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unable to run program as User

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by mkfme

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This relates to MS PictureIt!, not Office, though I have had similar problems with new Office installations. I install the programs as Admin, and of course they work fine in that profile. With Office (2K Pro), when I first log on as a domain user the programs won't load properly unless I make the user an admin for the first use - after that they do open fine as a regular user. With 2 installs of PictureIt! however, nothing seems to work. In the user profile a window pops up saying admin privileges are required to run the program (not the same as with Office). I tried my Office tactic and it works only while they have admin privilege, not after it's removed. I've checked the Security settings and Everyone has full control. What gives? Thanks for your assistance.

11 replies

by joseph moore

If you checked the NTFS file-level security permissions on the folders, then it is in the Registry.
Probably some piece of the Registry that PictureIt uses is locked down.

So, try this. Open REGEDT32, and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT and look for a key for PictureIt.
Select that key, then click Security -> Permissions.
Check if your user is listed there (either by username or a group they belong to).
If they aren't there, then add them, and give them Full Control.

Applying at the root of the key for PictureIt will let the permissions trickle to any subfolders under it.

Try that.
Now, there could be other Registry pieces that are involved with this. Could be the same type of setup in HKEY_CURRENT_USER. It is really a matter of trial and error, but you can fix things like this just with a little patience and permission modififcation!

hope this helps

by mkfme

Sounded good but even after setting permissions for full control for that specific domain user at all keys I could find related to Picture It, I still couldn't get it to work logged on as that user! I had already created a work-around by making thedomain user a local administrator, but that's a lousy solution since it gives them other privileges I don't want them to have. What's hard to understand is why MS doesn't do something about this issue. I'm sure I'm not the only one wasting time onthis, and there seem to be similar issues with Office 2K, at least the first time it's used by anyone who isn't an admin. Anyway, thanks for the suggestion - guess I'll stick with the work-around until something better gets worked out.

by shaunjanzen

Everyone has Full control where?

Do they have full control of the Program files directory or the whole C: drive?

Many programs install DLL's to the System32 directory and need to have access to this area.

Check the user rights on the WINNT folder as well as the System32 directory. These folders do not allow permissions to inherited so you will need to go into the security settings of WINNT and System32 and allow them to inherit the permissions or add the users you want to that directory and give them the modify access.

I hope this works for you.

by mkfme

I checked permissions on Program Files, Winnt and System32 and Everyone had full control on all. Thanks for the suggestion.

by theven

First, make sure you run the app as Administrator and then log in as a user and try it.

Second, if that doesn't work, edit the registry as the previous post suggested. However, in a domain the domain security may override any local security settings you create.

Third, if it still doesn't work, try the following... Is this an NT/2k machine in an NT domain? If so, run user manager from the server. From user manager, select your domain and look for the PC in question. If it is an NT/2k machine and has been added to the domain, it should be available for you to choose. Once you select it, open the Administrators group and select Add. Then you can browse to your domain controller and select a group or user to add to the local Admin group. Understand that this will make the added user/group an Admin on the local PC, which means they can install programs and modify permissions on that PC.

by mkfme

I did run the app as the user with Admin priviliges first, then took them away. That's where the problem started. That technique works with Office 2K. Once you execute as an admin once, the same user can execute as a non-admin thereafter. Thoughthat should be addressed as well, it's tolerable. Picture It does not respond the same way - when admin privileges are removed after the first execution, it stops working again. The registry edits sounded promising but didn't work either. I had already created the work-around you suggest last but, as you point out, it leaves the user as a local admin, which I really don't want to (and shouldn't have to) do. Thanks for your suggestions!

by pcounsell

Have you tried reinstalling PictureIt! after you set the permissions in the registry?

by mkfme

Thanks for responding - Microsoft says that PictureIt isn't ready for prime time as it's "not designed to run in a business environment on a Windows 2000-based or Windows NT 4.0-based computer." Not sure about XP, though if not it seems like a deadproduct!

by d.jones092

I've run into situations like this before on other programs. I know this isn't going to help and will sound obnoxious/obvious, but you probably need a patch for PictureIt. That was the only way we got our particular problem resolved, unfortunately.

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