installing software question

oystercatcher said:

I have been running win7 x64 for a month. I am coming from a winxp
environment so I am not familiar with the changes introduced by vista.

When installing software if I right click on the .exe, I am presented with
the option to Run as administrator. Or I can just double click the .exe
file. Is there any rule of thumb as to when I should use the Run as
administrator method? Can someone point me to some documentation
that explains the difference?

Thanks

To run as administrator you must either be in an administrors' user account or give an administrators ID. This is for your protection. Any change that will affect the entire OS and not just your indivual user's account must be done by an administrator. If you give a users account to someone else (not an administrator account) that person cannot do anything that can cause you problems such as download programs etc. Hope this helps.

I am taking the liberty to post this point in a second reply, since it is something that you did not ask.

Since you are new to Windows 7, allow me to give you some additional pointers

If you have only one account and it is an administrators account. Make a second administrators account, with a different password (make sure you do not forget it). There have been many questions here about not being able to get into the adm account, due to corruption, forgotten password etc.

Many here will disaree with this statement, but I like to use a regular account rather than adm. We all have other things on our mind and if I make a change to my computer that can have a lasting effect, I want to be reminded of that, with the need to give the adm ID, of the account which is not being used.

Finally, before you buy a AntiVirus, with windows you can get a great one free. MSE, Microsoft Security Essentials, just visit the website.

Happy Holidays and good surfing.

oystercatcher said:

richc46 said:

oystercatcher said:

I have been running win7 x64 for a month. I am coming from a winxp
environment so I am not familiar with the changes introduced by vista.

When installing software if I right click on the .exe, I am presented with
the option to Run as administrator. Or I can just double click the .exe
file. Is there any rule of thumb as to when I should use the Run as
administrator method? Can someone point me to some documentation
that explains the difference?

Thanks

To run as administrator you must either be in an administrors' user account or give an administrators ID. This is for your protection. Any change that will affect the entire OS and not just your indivual user's account must be done by an administrator. If you give a users account to someone else (not an administrator account) that person cannot do anything that can cause you problems such as download programs etc. Hope this helps.

I just checked and my account is an admin account - I am the only user on the system. Based on your response, I shouldn't need to use the Run as administrator right click option

Thanks

I am including some details about my system.

intel duo core, 4 GB ram, 120 GB sata drive (from a laptop) for testing win7.
1.5 TB seagate for everything except the OS. ATI Radeon HD 4350 with
9-11_vista64_win7_64_dd.exe driver. SBLive OEM with kxproject driver
kxdrv3550-x64-full.exe. Planning on finding and testing a driver for the
onboard intel audio.
160 GB WD drive with winxp, fc11 which will be updated to win7 and fc12
once the win7 testing is completed.

64 bit applications installed and being tested:
firefox 3.5.5 shiretoko, vim7, python 3.1, 7zip, virtualdub

32 bit applications installed and being tested:
garmin mapsource, city navigator north america, alien arena, ekiga (voip),
mcabber (im), mutt, Fugawi (marine charts), abiword, foxit, foobar2000,
qsynth, mplayer

Comments:
garmin mapsource - some problems with zoom and scrolling topo maps from gpsfiledepot
vim7 Edit with vim - right mouse click registry tweak added manually

From windows help section.



In this version of Windows, the Run as command has been changed to Run as administrator. You should rarely have to use the Run as administrator command, because Windows automatically prompts you for an administrator password when necessary. Some older programs might still require you to use the Run as administrator command to eliminate the need to log off and then log back on.
[IMG]mshelp://Help/?id=Microsoft.Windows.Resources.CollapseArrow[/IMG][IMG]mshelp://Help/?id=Microsoft.Windows.Resources.ExpandArrow[/IMG] To run a program as an administrator

1. <LI class=step>Right-click the program icon or file that you want to open, and then click Run as administrator.
   The Run as administrator command
   
2. Select the administrator account that you want to use, type the password, and then click Yes.

Tip

• If you're logged on as an administrator you can run a program as a different user by typing runas.exe /user name at a command prompt.