Problem getting transaction module

[Ivan]

Hi Mark,

When I try to get the latest transaction module I get the error message: "Could not create C:\Program File (x86)\Fund Manager\tranretr.tmp for writing." I figured it might be a permissions issue and so tried running FM as administrator. Interestingly when I do that it comes up as an unregistered version. I am running Windows 8.1 and FM 2016. I have two questions:
1) Should I run FM as administrator (or run it from the administrator account) and register it there?
2) How do I get the transaction module.

Thanks,
Ivan

[Mark]

Hi Ivan,

You should not run Fund Manager as an administrator. When you do the update, you should get a prompt, requesting an elevation in your permission level, so the update can write to the Program Files area. After you do "Help / FM on the Web / Check for Updates... / OK", do you see a prompt to update? On the "Yes" button, there should be a shield icon, showing you're going to be prompted to elevate to a user with admin rights. You need to run that part as an admin if/when prompted.

[Ivan]

Mark,

No prompt to run in administrator mode comes up. I do get the shield on the OK button, but there is no succeeding prompt to run in administrator mode. Below are the prompts I get in sequence.

Fund Manager1.png (5.49 KiB) Viewed 4864 times

When I click "Yes" on the above it goes directly to the "Could not create..." error message below.

Fund Manager2.png (5.18 KiB) Viewed 4864 times

Fund Manager3.png (4.37 KiB) Viewed 4864 times

Thanks,
Ivan

[Mark]

Hi Ivan,

Is the user that you're running Fund Manager with an Admin or a Standard user?

[Ivan]

Hi Mark,

Standard.

[Mark]

Hi Ivan,

This is the problem. The user you run Fund Manager with has to be capable of elevating to an Admin, so it can write files into the Program Files area. Try running FM with the same user that you used to install it, and do the update as that user.

[Ivan]

Hi Mark,

This is the user account I used to install it, and I do off and on run things in administrator mode from this account. When I installed the 2016 version of FM a few days ago I did it from this account and I remember the install routine asking me for permission to run it in administrator mode.

Ivan

[Mark]

Hi Ivan,

I thought you said the user is a Standard user? Maybe you meant it is an Administrator, but you run Fund Manager as that user without elevating to an Admin? If you look at your user in the Control panel in Windows, does it say you are an Admin or Standard user? A Standard user cannot write into the Program Files area by default, so you wouldn't be able to install anything as a Standard user to the Program Files area.

[Ivan]

Hi Mark,

It is a standard account. I can run some things as an administrator by right clicking and selecting "Run as Administrator." I installed FM as a standard user by double clicking on the install program, but it subsequently asked me for my administrator password to complete the install.

Ivan

[Mark]

Hi Ivan,

Try starting FM as an admin, doing the update, and then exiting. Run it again regularly as your Standard user. That should allow you to complete the update.

[Ivan]

Hi Mark,

That worked fine. I guess I have no problem with running FM as administrator when module updates are needed since I'm sure I can trust you that there is nothing malicious in the program. But I am interested in whether you have any thought as to why I am not able to do this in the normal way.

Thanks,
Ivan

[Mark]

Hi Ivan,

Yes, I can explain what is going on. First, in order to write a file into the Program Files directory you need to have Admin permissions. When Fund Manager attempts to do the update, and you see that little shield icon on the "Yes" button, it launches a separate program to do the update. That program requests "highest available" permissions for the current user. If that user is only a Standard user, that is the highest available for that user. You won't be prompted to switch to a different user that has Admin permissions. If the user is an Admin, but running FM with Standard permissions (this is the most common configuration), the permissions will be elevated to Admin level (after a prompt), and the update can succeed.

We could make that program request "requires admin", in which case your Standard user would be prompted to log in as a different user with Admin permissions. However, this means a Standard user who chose to install it to a directory other than Program Files couldn't do the update if they weren't able to log in as an admin. We chose the "highest available" requirement for this program to give the most flexibility, but it does mean that someone in your situation would have the update fail when running as that Standard user.

By starting FM as an admin user to start with, you are then able to elevate to admin permissions to do the update, and you don't get an error.

After writing all of this, I think we should probably change this requirement to "requires admin"... This is the same requirement in order to install the program, so we're not really giving any more flexibility by keeping this update program at "highest available". We'll plan to make this change for the next release.

[Ivan]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the detailed reply. I'm glad to hear my system is operating correctly. I've always understood that it is not wise to routinely run Windows from an admin account since any malware or viruses would then have greater access to the system. Thanks for the upcoming change. I'd be surprised if there weren't many other people who run FM from a standard account.

Ivan