Drag & Drop when running ImgBurn as Administrator

[fordman]

There were some topics a while back about how drag and drop doesn't work when dragging folders and files to ImgBurn. Because I was always burning VIDEO DVDs and was used to copying the path and pasting it into "add" entry box, I never experienced that issue. However, I've begun burning more and more file collections, and the drag and drop doesn't work for me, but I realize why.

 

I am running this on Vista Basic, and as was pointed out in a previous topic, I run ImgBurn as an administrator so I have access to all the performance monitor measures that are then passed on to DVDInfo Pro. I'm sure that the inability to drag and drop is because ImgBurn is opened under Administrator, while the explorer windows that I'm dragging from is opened in my regular user account. I don't have permission to drag to the application opened by the admin account.

 

So, is there a way to make this scenario work - use drag and drop while keeping my performance measures in Vista basic and running windows under a regular account?

[LOCOENG]

Are you using the Drop Zone or trying to drop into Imgburn's queue?

[fordman]

Are you using the Drop Zone or trying to drop into Imgburn's queue?

 

I suppose you would call it the drop zone. It's the large box below "source" in the "Write files/folders to disc" mode. It works if ImgBurn and Windows Explorer are running under the same user, but not if I use it as described earlier.

 

I'm guessing this is just a windows issue and other programs would behave the same. Perhaps if I open windows explorer as admin also....

[blutach]

No, the drop zone is the semi transparent thingy.

 

Regards

[LOCOENG]

You can activate the Drop Zone by going to View->Drop Zone ~ http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtop...ost&p=66435

[fordman]

You can activate the Drop Zone by going to View->Drop Zone ~ http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtop...ost&p=66435

 

OK, thanks to both you and blutach! I didn't realize that was a feature!

 

I tried it, and it has the same limitation when running ImgBurn as administrator while logged in as a regular user. I need to find a way to create two shortcuts, one which points to ImgBurn as an administrator, and one that runs it without logging in as Admin. I tried to create a different shortcut, but apparently when you change the "compatibility settings for all users under the shortcut properties, it is really performing the function on the actual imgburn.exe file, so any shortcut ends up running as admin....

 

Just a limitation of Vista Basic not being able to provide access to performance monitors for regular users....not an ImgBurn issue.

 

I will be using the drop zone from now on when I have files from several directories!

[LIGHTNING UK!]

Can't you use the bit mentioned in the Guides to get performance counters working?

 

It seems Vista won't allow D+D between utils running under different security levels. It would probably work ok if ImgBurn was the source app of the D+D, but not the other way around. (i.e. must go highest to lowest)

[LOCOENG]

I don't have permission to drag to the application opened by the admin account.

 

Why? Is this your PC or are you actually one of the restricted users?

[LIGHTNING UK!]

It's the way Vista works.

 

dragging from an application running as a restricted user (i.e. not gone via UAC) to an application running as admin would/could represent a security risk so Vista just blocks it.

[blutach]

All these VISTA "features" makes me certain that Bill (or his trust fund) won't be getting any more of my money soon.

 

Do you think he'll be concerned about that?

 

Regards

[LOCOENG]

All these VISTA "features" makes me certain that Bill (or his trust fund) won't be getting any more of my money soon.

 

Do you think he'll be concerned about that?

 

Regards

 

Drag & Drop and the DZ work just fine for me in Vista Ultimate Blu, but I'm always on as admin....really no reason not to unless it's someone elses PC (work or mom & dads) as UAC keeps you from doing anything too stupid.

[lfcrule1972]

I don't have Vista Ultimate but Vista on the laptop we have at home plays nicely for me (admin) with ImgBurn too.

It take a little getting used to but on the whole I quite like Vista now, in fact if it wasn't likely to kill my old desktop Dell PC I would get it for that as well.....

[fordman]

Can't you use the bit mentioned in the Guides to get performance counters working?

 

It seems Vista won't allow D+D between utils running under different security levels. It would probably work ok if ImgBurn was the source app of the D+D, but not the other way around. (i.e. must go highest to lowest)

 

Thank you all for your replies.

 

Yes, I followed the guide only to find out that Vista Basic doesn't have the necessary policy control to allow performance counters for non-admin users. Another ImgBurn user noted that in a thread here and I've been using his solution ever since - set ImgBurn to run as administrator by default for all users. That works for the performance counter but not with using drag and drop from windows explorer launched under a non-admin account.

 

I'll just deal with doing this manually...

[LIGHTNING UK!]

What exactly is missing in Vista basic that the guide doesn't work?

 

Is the group not in the list or can you not even get so far as seeing the list?

[fordman]

What exactly is missing in Vista basic that the guide doesn't work?

 

Is the group not in the list or can you not even get so far as seeing the list?

 

Yes, the "Local Users and Groups" snap-in (I believe that is what Windows calls them) is missing under Windows Vista Basic, even when running completely under an admin account. I've attached a PNG file to illustrate this.

 

You may want to update the guide at http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=5319 to note that it does not work for Windows Vista Basic.

 

There was a thread somewhere here (can't find it right now) where another ImgBurn user noted this issue with Vista Basic and recommended changing the properties for ImgBurn.exe to always force it to run as admin so the performance monitors would always be available to DVDInfo Pro... Of course that then kills drag and drop under a regular user account.

 

Thanks,

Ford Man

[LIGHTNING UK!]

