Vista UAC Blocking Registration

[nigelh]

I have a registered copy of Marine Aquarium 2.6 and have been very pleased with it. I have come to reinstall it on vista following an upgrade. Tech support have offered advice that I have followed. Downloaded clean file, virus checker off, carefully cut and paste code (no spaces) - still prompted to buy.... If I turn UAC off shows as registered without any further action. Turn UAC back on and registration prompted again. Help much appreciated.

[cjmaddy]

I am (thankfully!) NOT a Vista user. And hopefully never will be. - I have however heard a little about this problem. Hopefully someone here with Vista will be able to give some help, but things around here are very dead at the moment! - All I can advise is to search in Google for Vista UAC. One glance there seems to suggest that you are not the only one suffering from the 'Vista UAC' problem!

.... Not very much help I know, - but I sympathise!

[Marian Nichols]

I have! I have my users accounts turned off. If you have a good firewall and running Windows Defender with virus protection, you should be fine. Windows makes you think you need this but if you and family are the primary users and it is not a public PC, there is little reasons for enabling this. For kids, use the parental controls.

[Jav400]

Windows Vista is a pain. For those who don't know, there is a kernel burried within Vista that gathers information/data on the user/system and sends it to Manassas Va. to a huge database there. This same kernel is also within the latest version of Office and it does the same thing. So far it can't be removed as it replicates itself and will return or shut everything down.

Personally I wouldn't have Vista if someone gave me free copies. Between that and all the UAC junk, I'll stick with XP Pro as long as I can and hope for something better in the future, if not I think I will be using XP for a long long time.

[Marian Nichols]

Thankfully, Microsoft is hard at work on its next OS.

[cjmaddy]

Or better still, stick with something that you know works! - The 'next' or 'latest' can't be guaranteed to be better, or even work!

... It's all change for change sake! ... And to make Microsoft even more money...

I'm not likely to buy Microsoft's 'next OS', either!!!

[Jav400]

In this case you are definitely correct Cliff, at least IMHO. Vista is a huge step backwards.

[Ralph]

Originally posted by Marian Nichols:

Thankfully, Microsoft is hard at work on its next OS.  

But.. unless Microsoft has a change in its philosophy the next version will have the same or even more invasive UAC. The world has given MS the right to redefine trojans / spy ware... take it or leave it

[nigelh]

Thanks for the sympathy, it does help.. I searched under Vista UAC and got lots but nothing that would suggest why this particular problem is occurring. We do seem to have strayed off topic a little here lol, though I appreciate that there are very diverse views about Vista across the board. Personally I have found it really slick and have been pleased with the speed and general interface - I agree that the security features can be a pain but they do say... no pain no gain. Any ideas on the point in question guys, why won't the registration stick ?

[Jav400]

As I don't run Vista ( supprise supprise ), I don't have a definative answer for this one. I will start by asking if you have already installed other programs and had them work fine without any problems?

This might be a Jim or Edgar question, but we do have some people here on the forum running Vista, so if they don't get back to you with some suggestions after the weekend, then maybe one of our other forum members running Vista can give it a shot and see what response they get.

Don't worry, one way or another we will get you figured out.

[nigelh]

Yep, no other problems with programmes not loading or with any registrations. This is a strange one I would consider myself quite familier with computers but this has me stumped. Thanks again for the support is is appreciated - I note that the code it taken as it moves to the fish screen when entered but after a few seconds the 'buy now' sign appears on the rock and it clearly does not accept this as bought. I though I would be smart and even bought the upgrade today (even though I have 2.6 thinking that the new code would be worth the $5 or so and would sort this out). Frustratingly the new code (and a new download) does exactly the same thing......?

[Jav400]

Which version of Vista are you running? You can of course turn all that stuff off, but from what I have read it might be better to set it to elevate without prompting and see what happens.

Look here, towards the bottom of the page and it tells you how to do this. Maybe it would have something to do with what is going on and solve it.

I have read allot of other places where this is a better solution than turning it off totally. This is just the first one I found with a quick search telling the process. I can't remember if this works for all versions of Vista, seems like I read somewhere else that this works best, or maybe only with the Ultimate version. But it doesn't hurt to check if it will work with yours.

[nigelh]

Vista Home Premium - it seems this only applies to Ultimate and beyond as you say.

[Jim Sachs]

I do have one Vista machine (Home Premium) to test the program on, but I'm not very familiar with it.

All I can think of is somehow the machine is seeing you as a different user when you try to run MA. It doesn't seem to be saving the Key Code in the proper Registry entry. Edgar might have some ideas.

You should not have bought the Upgrade. What you actually downloaded is still the same v2.6. The Upgrade just looks for a v2.0 Key Code and brings it up to a v2.6 Key. Make sure that Customer Support knows that you purchased an Upgrade if you decide to get 3.0 when it's done. They will give you credit for the Upgrade. Send me a Private Message if you have any trouble.

[nigelh]

Thanks for your prompt response much appreciated.

[nigelh]

I have checked the ownership/permissions and audit notes with UAC on and with it off they both seem identical. I am getting a little frustrated and am stumped.

[Edgar]

If you want to use UAC, you will need to install per user.

If you want to bypass this, and want install it once for all users, the following instructions may have to be followed:
1. Uninstall MA2.6.
2. Right click on the MA2.6 installer and select "Run as Administrator" to reinstall MA2.6.
3. Copy the Windows/System32/MA2_6.scr somewhere as MA2_6.exe. Vista won't let you run a .scr file as administrator so we are fooling it by creating a .exe copy of the executable.
4. Right click on MA2_6.exe and select "Run as administrator".
5. Enter the keycode.
MA2.6 should now be installed for all users.

Maybe on the next update of the installer, we can add a step to enter the keycode during the installation.

[Edgar]

The instructions I wrote should work but I am the only one that has tested it.
I myself, runs Vista with UAC off to stop all the nagging.

[nigelh]

Thank you Edgar (and others) for the prompt and really helpful responses. This works wonderfully - the only change was I had to go into folder options and change the view setting because the first couple of times the file still had a hidden 'scr extension. I now have a fully working fish tank which is very restful but will have to forego the screen saver function (or read up on the per user account functions in Vista which I have not yet used). Major steps forward and I am impressed by your techinical skills - well done !

[Edgar]

The screensaver function should work if you right click on the MA2_6.scr and select install. I assume you have a 64 bit Vista?