I have heard many good things about ASX and would be interested in it, but I've had some experience at a friend who has it which suggests ASX doesn't work properly with limited user accounts.The application seems to force the user to run it as an administrator, and refuses to connect with FSX when the latter is running in a limited account.Ostensibly the reason for this is that ASX needs to be able to modify FSX files. On my system however, my limited account has write permissions to the FSX folder so this shouldn't be a problem.Can ASX run under a limited user account, with FSX running that way too?Thanks in advance.

Hi,Thanks for your interest!Yes, we do need access to some files and in some cases through Administrator accounts. However, if you have things set up so that folders are write enabled, then you should be OK.Thanks!Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

Hi Jim,I recently had the opportunity to check if this was possible at a friend who has a similar setup as me and has ASX (but he runs it as an Administrator). I set up a limited account and attempted to make it work.I encountered the following issues:1. The installation does not create shortcuts for all users; as such, the limited account did not have shortcuts to ASX on the start menu.2. When ASX is running as an Administrator, it cannot connect to FSX if FSX is running in a different account.3. The XEngine.exe file has a manifest embedded specifying . This causes Vista to force elevation of ASX, making it impossible to run it under the limited account. By using a resource editor I modified the manifest to make it possible to run ASX without elevating.4. ASX would not launch because it was missing several registry entries from the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive. Evidently these entries were created by the installer. Having the installer create user-specific files makes it impossible for any user account other than the one that installed to run the application, and is therefore a terrible idea. I worked around this issue by copying the relevant registry entries.5. Similarly, ASX would not launch because it was missing several files in the C:Users%username%AppDataRoaming folder. Again I worked around this by copying the files.ASX now worked, could connect to FSX and all appears fine.However, I am a software developer myself, and have been advocating proper support for multiple accounts and limited accounts for many years. ActiveSky X commits two violations for multiple accounts (the installer does not create shortcuts for all users, and the installer writes data to the user account (registry and files) that the application depends on), and one violation for limited accounts (forcing the user to elevate by use of a manifest on Windows Vista). And then I'm not even counting the original violation of requiring administrator rights for write access to files (a better solution would be to have the installer change the permissions of the files that ASX needs access to).As a least privilege advocate, I will not support software that so obviously and unnecessarily obstructs its use under a limited user account (and it is unnecessary, as I've shown you can run ASX under a limited user account with some work). Therefore, I will not be buying ActiveSky X, or any HiFi software product, until this is resolved.I'm sure you won't lose any sleep over this, but I thought I'd let you know my position.

Hi,For my knowledge, what would happen if you installed under the Administrator account, but ran things under the limited account?Thanks,Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

That is the scenario I described.

Hi,Just so I am clear:Under Vista, if you install As Administrator, for all users, nothing shows up under the other user accounts?Thanks,Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

That is correct. There are no shortcuts, and there was stuff in registry and profile directory for the Administrator that ActiveSky needs and couldn't find for the other account.Note that since this wasn't my system, I didn't actually install ASX, it was already installed. If the installer has a "install for all users" option and my friend didn't select it, I don't know about that.

Hi,It would be a Vista option, just as XP has that option: only this user or all users.Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

Hi all,There are several reasons our products are setup the way they are. We realize its not perfect for all cases.For one, Administrator or elevated access is required in Vista for ASX because it requires modification of files outside its own folders (namely, FSX folders both in program files and in appdata). As to installing only for a current user instead of all users, this was a preference call early in our installation design to allow multiple users to have separate installations, which was useful when users had multiple setups of FS for whatever reason.. This is more a carry-over thing from the FS9 days and doesn't really apply to FSX in most cases.We do realize the need for some users to install for all users and will be working on this for future version releases.Thanks for your feedback!

Hi Damian,Thanks for your explanation. I know that ASX wants administrator rights to modify those files. I would almost be ok with that if it was possible to run FSX as a limited user while ASX itself is elevated, but it won't connect that way (this is *only* a problem when using a real limited user account, not an administrator account with UAC enabled).I have already indicated better methods exist: let the installer modify the permissions on the relevant files/folders so that it anyone can modify them.I realize that few people will run FSX the way I do. The only reason I run as a limited user is because, as I said, I'm a developer who believes in least privilege. Running as a limited user full time means I am intimitely aware with the problems an application might face so I can avoid them myself. And it's also a matter of practising what I preach.From a security standpoint in Vista there's not much reason to run as a limited user; an administrator with UAC on has basically the same effect and is less hassle. I understand you wouldn't spend time on fixing these issues that affect so few users.What I do take issue with is the fact that Jim said it should work. Had I not had the opportunity to test it first hand I might've bought ASX based on that remark, only to be disappointed. Would you have given me a refund if that had been the case? Purely hypothetical at this point, of course, but I'm just curious.

Hi,Thanks for your thoughts.FYI, I based that on some other users who have run ASX in this manner and yes, a refund would have been called for if we could not have gotten things to work for you.Thanks,Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

Just wanted to say: thank you! I had been searching two evenings for that solution, and your post finally let me run Active Sky with my normal, rights-limited user. This should be a sticky on the first page.Best regards,-Rodney

I have just bought and installed ASX, and this "feature" of having to run the program as administrator has not been addressed in the the newest release build 1160 (aka SP3). I understand that ASX must be able to write to certain files in the FSX-directory, but why do I have to run FSX as administrator if I want to use ASX?To clairify for everyone that have posted on this thread, or reading it for the first time, in Vista there is no option given by the installer to install for all users. The program gets installed for the administrator only (unless your normal user has superpowers). Most people out there that are the only user of the computer are probably uneffected by this, but for me it is a problem. On my computer there are two user accounts, both for simmers plus one admin-account (the only account not used for flying).Regards,Annasara