Microsoft Vista Is "Protecting" Me From My Mods

[bsalyers]

I've posted this as a "me, too" in another thread, but I'm hoping to get more attention from knowledgeable modders with a thread of my own.
Before I kill UAC altogether, is there a way to keep MS Vista from protecting me from my own mods? I need write permission to my Programs folder. I need it to make my mods work. I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen.
Before people post a plethora of "turning off UAC will kill kittens/burn babies/let the terrorists win" replies, I, too, am a computer consultant. I appreciate protection, but not at the cost of usability. My mods worked great in XP; they don't work at all in Vista. I've followed JScones suggestion of running JSGME with elevated privileges in XP SP 2 compatibility mode. I've checked my mods folder structure. If you think the solution to the problem is obvious, I've probably tried it.
Thanks in advance.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Originally Posted by bsalyers

Before I kill UAC altogether,

Kill it. I have a laptop with Vista on it. Once UAC was dead, ALL problems with SH3 and GWX and/or SH4 AND MODs went ........................... away. Playing both with no problems, no lockups, no CTD's ..... at least for me.

SH4 on a Vista machine with some decent horsepower ..................... fricking awesome.!

[theluckyone17]

I had more problems with Vista's "Compatibility Files" feature/idiot-design than I did with UAC as a whole. The one where it decides it's going to keep original files in the proper directory under "Program Files", and any changed files go via symlink (kinda) to a "compatibility directory" under the user's "home" directory. Clicky describes it better than I can.

Simple solution, without disabling UAC? I just reinstalled, placing the SH4 install directory under "C:\Games" or something similiar. Yeah, it's ridiculous, but it avoids the compatibility file bug *cough* feature. Since it's not in "Program Files", Vista lets you change whatever files you want.

[Seadogs]

Originally Posted by theluckyone17

Simple solution, without disabling UAC? I just reinstalled, placing the SH4 install directory under "C:\Games" or something similiar. Yeah, it's ridiculous, but it avoids the compatibility file bug *cough* feature. Since it's not in "Program Files", Vista lets you change whatever files you want.

QFT, just get used to installing your games to anywhere but the Program files directory. In fact, Publishers need to get on the ball and just stop using that as the default directory for games.

Now if you are having problems moving unzipped mods to the mods folder I have had luck before (I've come to my senses and just installed somewhere else since then.) by manually creating a new folder in the mods folder, changing the name of the folder to the name of the mod. Then just copy/paste the individual files.

[JScones]

Yep, as others have posted, simply install *outside* of Program Files (ie into "C:\Games", or preferably onto another drive altogether). Doing so avoids Vista's "File Virtualization" feature, a component of Vista's UAC feature and perhaps the biggest frustration for players of moddable games.

Avoiding the UAC also has the advantage that you won't need to elevate permissions for tools that modify SH4 files (although it's prolly still a good habit forming practice).

FWIW I've never, even in Win95 days, installed any game to the Program Files folder; it's just not the most appropriate place. IMHO it's better to keep all games under a separate Games folder on a separate drive, as what game can't be modified nowadays?

And no, I wouldn't recommend disabling UAC. A little bit of reading up on UAC and File Virtualization (even Wikipedia has basic explanations) is all that is needed to understand what it does. That way you also keep its benefits.

[skwasjer]

Originally Posted by JScones

FWIW I've never, even in Win95 days, installed any game to the Program Files folder; it's just not the most appropriate place. IMHO it's better to keep all games under a separate Games folder on a separate drive, as what game can't be modified nowadays?

Idd, not to mention file fragmentation, load times, and easy access to game folders... Dedicated drives (or at least dedicated partitions, if you can't else) are the way to go.