girder autoload only for adminstrative accts in W2K?

[Ron]

I think Girder needs Admin rights on Win2k + it writes in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE part of the registry.

[Ron]

Is a program that is running as a normal user allowed to read and write the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE ? If not how can I change that ?

[Ron]

If someone can suggest a way to handle this, I'm all ears.

Or should we only allow Admin users to be able to modify settings, normal users will have to do with the settings as they are made by the Admin. (sounds pretty good to me, and this is also good for Matt's problem)

[Ron]

Hmmm, that is a good point Matt, I'll check what the default value for delphi is ( I guess KEY_ALL_ACCESS ) !! Changing this is trivial. :-)

[Ron]

Matt, you are right, delphi opens the regsitery by default with key_all_access changing this over to KEY_READ for the read functions fixes the problem. Girder 3.2alpha13 will have this fixed.

[Mark F]

This tells me my plugins (OSD PopUp, Logger, Serial) will fail on these same machines. Back to HKCU they go. GRRRRRR. :evil:

[Mark F]

Anything is possible. After all, it is only software. :) I'll take a stab at using read-only and read-write access. I don't have a system to debug this on so if it works, great. If it doesn't, the source is included.

This is the best offer I can make. Sorry. :(

[Mark F]

I've updated the Serial plugin (version 3.0.4) to do this. The plugin works on Win '98 SE (which doesn't have the same permission structure as W2K :( ).

If someone with W2K could try this when it hits the server, I'd appreciate it. If it works, I'll update Logger and OSD PopUp with similar code.

[bart]

Administrative users can use regedt32 (NOT regedit) to set permissions for named users or groups on any part of the registry - down to the level of individual keys (from the Security/Permissions menu). However your fix sounds better because you don't really want to open HKLM up to everyone. In the case where you _do_ need write permission to a particular key then you can do this without making the whole tree writeable.
Bart

[mattwire]

I'd noticed this as well.
I'm fairly sure normal users are allowed to read/write HKLM.
Some restricted users are prevented from writing to the registry but they can still read it (or at least should be able to)!
I would quite like a solution to this because I have a machine which I use at parties etc. for jukebox/dvd and I don't really want people 'fiddling' around with it.

[mattwire]

Since girder is designed for control of the system (like the keyboard/mouse) I think it should only be modifiable by admins (imagine a normal user being able to remap keyboard keys for example!).

Just had a thought. When girder loads does it attempt to write anything to the registry or is it purely reading data? Because if it attempts to write anything it may be causing the whole registry function to fail? Thus failing to retrieve the settings?

[mattwire]

Glad my 'thought' was helpful!
I use the delphi registry routines myself quite a lot without any problems, then I realised I always use HKCU so the problem has never occurred.

[mattwire]

Mark. For my use it is much better if the configuration is saved in HKLM since the hardware etc. does not change per user.
Is there any way you can access the registry with c++ to read and then separately to write?
I appreciate it is probably a lot easier to do this in delphi than c but it would be very helpful. :)

[mattwire]

Thankyou Mark!

[mechou]

OK, I may have missed this in the Girder FAQs, but I seem to have problems autoloading Girder profiles on logging in as a non-administrative user in W2K. None of the girder settings seem to stick, like start in tray mode, no splash screen, etc. Do I have to install girder using normal user account (in addition to administrator account)? It always starts maximized, no profile loaded. Works normal if I'm logged in as admin.

I'm using Girder 3.1.3c

Thanks,
Mark

[mechou]

Are there any plans to enable non-admins to also enjoy girder in Win2k? In the meantime, are there any hacks for non-admin users to autostart girder with profile w/o manual intervention? (i.e. "girder myprofile.gml") in startup group or something??

If you need a helping hand in this area let me know.

Thanks,
Mark

[mechou]

Matt is correct, "normal" users are allowed to read HKLM, but not write. Yes, I think only admins can make changes, but normal users should be allowed to use (start) girder as well. Not knowing any girder internals, would it be possible to have a "preferences" file that girder can refer to, such as startup state, enabled devices/plugins, etc.? I'd imagine it will essentially be a copy of the girder hive.

What do you folks think?

Thanks,
Mark