Running Vista and got problems? Look here...

JonB · 01-07-09, 02:40 PM

Hey guys and gals.

Many ppl are posting here posting about them having different types of problem with the game while running Vista. It can be screenshots that cant be found, problems with running the game, mods etc.

Many of these problems can be solved by running the programs as "Administrator" and not as a regular user. But since we own our own computors we are the administrators of them. So if you want to get past the "run as administrator" problem and want to be able to use your computor as when we used XP, then keep reading.

Vista got a built in "securityguard" that keeps you away from doing things that could "damage" the computor. For example, change a setting in the controlpanel without you knowing what you are doing. But for gamers this guard, called UAC or User Accounts Controll, can provide a fair amount of problems as well. By disabling it, you tell Vista that you are an administrator and that you know what you are doing.

Disabling UAC can be done in the control panel.

Guides:

http://www.vista4beginners.com/How-to-disable-UAC

NOTE: Problems that isn´t solved by "running as administrator" is unlikely to be solved by disabling the UAC.

NOTE: UAC is a security program and disabling it means that the computor wont warn you when you are about to do something stupid.

NOTE: If there are several users on your computor, MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE ALSO AWARE OF THESE ACTIONS.

To Subsim admins: I putted this thread in the SH4 room since SH3 wont run on Vista at all (at least not that I know of). Feel free though to move this post to where you think is more appropiate.

AVGWarhawk · 01-07-09, 03:09 PM

I think Vista does run SH3. At any rate, I use Vista 64 Ultimate, I had no issues at all other than a desktop icon is not created. I also found out that you should load the game to Game Explorer folder. I have not used this folder yet nor looked at it. I just found out about this today. Also, if the game is Vista ready it will automatically load to this Game Explorer folder. I think my COD WaW game ended up there. I have to look later. From my experiences with Vista, new possible users should not be afraid that it is not gamer friendly. I really like Vista. Thanks for the tip.

FIREWALL · 01-07-09, 03:13 PM

I run SH-3 , 3.0 Gold, SHC 3.1, jsgme and SHGen on Vista with no problems.

Runs as smooth as a Ferrari's paint finish.

Q3ark · 01-07-09, 03:37 PM

I know UAC is a pain in the but for some people. However, I strongly recomend that you read this before disabling UAC

"What is UAC really for?"

"There's a lot of talk going around on the web about the advantages and disadvantages of UAC, or User Account Control. UAC is a technology in the Windows Vista that limits the privilege level of applications.

If you run XP on a home computer, chances are your user account is a member of the Administrators group. By using an administrator account, any application you run can access the entire system, even potentially malicious applications. A much better idea would be to run as a so-called limited user. Such a user can only access its own account settings, but not anything system wide. A limited user also cannot write to (or delete from) critical areas such as the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry hive, or the Windows folder. In the Unix world, running as a limited user is common practice.

So why do Windows users still run as administrators? This has two main reasons:

Windows itself isn't really designed with this in mind. It's fine if you're in a corporate environment where the point is that you simply can't perform administrative functions at all, no matter how much you want to, but if you're simply using a limited account to protect yourself it's a pain. Once you run as a limited user doing something that requires administrator rights can be difficult, requiring you to jump through a lot of hoops.
Many developers are still stuck in the Windows 9x era and assume that the user can do everything, and subsequently write applications that are not compatible with limited user accounts.

Windows Vista contains technologies to alleviate both points, but this post focuses on the first. UAC is the system that helps with performing administrative tasks. Whenever a limited user in Vista wants to do something that requires administrative rights, UAC will prompt the user for administrator credentials and the user can easily elevate to perform the action.

UAC also does something else however. It also imposes these restrictions on members of the Administrators group. With UAC enabled, even administrators are really limited users in disguise. Only the built-in Administrator account (which is disabled by default in Vista) is exempt from this. The only difference between a limited user and an administrator in Vista is that an administrator doesn't need to type a password to elevate, (s)he can just click "Continue". And it is this that a lot of people object to. They feel that they should be allowed to be real administrators, that they shouldn't need to explicitly allow it every time they want to do something that requires administrative rights.

It's here that the confusion starts. Many people assume that UAC's primary purpose is to alleviate the Dancing Bunnies Problem. Sure, it is definitely one of the goals of UAC and it may even help a little, but it is not the primary purpose of UAC in my opinion. After all, as Larry Osterman says, if the user wants to see the dancing bunnies, he will see the dancing bunnies. It doesn't matter if an extra "Continue" button is in the way.

UAC's true purpose is to achieve the principle of least privilege. This old principle says that nothing running on your computer should have more privileges than it needs to execute its task. In XP, this is not the case, everything you run has the same privileges as your account, and as I explained above, this usually means administrator privileges.

