Windows 7 ownership/permissions problem?

[brian747 5]

Hi Dan!

If your comp froze and just alone the fact that the phone listing didn't come up means something else is wrong and has nothing to do with your FSX cd.

<grin>

[qnh 70]

Hmm, there's a certain Law (most kindly referred to as "Murphy's Law", although there are other variations of the name) which dictates that things only let you down when you need them most, so on that basis I can deeply sympathise, having been a victim of it myself all too often. :(

Murphy was an optimist :(

[downscc 1,327]

Murphy was an Air Force Major working on the instrumentation on the vests guys wore that rode the rocket sled. Have you seen movies of that experiment? Anyway, he is attributed as the guy who said that if something can fail it will fail.

[Turbine777 13]

Having been a computer techie for over 40 years now, I maybe see problems where they don't exist. [/u]Or again, maybe I see too many possibilities?[/u] :(

You have no idea how much I know that. Sometimes I look back at my own advice and wonder how I can miss some things, and I think it's due to like you said, the amount of possibilities and trying to cover them all. Like anyone, I just try to throw out what my best guess is at the moment, but in some cases that's all it really is since there are so many.As for Murphy and his men, I am all too familiar. I am an ex Army Ranger and we have some personalized law's that he gave us (all good advice though ;-).The one thing I have yet to mention, since I personally hate the answer and to me feels like defeat is during the install there was a hiccup and a possible kink in the install. I know you too have probably built several systems, and some things cannot be always accounted for. Sometimes Windows just doesn't seem to land right (if that makes any sense). On a good month I build about 10 systems (that's a very good month) average lately is about 3 with an occasional rework for different reasons. I always do the build, flash the bios, windows install, firware if needed/available, chipset, bridge & storage driver, then get windows up to speed following the installation of any additional hardware one by one with latest drivers etc. Even Windows 7 (and 8 & 9 & 10) can and will at times have issues when seeing too many unknowns in a fresh install. Some may never see this, but I do alllllll the time. I hope for your sake of course you find it's something easier and you get her purrring soon! :)Like I say though, I hate doing just a reinstall without finding the real answer to what the problem is and why it did what it did. It's those questions that I think give you the most grey hairs.Sorry for another lengthy reply, but one more thinga ma bob...One reason I like forums is the different amount of opinions and more so the views on the same matter. It reminds me of the story of an 18 wheeler that was driving his trailer and managed to get it completely wedged under a bridge. The top state officials were called down with the best of the best engineers. The truck was so wedged under the bridge that some thought the easier way was to remove parts of the bridge and others thought it would be better to cut up the trailer. The state officials were more focused on time being the main factor since the incident backed up traffic for several miles and the transit commision was already in hot water.Anywho, they all studied what they each thought to be the most complex decision and the drawings and ideas started flying around when a 12 year old boy on his skate board happend by and simply asked; "Why don't you just let the air out of the tires?"All the master engineers and polititions paused for a moment as they realised the youth was 100% correct and they stood there in awe with both joy & shame, but most importantly, forever wiser ;-)

[brian747 5]

Hi folks!My grateful thanks to all who have replied: I think it has now become one of those situations where maybe the search is now more significant than finding the answer

[Tabs 2,790]

Brian,It's definitely a permissions issue of some sort. I second what Dan said about installing FSX to it's own folder outside of Program Files (esp on Win7 x64 where you're dealing with two different Program Files folders). The cause in all of this is the file and registry virtualization the OS does when UAC is enabled. I believe it treats things different somehow when they're in the Program Files folders vs. outside of them.You can try this though, I've fixed permissions issues in the past using this:http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vis...-menu-in-vista/There's no limit to reinstalls on the same machine for our stuff like you're worried about - you shouldn't have any validation issues. The validation system is tracking a whole host of things, not just the number of installs and it has to trigger a lot of them to block you. If you have any issues with it, PM me on the forum and I'll reset it for you.Pretty much all of us on the PMDG team are on permanent phone calls to MS to activate FSX and Acceleration thanks to their silly system that only looks at the number of installs.

[brian747 5]

Hi Ryan!And thanks for your reply.

It's definitely a permissions issue of some sort.

I concur: in fact my sub-heading to the original post title was "ownership/permissions problem".

I second what Dan said about installing FSX to it's own folder outside of Program Files (esp on Win7 x64 where you're dealing with two different Program Files folders). The cause in all of this is the file and registry virtualization the OS does when UAC is enabled. I believe it treats things different somehow when they're in the Program Files folders vs. outside of them.

<sigh> Check. The problem is that when the inability-to-activate problem strikes, it also blocks any ability to activate by phone. Hence I am extremely unwilling to blow away a working (as long as UAC remains deactivated) installation and risk trying again, even though I detest it being situated in the Program Files (x86) directory structure. (I very reluctantly let it install there following repeated fsx reinstalls, to try and eliminate something that might have been contributing to the problem).

You can try this though, I've fixed permissions issues in the past using this:http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vis...-menu-in-vista/

<grin> Thank you: good old Google had already led me to that one, which is precisely what prompted my original question

[brian747 5]

Just in case there's any doubt, please allow me to expand on my question, above. (Sorry to add an extra post, but the Edit button seems to have vanished, for some reason).

... exactly which directories (and/or what permissions) need to be fixed?

In this particular case I guess that translates into "Which directory has the PMDG keyboard mappings file?", which raises the additional question

[downscc 1,327]

Have you assigned admin rights to the pmdg folder and subfolders? Hope it helps.

[brian747 5]

Hi Dan!

Have you assigned admin rights to the pmdg folder and subfolders? Hope it helps.

<wince> Well, as someone who looks after directory structures and what's in them as part of my day job, I was rather hoping to avoid anything as broad brush as changing *all* of the folder and file attributes in a directory tree (I could tell you War Stories...)

[brian747 5]

AFTERWORDI was just scanning the FSUIPC forum and came across the following words from Pete Dowson himself:"I switched off UAC and generally eventually got rid of all the nags. I still sometimes wrestle with the annoying complexities of folder and file security and permissions, but, as you've found, if you steer clear of allowing programs to install into "Program Files" they don't come into it too much".(If you'd like to read it, it's at Pete Dowson's Forum

[Tabs 2,790]

I ran with UAC off in Vista a while back, but I've left it on in Windows 7 because it's a lot less intrusive now. I really think it probably is related to the Program Files thing, I have my games all on a separate HD in the root, so D:\FSX is my path - everything's always worked fine doing this for me.

[brian747 5]

Hi Ryan!

I ran with UAC off in Vista a while back, but I've left it on in Windows 7 because it's a lot less intrusive now. I really think it probably is related to the Program Files thing, I have my games all on a separate HD in the root, so D:\FSX is my path - everything's always worked fine doing this for me.

Thank you for that: I'm definitely starting to think that Life Without UAC could well be the best (and simplest) solution to all these Vista/W7 permissions troubles.... :(Less intrusive in W7? Well OK, a bit, I have to admit. Still a pain in the proverbial, though. :( I might add that although I have unfortunately ended up with fsx being installed in the dratted Program Files directory structure, so far (in the absence of UAC) that doesn't seem to caused me any issues. So far.... :( I do miss UAC, naturally

[downscc 1,327]

I have FS9 and FSX running in the Programs (x86) file structure and have never had a problem. I keep reading that this is a problem but I guess I am lucky.

[brian747 5]

I have FS9 and FSX running in the Programs (x86) file structure and have never had a problem. I keep reading that this is a problem but I guess I am lucky.

:( :( :( That's encouraging, thank you