>

>>> 1) It appears that the default user account is a restricted account
>>> limiting the above types of operations. Will every PC that is sold to
>>> home users be configured like this in the box or will the default user
>>> accounts have the same access rights as what customers get when they buy
>>> a PC with XP Home today?

>>
>> I believe so. Not sure if UAP (user account protection) will be on by
>> default in all versions, but it may well be.

>
> By "I believe so" which do you mean? That the typical Vista machine sold
> to home users will have these limitations or that they will have the same
> access rights as today's XP Home systems come configured with?
>

>>> 2) If it appears that the answer to question 1 is Microsoft plans to
>>> make the default user account limited in the manner described above is
>>> this carved in stone? It will break a LOT of existing applications and
>>> make it very difficult for them to be updated to keep the same features
>>> while running on Vista (the time synch feature being my biggest
>>> concern).

>>
>> Not necessarily. Applications should run just as they do on XP, except as
>> an extra security question to make sure they know that running an
>> unsigned application is dangerous yada yada. Check out this :o)
>> [url]http://www.vistabase.co.uk/welcome.php?subcats/security/whatisuap[/url]

>
> That extra security question is a major problem. My app can be configured
> by the user to start when Windows starts and is designed to be able to run
> unattended. Requiring an an interactive response from the user breaks
> this.
>
> I read the article in the above link an there is no "Local Security
> Policy" entry in the Control Panel nor can secpol.msc be found. I'm
> looking an an XP Home SP2 system with all the latest patches.
>

>>> Is Microsoft taking feedback from independent developers on this and if
>>> so where and how?

>>
>> Yeh, [url]http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=43655[/url] links to the Microsoft
>> Beta Client enabling you to anonymously file reports. If your Passport
>> account is not registered by Connect as on the beta program, it won't let
>> you file it, so make sure you tick the "Send this report anonymously"
>> when you do :o)

>
> Clicking the above link brings up a prompt to download and install
> Microsoft Beta Client.msi. What is it and what will installing it on an
> XP Home system do?
>
>
>

Zack Whittaker \(R2 Mentor\) · Zack Whittaker \(R2 Mentor\)

> By "I believe so" which do you mean? That the typical Vista machine sold

> to home users will have these limitations or that they will have the same
> access rights as today's XP Home systems come configured with?

Sometimes it's not easy to give 100% accurate answers when there is still a
lot of speculation going round, as well as them not letting information
public. I say "I believe so" as in "more than 50% chance of it being
correct". That's usually enough to please the crowd :o)

> I read the article in the above link an there is no "Local Security
> Policy" entry in the Control Panel nor can secpol.msc be found. I'm
> looking an an XP Home SP2 system with all the latest patches.

Control Panel > Administrative Tools. It's in there, and on an Home SP2
machine... no it's not there. Only on XP Pro.

--
Zack Whittaker
» ZackNET Enterprises: [url]www.zacknet.co.uk[/url]
» MSBlog on ResDev: [url]www.msblog.org[/url]
» Vista Knowledge Base: [url]www.vistabase.co.uk[/url]
» This mailing is provided "as is" with no warranties, and confers no
rights. All opinions expressed are those of myself unless stated so, and not
of my employer, best friend, Ghandi, my mother or my cat. Glad we cleared
that up!

--- Original message follows ---
"Dan" <Dan@NoSpam.com> wrote in message
news:-4KdnWiVqOOykr3ZnZ2dnUVZ_vWdnZ2d@comcast.com...