Important Things I Forgot: #2

Microsoft Vista continues to grow on me.  I really do like it, overall.

Performance on our Gateway MT6451 Notebook remains above acceptable, and that's with just 1GB system RAM (2x512MB) and a 2GB ReadyBoost USB stick.  I wish I could have a dual-display notebook, but it isn't convenient to carry and attach a 2nd LCD monitor to the laptop on a regular basis

Dad has twice mentioned on the phone that he is just overwhelmed with the performance and beauty-of-use of his new Vista system we set up last week.  He told me how he was bragging to his family relatives at their Thanksgiving-day feast about it.  Warms me-heart, it does.

Still, even-now, I find am still doing minor tweaks and adjustments to the system to get our Vista laptop where I want.

For Instance

I've been head-over-heels with the dock-utility Rocketdock.  It is rock-solid, performs fast, supports dual-monitors, has beautiful effects and graphics, and is a joy to use.

However with Vista it can be just a tiny pain-in-the-butt.

Some applications I would launch from it would error out completely.  Others would error, but continue to work.  I had been using an older version for some time, just because it seemed more stable on Vista

The last straws occurred last night.

First, I had downloaded the latest version of Notepad++. It installed fine but when launched from RocketDock, tossed a slew of errors before finally running without complaint.  That was weird as it worked fine before the upgrade.

I then downloaded and installed the latest version of RocketDock.  Still no changes in the issues.

Then I downloaded Nirsoft's fantastic utilities OpenedFilesView and MyUninstaller.

I had unpacked them both and ran them from my "standalones" utility folder. They worked great.  So I added them to my RocketDock toolbar.

Funny Thing  Example #1

When I launched them from RocketDock, the programs launched fine without errors.  However, they would not populate with data as expected and previously observed.

Hmmm.

I knew they worked fine...what gives?

After a few minutes of trial and error I figured it out.

It appears that Vista will not run the programs launched under RocketDock with "administrator-level" permissions, which were required for them to populate and execute the data-gathering routines correctly.  If I launched them directly, Vista allowed them to work fine.

So now I had two options worth trying out:

1. Modify the properties for each target executable file to Run as Administrator, or
2. Modify RocketDock itself to run as Administrator.

I went with option 2 first, but that generated a new problem.

After I rebooted the system, it gave me a new warning message I hadn't seen before saying that RocketDock was being launched as "administrator" from the startup group entries, and had been disabled.  I could/can then choose to manually enable it to launch each time.  I hadn't heard of this alert message before and was a bit of a nuisance (but comforting from a system-security standpoint, I suppose....).

So I went back and modified the programs that were having issues off RocketDock and set them to run as Administrator according to this Microsoft bulletin: How to use User Account Control (UAC) in Windows Vista (KB922708)

To run a program as an administrator, follow these steps:

1.    Right-click the icon that you use to run the program, and then click Run as administrator.
2.    When you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the administrator password, or click Continue.

For some program icons, the Run as administrator option is not available on the shortcut menu. For these program icons, follow these steps:

1.    Right-click the icon that you use to run the program, and then click Properties. On the Shortcut tab, the Target box contains the location and the name of the program file.
2.    Open the folder that contains the program file.
3.    Right-click the program file, and then click Run as administrator. User Account Control permission If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.

If you must run a program as an administrator, you may want to set up the program so that you automatically run it as an administrator. To do this, follow these steps:

1.    Right-click the icon that you use to run the program, and then click Properties.
2.    On the Compatibility tab, click to select the Run this program as an administrator check box, and then click OK.

The Compatibility tab is not available for some program icons. For these program icons, follow these steps:

1.    Right-click the icon that you use to run the program, and then click Properties. On the Shortcut tab, the Target box contains the location and the name of the program file.
2.    Open the folder that contains the program file.
3.    Right-click the program file, and then click Properties.
4.    On the Compatibility tab, click to select the Run this program as an administrator check box, and then click OK.

That seemed to have taken care of those issues. RocketDock runs fine and when certain applications that have had issues are launched, they run as administrator and work fine as well.  No errors.

Funny Thing #2

I had also wanted to make some setting changes to my slick Logitech LX7 Cordless Optical Mouse.  I kept clicking the icon in the system-tray to launch the SetPoint software but nothing would happen.  Neither from the Program list.  I downloaded and installed the latest software from Logitech.  Same thing.  Next I even tried running the installer exe file "run as administrator" but still it wouldn't run.

Finally I set the SetPoint.exe file in the Logitech Program Files folder to "run as administrator".

Rebooted.  Tried again.

Worked like a charm.

Lesson Learned with Vista

I find I also have to launch the CLI "run as administrator" in order to do a release/renew IP command as well.  I expect I will continue to uncover these little "security-gems" for a while to come.

At least now, as long as I remember these tips, (even though my Vista account profile has "administrator" level rights) I don't expect to have quite as much frustration.

So if you find a tried-and-true application just doesn't behave as expected under Vista, don't loose heart.  Try to elevate the program with "run as administrator" and see if that helps.  If it does, make the change permanent.

--Claus