Cannot "Install for anyone using this computer" on Windows 7

[dkmcf]

Using installation file fah-installer_7.5.1_x86.exe.

I am following the Custom Installation instructions at the "custom-installation-advanced-users" page (sorry, as a first-time forum user I am forbidden to post the link, but you know where I mean). According to those instructions, after indicating that I want to do a "Custom install (Advanced)", the next dialog should offer me a choice between "Install for anyone using this computer" and "Install just for me". But instead, after selecting Custom install it skips right to the next screen, "Choose Install Location", with no opportunity to install for all users. What am I missing?

FWIW, I did search the forum before posting, but could find nothing discussing this. If I have missed something then please let me know. Thanks.

[PantherX]

Welcome to the F@H Forum dkmcf,

Please note that the documentation hasn't been updated for the newer versions (they are plans to update it). The reason it was removed was due to a limitation of Microsoft's handling the GPUs. This means that the client can't use the GPU to fold if another user logged into the system who didn't install it. Thus, that feature was removed to ensure that things would work as per Microsoft's method.

[dkmcf]

Ok that explains it, thanks for the clarification. So is there any way to run F@H as a standard user? I can get an admin to install the client software, but I cannot log in as an admin myself. I just want to run FAH on one non-admin account on the machine.

Or how about I download & install an older F@H version that does not have this limitation? Thanks.

[PantherX]

The issue is that the older versions of the client do not have changes which allows proper detection of hardware and reporting that to the F@H Servers to get WU.

On your local account, you can download it, run it and when it comes for installation, you will need to provide Administrator credentials and once installed, it can run on your local account without issues. Does that work for your use case?

[dkmcf]

No. That was actually what we did the first time: From my local standard account, launched fah-installer_7.5.1_x86.exe, at the UAC prompt entered the name & password of a local admin account, and proceeded with the installation. After that, F@H did not appear anywhere in my start menu. If we logged on to the admin account used for installation then F@H appeared in the start menu there, and it would run. Back on the local standard user account, we tried going right to the F@H client under Program Files and launched the client directly, but nothing ran (double-checked Task Manager to confirm that F@H would not run).

Note that when installed this way F@H still wants to put data files in the AppData folder of the user used for installation. On a second try we manually redirected the data folder during installation, F@H just ignored us and put the data file in the admin's AppData anyway.

So the short answer is, no, this does not work at all for my use case. I think the full answer is that Windows users simply cannot run F@H from a standard user account, no way, no how, F@H will run only from an admin account. I'm just trying to see if I can get anyone in authority to give me a definitive answer on that.

Thanks.

[PantherX]

In that case, please read this thread which may have the solution to your issue: viewtopic.php?f=106&t=33531

[dkmcf]

Thank you for directing me to that thread. Wow. That is a very long & complex thread, starting with a set of complex & indefinite instructions, followed by attempts to dismiss this as a non-problem as well as maybe offering one or two other candidate solutions. You have done me the favor of convincing me that getting F@H to work in my situation is just not worth the bother. That just means that I can move on with a clear mind to other worthwhile projects clamoring for my talents & resources, so I thank you for that. Just as well, since at the moment F@H has a surplus of donors anyway, so this works out for everyone.

[Jan]

Definitive answer: I installed multiple versions of the client (including the latest) on a non-admin account into a non-admin folder. Client itself as well as config have been correctly placed where I wanted them. Everything starts and works without admi rights. So its absolutely possible, there probably would be way more ppl complaining about FAH needing admin properties if it werent the case.

[dkmcf]

Glad it worked for you, but it definitively does not work for me. You don't get more complaints because it is a very high threshold for newcomers to weigh in here and most new users like me would just give up instead of complaining here. Again, no loss, you don't need me and the cost/benefit ratio for this project is too high for my tastes.

[dkmcf]

To be clear, we have a small number of reports of F@H failing to work with non-admin accounts on Windows, and another small number of reports of F@H working with non-admin accounts. This is not definitive. Also, we have some body of successful users who never bother to report their success, and another body of users who fail to get it working and just give up without making any report. Again, this is not definitive. In sum, we have absolutely no data upon which to base any judgment of the degree of failure or success of F@H on non-admin accounts. Any such judgments are nothing but rank unfounded conjecture.

In any case, those who get F@H to work on non-admin accounts should not casually dismiss the reports of failure any more than those who fail to get it to work should casually dismiss the reports of success. A better attitude would be a proper problem-solving attitude, of which the world is sadly in short supply.