So UAC wouldn't help if an application claims to need administrative rights and can trick the user into agreeing to that. But UAC will protect security sensitive applications that don't need administrative rights. Applications such as Internet Explorer and Outlook or Windows Mail don't need administrative privileges for anything, they just read your mail. Yet in XP, these applications get administrative rights if you have them. Applications such as this are under frequent attacks, and unfortunate as it may be, bugs will be found and exploited with malicious intent. It's here that UAC helps. In XP, if some code in an e-mail manages to exploit a bug in Outlook to run arbitrary code, this code has the same rights as the user, so typically administrative rights. This means this malicious code can access all your data, all your system settings and files, and can change anything it likes. In other words, you're screwed.

Under Vista, Outlook doesn't specify it needs administrative rights so UAC doesn't ask the user anything, and Outlook will be run with reduced rights. Now the exploit does not have elevated privileges. It can attack your account at best, but your system and applications are safe.

UAC also allows some applications to reduce their privilege level even further. This is called protected mode, and is used by Internet Explorer 7 on Windows Vista (IE7 on XP will not do this since it relies on Vista specific technologies). Using protected mode, IE7 doesn't even have the same unelevated privileges as you, it has even less. So now the exploit code can't even mess with your user account, let alone your system.

That is where the value of UAC lies, and where I believe it will make a real difference. Users will still be users, and they'll still happily elevate anything to see dancing bunnies, but at least they'll be protected against exploits in applications that are not elevated."

Article taken from here: http://www.ookii.org/showpost.aspx?post=3

JonB · 01-07-09, 03:44 PM

Well, I have Vista 64 as well. Dunno about the "Ultimate" though and I have worked on SH3 for months without being able to fix it. This is the reason why I now got SH4, lol.

About reading the disclamer above; I think you should. If you dont know much about computor, better let it be.

And it´s not my intention to scare gamers away from Vista. I love Vista and actually think better of it then XP. But that was AFTER setting Vista up properly.

Q3ark · 01-07-09, 03:55 PM

Hi JonB hope you don't think I was bashing your post in any way. I just think it's important for people to understand at least a little about security features before they go turning them off.

AVGWarhawk · 01-07-09, 03:55 PM

I know you were not scaring anyone from Vista

. Check with Firewall and see how he got SH3 to run on Vista. As far as Vista. I have Home Premium actually. I have not had to fiddle around with the UAC at all.

01-07-09, 02:40 PM	#1
JonB Bosun Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Halmstad, Sweden Posts: 69 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	Running Vista and got problems? Look here... Hey guys and gals. Many ppl are posting here posting about them having different types of problem with the game while running Vista. It can be screenshots that cant be found, problems with running the game, mods etc. Many of these problems can be solved by running the programs as "Administrator" and not as a regular user. But since we own our own computors we are the administrators of them. So if you want to get past the "run as administrator" problem and want to be able to use your computor as when we used XP, then keep reading. Vista got a built in "securityguard" that keeps you away from doing things that could "damage" the computor. For example, change a setting in the controlpanel without you knowing what you are doing. But for gamers this guard, called UAC or User Accounts Controll, can provide a fair amount of problems as well. By disabling it, you tell Vista that you are an administrator and that you know what you are doing. Disabling UAC can be done in the control panel. Guides: http://www.vista4beginners.com/How-to-disable-UAC NOTE: Problems that isn´t solved by "running as administrator" is unlikely to be solved by disabling the UAC. NOTE: UAC is a security program and disabling it means that the computor wont warn you when you are about to do something stupid. NOTE: If there are several users on your computor, MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE ALSO AWARE OF THESE ACTIONS. To Subsim admins: I putted this thread in the SH4 room since SH3 wont run on Vista at all (at least not that I know of). Feel free though to move this post to where you think is more appropiate.

01-07-09, 03:09 PM	#2
AVGWarhawk Lucky Jack Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In a 1954 Buick. Posts: 28,255 Downloads: 90 Uploads: 0	I think Vista does run SH3. At any rate, I use Vista 64 Ultimate, I had no issues at all other than a desktop icon is not created. I also found out that you should load the game to Game Explorer folder. I have not used this folder yet nor looked at it. I just found out about this today. Also, if the game is Vista ready it will automatically load to this Game Explorer folder. I think my COD WaW game ended up there. I have to look later. From my experiences with Vista, new possible users should not be afraid that it is not gamer friendly. I really like Vista. Thanks for the tip. __________________ “You're painfully alive in a drugged and dying culture.” ― Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road

01-07-09, 03:13 PM	#3
FIREWALL Eternal Patrol Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: CATALINA IS. SO . CAL USA Posts: 10,108 Downloads: 511 Uploads: 0	I run SH-3 , 3.0 Gold, SHC 3.1, jsgme and SHGen on Vista with no problems. Runs as smooth as a Ferrari's paint finish. __________________ RIP FIREWALL I Play GWX. Silent Hunter Who ???

