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#1
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Games and Security don't mix
I have set-up a small home network (2 machines, printer,
hub) with XP and several games. Some games require Admin rights to a.) install (can live with that) and b) Run. I don't want the kid's profiles to have Admin rights just to play games as some personal home accounting resides on the same machine. Have tried a Run As profile, but denying the profile local login rights means it cannot execute the game (weird). Any ideas? |
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#2
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Games and Security don't mix
Games are notorious for "requiring" administrative rights. IMHO, this is
the result of lazy/ignorant game programmers who are under pressure to release their games on time and under budget, but don't have a deep understanding of the security ramifications of their actions (e.g. requiring admin access). I can see three possible courses of action: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- 1. Figure out what the game is trying to do, and render non-admins able to do those things. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- Usually, games fail because they're trying to access objects (files, registry keys, or other parts of the system) that non-admins can't access. If you can figure out what those objects are, and grant the players access to those objects, the game will probably work. The bad news is that this essentially results in you reducing your security (because although the game now runs as a less-privileged user, that user is now effectively more powerful). It's still a better trade-off than making the players Admins, though, because there are lots of things those users still can't do. More bad news is that it's often difficult to figure out what files or registry keys the game is trying to access, so it can be an uphill battle to gather the objects anyway. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- 2. Make the players Power Users ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- This may solve the above problem simply because Power Users have access to most system objects. It's still a degradation in security, but not nearly as much as making them Admins. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- 3. Quarantine the Games ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- Both of the above are obviously degradations of security. If you're unwilling to reduce your security, the last option is to dedicate one or more quarantined machines to gaming with the expectation that because they're running without security, they may get damaged. Fortunately, though, you can probably restore such machines without much trouble, just because they don't have any essential data on them. My advice: before you do any of the above, go to the game's website and poke around its community (publishers, developers, and other fans)-- sometimes people are able to come up with a comprehensive list of what permissions need to be granted to which objects, thereby making option #1 above much easier. Sometimes people are able to get fixes from the game developers so that the game doesn't do whatever it does to require Admin at all, which would negate the whole problem. Good Luck! -Dave -- This message is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. This message originates in the State of Washington (USA), where unsolicited commercial email is legally actionable (see http://www.wa.gov/ago/junkemail). Harvesting of this address for purposes of bulk email (including "spam") is prohibited unless by my expressed prior request. I retaliate viciously against spammers and spam sites. "KenE" wrote in message ... I have set-up a small home network (2 machines, printer, hub) with XP and several games. Some games require Admin rights to a.) install (can live with that) and b) Run. I don't want the kid's profiles to have Admin rights just to play games as some personal home accounting resides on the same machine. Have tried a Run As profile, but denying the profile local login rights means it cannot execute the game (weird). Any ideas? |
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