Bring up a command prompt window (running as admin user) and try typing in:

 

net localgroup "Performance Monitor Users" "%USERNAME%" /add

 

It basically does the same thing only involves using the keyboard rather than the mouse

[fordman]

Bring up a command prompt window (running as admin user) and try typing in:

 

net localgroup "Performance Monitor Users" "%USERNAME%" /add

 

It basically does the same thing only involves using the keyboard rather than the mouse

 

GREAT - I cannot wait to try this out when I get home! Thanks!

 

I was wondering if there was a registry hack or something similar (like I used to give myself access to SPTI on my work XP machine where I have only a user account) that would do this.

 

I suppose Microsoft eliminates the easy visual tool from Vista Basic to push the user toward Premium or Ultimate. No suprise there.

 

The only remaining issue that I may have if this does indeed work is with DVDInfo Pro itself. I've found that if I launch DVDInfo Pro separately under a regular user account (Vista or XP), it crashes on exit. Running Imgburn as an admin apparently passes on admin rights to DVDInfo Pro when it launches it, because the DVDInfo Pro crash never happened when running ImgBurn as an admin. I suppose I may now get my full graphs as a regular user, but will start getting the crashes when I close the DVDInfo Pro windows. I'm guessing that DVDInfo Pro is attempting to write to an area of the registry no writeable by regular accounts, e.g. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE entries, and crashes when it is unsuccessful. There is apparently some preference for admin accounts by DVDInfo Pro. I've found that it CAN be installed in a non-protected directory like many programs (ImgBurn included) on a non-admin account, but the installation routine warns about not having access to SPTI (on my non-admin XP machine), and that the communications interface needs to be switched to ASPI. DVDInfo Pro's installation doesn't allow for the possibility that the user may have done the "allocate CDROMs" registry hack to gain access to SPTI, and I found that even though it is installed for my old SCSI HP scanner, ASPI wouldn't work anyway. To get around the issue, I ended up copying the relevant communications registry keys from my laptop where I was able to install it as an administrator. I've been meaning to let the DVDInfo Pro author know about these issues...

 

Thanks again. I'll report back if the commandline method of adding performance monitor permissions doesn't work...

 

[UPDATE: The command line worked great - I had to use the literal username instead of the variable. As expected, DVDInfo Pro crashes when I close the summary screen (the graph screen closes first without crashing)] - I can live with this. Thanks.

 

Ford Man

Edited August 28, 2008 by fordman

[fordman]

NOTE: For all that are used to using DVDInfo Pro to display burn data directly after an ImgBurn job, the new DVDInfoPro HD version 5.100 totally breaks the ability to use it when logged in as a non-admin user.

 

The previous version I was using, 4.79, would successfully launch from ImgBurn and display the data, but had an annoying crash when trying to close the drive info screen. This new version 5.100 totally breaks the ability for ImgBurn to launch it from an ImgBurn session run under a non-admin account in addition to refusing to run as a standalone app unless the user has admin permissions.

 

A big step backward for DVDInfo Pro, in my opinion....

 

Ford Man

[LIGHTNING UK!]

Have you mentioned this to the DVDInfoPro author?

[fordman]

Have you mentioned this to the DVDInfoPro author?

 

Not yet, I just discovered it the day before I reported it here. I immediately went back to 4.79 and will stick with it since I don't have any HD drives attached to my computers, so I don't need that HD features in the newest DVDInfo Pro.

 

Also, it appears to be a purposeful change on his part based on how later versions of 4.xx made assumptions about not having access to SPTI when running under user mode. However, perhaps it would be worthwhile to mention it to the DVDInfo Pro author.

[LIGHTNING UK!]

Indeed, there's nothing stopping the program from working under a non-admin user.

 

In fact, more of it would work on Vista as a standard user (UAC turned on) because you're still allowed SPTI access.

 

Even if some things don't work (maybe the 'computer information' stuff?), it should still load up and work just fine but with reduced functionality.

[fordman]

Indeed, there's nothing stopping the program from working under a non-admin user.

 

In fact, more of it would work on Vista as a standard user (UAC turned on) because you're still allowed SPTI access.

 

Even if some things don't work (maybe the 'computer information' stuff?), it should still load up and work just fine but with reduced functionality.

 

I should have been clearer about the SPTI access - I was referring specifically to the installation check under Windows XP on my workplace computer, where I have only user access. There I had to hack the registry to switch DVDInfo Pro to use the SPTI interface (which I had access to because of the allocate cdroms reg hack) instead of ASPI, which DVDInfo Pro suggested should be available to me (if installed) under a normal user account (it was installed for my scanner but didn't work for DVDInfo Pro). For my Vista machine, where I do indeed run most of the type as a user with UAC turned on for security, I did in fact install DVDInfo Pro under my admin account, and it is accessible under my normal user account, albeit with the app crash when I close the drive info window. Under version 5.100, the author has put in a check to see if you are running as an admin, and it displays a dialog informing you that you MUST run as admin and only allows you to close the dialog. It seems purposeful on his part, but perhaps there are some new features that make it a necessity....I will inquire.

 

In the meantime, thanks again for the command line method of adding performance monitor permissions to my normal user accounts. I've found it far less bothersome to close the crashed DVDInfo Pro dialog when I'm done with my graphing than to log in every time I use ImgBurn.

 

Ford Man