01-07-09, 03:37 PM	#4
Q3ark Watch Officer Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: York, England Posts: 346 Downloads: 47 Uploads: 0	I know UAC is a pain in the but for some people. However, I strongly recomend that you read this before disabling UAC "What is UAC really for?" "There's a lot of talk going around on the web about the advantages and disadvantages of UAC, or User Account Control. UAC is a technology in the Windows Vista that limits the privilege level of applications. If you run XP on a home computer, chances are your user account is a member of the Administrators group. By using an administrator account, any application you run can access the entire system, even potentially malicious applications. A much better idea would be to run as a so-called limited user. Such a user can only access its own account settings, but not anything system wide. A limited user also cannot write to (or delete from) critical areas such as the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry hive, or the Windows folder. In the Unix world, running as a limited user is common practice. So why do Windows users still run as administrators? This has two main reasons: Windows itself isn't really designed with this in mind. It's fine if you're in a corporate environment where the point is that you simply can't perform administrative functions at all, no matter how much you want to, but if you're simply using a limited account to protect yourself it's a pain. Once you run as a limited user doing something that requires administrator rights can be difficult, requiring you to jump through a lot of hoops. Many developers are still stuck in the Windows 9x era and assume that the user can do everything, and subsequently write applications that are not compatible with limited user accounts. Windows Vista contains technologies to alleviate both points, but this post focuses on the first. UAC is the system that helps with performing administrative tasks. Whenever a limited user in Vista wants to do something that requires administrative rights, UAC will prompt the user for administrator credentials and the user can easily elevate to perform the action. UAC also does something else however. It also imposes these restrictions on members of the Administrators group. With UAC enabled, even administrators are really limited users in disguise. Only the built-in Administrator account (which is disabled by default in Vista) is exempt from this. The only difference between a limited user and an administrator in Vista is that an administrator doesn't need to type a password to elevate, (s)he can just click "Continue". And it is this that a lot of people object to. They feel that they should be allowed to be real administrators, that they shouldn't need to explicitly allow it every time they want to do something that requires administrative rights. It's here that the confusion starts. Many people assume that UAC's primary purpose is to alleviate the Dancing Bunnies Problem. Sure, it is definitely one of the goals of UAC and it may even help a little, but it is not the primary purpose of UAC in my opinion. After all, as Larry Osterman says, if the user wants to see the dancing bunnies, he will see the dancing bunnies. It doesn't matter if an extra "Continue" button is in the way. UAC's true purpose is to achieve the principle of least privilege. This old principle says that nothing running on your computer should have more privileges than it needs to execute its task. In XP, this is not the case, everything you run has the same privileges as your account, and as I explained above, this usually means administrator privileges. So UAC wouldn't help if an application claims to need administrative rights and can trick the user into agreeing to that. But UAC will protect security sensitive applications that don't need administrative rights. Applications such as Internet Explorer and Outlook or Windows Mail don't need administrative privileges for anything, they just read your mail. Yet in XP, these applications get administrative rights if you have them. Applications such as this are under frequent attacks, and unfortunate as it may be, bugs will be found and exploited with malicious intent. It's here that UAC helps. In XP, if some code in an e-mail manages to exploit a bug in Outlook to run arbitrary code, this code has the same rights as the user, so typically administrative rights. This means this malicious code can access all your data, all your system settings and files, and can change anything it likes. In other words, you're screwed. Under Vista, Outlook doesn't specify it needs administrative rights so UAC doesn't ask the user anything, and Outlook will be run with reduced rights. Now the exploit does not have elevated privileges. It can attack your account at best, but your system and applications are safe. UAC also allows some applications to reduce their privilege level even further. This is called protected mode, and is used by Internet Explorer 7 on Windows Vista (IE7 on XP will not do this since it relies on Vista specific technologies). Using protected mode, IE7 doesn't even have the same unelevated privileges as you, it has even less. So now the exploit code can't even mess with your user account, let alone your system. That is where the value of UAC lies, and where I believe it will make a real difference. Users will still be users, and they'll still happily elevate anything to see dancing bunnies, but at least they'll be protected against exploits in applications that are not elevated." Article taken from here: http://www.ookii.org/showpost.aspx?post=3 __________________ Johnny was a chemist's son, But Johnny is no more. What Johnny thought was H20 was H2SO4.

01-07-09, 03:55 PM	#6
Q3ark Watch Officer Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: York, England Posts: 346 Downloads: 47 Uploads: 0	Hi JonB hope you don't think I was bashing your post in any way. I just think it's important for people to understand at least a little about security features before they go turning them off. __________________ Johnny was a chemist's son, But Johnny is no more. What Johnny thought was H20 was H2SO4.

01-07-09, 03:44 PM	#5
JonB Bosun Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Halmstad, Sweden Posts: 69 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	Well, I have Vista 64 as well. Dunno about the "Ultimate" though and I have worked on SH3 for months without being able to fix it. This is the reason why I now got SH4, lol. About reading the disclamer above; I think you should. If you dont know much about computor, better let it be. And it´s not my intention to scare gamers away from Vista. I love Vista and actually think better of it then XP. But that was AFTER setting Vista up properly.