SiMPLE | Forum

henk

Administrator

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Registered: 2018-07-07

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path to non admin settings

Hi all,
iv a question. When I run the game from my 'Program Files (x86)' folder without admin mode I can still change my settings.
But they are stored somewhere else, not in the game folders. where should I look for them?

llzkk

Player

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Registered: 2020-07-19

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Re: path to non admin settings

They may be in the "My Documents" folder or just "Documents" in Windows, if I'm correct.

seVen

 

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Registered: 2015-12-20

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Re: path to non admin settings

 
Dunno what "without admin mode" means, but have you checked in VirtualStore?

C:\Users\[your login name]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)

henk

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Re: path to non admin settings

thanks, there they are !!!
never heard of it!

Trench

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Re: path to non admin settings

They may be in the "My Documents" folder or just "Documents" in Windows, if I'm correct.

There definitely is some condition under which they get stored in the Documents folder, but I don't know what that condition is.  Have just seen someone's machine where that was happening.

thanks, there they are

Indeed, as a generic Windows 7 and later thing (technically Vista, but we don't talk about her at the dinner table), there are specific folders where if an application "assumes I can do what I used to do under Windows XP" and and tries to write to these now-secured areas, they get redirected to the virtualstore folder instead.  The application thinks it's still writing to "C:\Program Files" or where ever it used to write before Windows security was tightened, but Windows silently redirects their reads and writes to the virtualstore folder instead.

So normally, when running BF1942.EXE as Administrator, you don't encounter this because you do have rights to write to the "C:\Program Files" area.

Note the Origin-delivered version of the Battlefield 1942 game handled it differently, and actually created it's "C:\Program Files\Origin Games\Battlefield 1942\" folder with permissions such that Windows users could write to it without having to Run as Administrator.  So just one additional variation you could encounter out there in the wild.

henk

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Registered: 2018-07-07

Posts: 324

Re: path to non admin settings

ah thanks for the explanation

Darcano

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Re: path to non admin settings

 
Dunno what "without admin mode" means, but have you checked in VirtualStore?

C:\Users\[your login name]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)

Thanks! Was looking for the same thing.

bud

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Location: shangri la

Registered: 2012-07-07

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Re: path to non admin settings

There definitely is some condition under which they get stored in the Documents folder, but I don't know what that condition is.  Have just seen someone's machine where that was happening.

If you writeprotect the settings .con files you get this phenomena.
Propably why henk (i guess) maybe used some sort of guest account and did not have write access to the gamefolder.

Trench

Member

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Registered: 2014-05-05

Posts: 221

Re: path to non admin settings

If you writeprotect the settings .con files you get this phenomena.
Propably why henk (i guess) maybe used some sort of guest account and did not have write access to the gamefolder.

Agree, there is something there.  But "didn't have write access to the game folder" (presuming the game folder is under Program Files) is still a description of the conditions under which we expect Microsoft's file system and registry virtualization to kick in too (i.e. the "VirtualStore" usage described earlier), so I'm not sure what the additional key factor is.

Are you maybe saying the .CON files were attributed read-only?  i.e. It was no longer a matter of "write permissions", but actually that the file itself was attributed as non-writeable?  Meaning perhaps Microsoft's virtualization was not willing to redirect attempts to write to the .CON files to the VirtualStore folder, because the original .CON files under Program Files were attributed as read-only.  Meaning the .CON files wouldn't have been writable even for a user with full permissions to write to Program Files area, and/or even with UAC completely disabled.

bud

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Re: path to non admin settings

Are you maybe saying the .CON files were attributed read-only?

Thats what i was thinking about yes. Im not sure about the rest, its been so many years with bf42 so most things start to blurr with time.

First time i found files in my ducuments folder was when i started modding, then i could find folders with map names in there.

Once i found the logfiles from bfrm buried deep in a windows folder (i think something syswow64?)  simple changing the bfrm folder location fixed that.

Now when im on windows 10 there is new limitations that i dont yet master (it cold be bcs its enterprize version, not sure)

So effectively i try not to put anything directly on C: root, but instead using a folder or even a separat partition.

Not sure this answers anything lol