WebUpdate for users without admin rights...

[NewsArchive]

Hello all,

I've got an issue that has become a royal pain the arse.

We have several computers where the user's accounts basically have no
privileges. They cannot install anything etc. When my app trys to perform
the web update, it gets stuck in a loop and nothing ever gets updated. It
will appear that the web update is working but it's not. Now the loop thing
is my doing. I stop the application, do the update, and restart the app.
Since update is never successful, when the app restarts, the web update
restarts.

What is the best way for users with limited or no rights to update
applications?

Thanks,
Don

[NewsArchive]

wucheck.exe does not require admin rights and can check for updates and
download them.

Limited users generally will not actually be able to run the installation
once it's downloaded, however, without an over-the-shoulder administrator
approval.

Jane Fleming

[NewsArchive]

Damn! I was afraid you would say that.

I have this app "automatically" running wucheck and taking the appropriate
messures. My goal is to make sure all apps on this network are running the
same version.

I'll have to rethink my plan...

Thanks Jane!
Don

[NewsArchive]

Hi Don,

I would suggest to check for administrator rights to detect the
"locked-down" environment. See attached screenshot. In this case, the web
update installer package displays a "You must be logged in as an
administrator when installing this program." message and terminates the web
update process.

BTW, where is the application installed on machines without "admin" rights?

Friedrich

--
Friedrich Linder
Lindersoft
www.lindersoft.com
+1.954.252.3910

SetupBuilder is Windows 7installation -- "point. click. ship"

-- Official Comodo Code Signing and SSL Certificate Partner

[NewsArchive]

Hi Friedrich,

what, if you run webupdate as service?

Markus

[NewsArchive]

Hi Markus,

>
> what, if you run webupdate as service?
>

As far as I know, there is no direct way to (silently) spawn an elevated
process from a Windows service. And even if it would be possible to do this
from a Standard User account, a service runs in Terminal Server session 0
now (and the first user is in session 1) so it can't interact with the user.

Friedrich

--
Friedrich Linder
Lindersoft
www.lindersoft.com
+1.954.252.3910

SetupBuilder is Windows 7 installation -- "point. click. ship"

-- Official Comodo Code Signing and SSL Certificate Partner

[NewsArchive]

Machines are Win XP Pro. Installed in Program Files with data in
CSIDL_COMMON_DOCUMENTS.

Only a problem on a handful of laptops and desktops.

Don

[NewsArchive]

Hi Don,

> Machines are Win XP Pro. Installed in Program Files with data in
> CSIDL_COMMON_DOCUMENTS.
>
> Only a problem on a handful of laptops and desktops.

Okay, then you do not have a choice. The "Program Files" folder is a
protected folder and you do not have write access to it from a Limited User
account. Similar to a non-elevated running program on a UAC-aware system.

I would suggest to check for administrator rights to detect the
"locked-down" environment.

Friedrich

[NewsArchive]

Yeah, I added the script you suggested. This application is very much in
the alpha phase and is I'm updating it pretty regularly. I guess I'll slow
down my updates because I don't want to physically have to update the app
every day :-).

BTW, this app is running at my day job. I know the admin password to
install stuff. I'll just have to do it in person.

Thanks,
Don