ScummVM "forgets" all changes

Katzwinkel · Post by **Katzwinkel** » Fri Apr 30, 2010 11:12 am

Hi, I am running ScummVM 1.1.0 on Windows XP. I've used the windows installer file.
The program basically runs, when i start it i can add a game and then run it, but when i close the program and start it again later, there are no games in the list anymore. Also any changes i make in the settings (like setting the directory) are gone again, as soon as i restart the program.
What can be the problem?

Post by **eriktorbjorn** » Fri Apr 30, 2010 3:01 pm

The only thing I can think of is if it failed to write the configuration file. I'm not sure if that would cause the problems you describe though, or if it would produce some more visible error message.

The README file has some information about where the configuration file (scummvm.ini) is in different versions of Windows. I can't confirm that the information is correct since I don't run ScummVM on Windows myself.

JCDenton · Post by **JCDenton** » Fri Apr 30, 2010 10:04 pm

I don't know if this is any help at all, but Vista (and XP to some extend) sometimes requires certain admin privileges before it will actually write to certain folders. Are you running a "user" or an "administrator" account?

Katzwinkel · Post by **Katzwinkel** » Sun May 02, 2010 3:53 pm

Hi, thanks for the fast replies. I'm running windows under a user account, to protect myself from malware. So it seems that this is the problem.
But just now i tried to start ScummVM with "run as" and it doesn't start at all.
Does this mean i definitivley have to start windows in the admin-mode in order to run this programm? Is there no way around this, because i would not be so very happy about this solution?

JCDenton · Post by **JCDenton** » Sun May 02, 2010 4:43 pm

I have just been experimenting with a test "user" account on my system and I have discovered the following.

It seems that the scummvm engine will immediately close when you "run as... administrator", _IF_ you originally installed scummvm using your user account.

You need to install scummvm using the administrator account (either run the scummvm-installer using "run as..." or actually log on as administrator and then run the scummvm-installer), then you can run scummvm under your user account with the "run as... administrator" command.

This will make scummvm run as administrator every time and will allow it to write the neccessary ini files to the correct folders because it has administrative rights.

The rest of your account will still be user, it's just scummvm that will run as administrator (for others who are reading this and are wondering about security risks)

You may need to set up a password for the administrator account for this to work or Windows will kick up an error-box telling you that you are not authorised to run the program as administrator.

I hope this helps, please post back if anything is unclear.

edit: apologies for the delay in replying, had a couple of days off...

Katzwinkel · Post by **Katzwinkel** » Sun May 02, 2010 5:14 pm

Hmmm, but i DID istall it using "run as" with the installer file. It wouldn't install at all, otherwise. Do you think there is a difference between running the installer via "run as" or running it after having logged on directly as administrator?

edit: apologies for the delay in replying, had a couple of days off...

Actually it was me who took a few days to reply (had a few days off myself). I just posted my reply and you answered almost immediatly

fingolfin · Post by **fingolfin** » Sun May 02, 2010 9:11 pm

ScummVM *should* run fine as a non-admin user, and I would in general strongly advice any Windows user to do as Katzwinkel originally proposed, namely to run as non-admin and only elevate your rights when it is really necessary.

ScummVM stores its configuration data inside your user profile, resp. the app data part of your user profile, and that *should* work regardless of how you installed it... So this issue here is a bit odd. Sadly I have no bright idea on what might cause it right now, though. :/

JCDenton · Post by **JCDenton** » Mon May 03, 2010 1:16 am

I concur with fingolfin, any Windows user should run as user and not admin. I will not run as super-user (or "root") in Linux so I definitely would not run as Admin in Windows unless absolutely neccessary. Apologies if my post was mis-interpreted.

In answer to the question, running a program using "run as..." _should_ be no different than running it directly under the Admin account (dangerous though it may be...) I think there is a clue here when you say it would not install under your user account UNLESS you ran as admin.

As scummvm is written to use the application data folder inside your user profile, then there should be no need to use the Admin account, it should install and run straight under your user account.

Just a thought here but are you running any third-party software (firewalls etc.) which is stopping you from writing to the application data folder? I know that certain security software will limit access to any user folder outside of the "My Documents" folder (fsecure for instance, would not allow me to write directly to the app data folder unless I told it that it was okay, but it would allow me to write to the My Documents folder...)

Post by **eriktorbjorn** » Mon May 03, 2010 4:15 am

fingolfin wrote: ScummVM stores its configuration data inside your user profile, resp. the app data part of your user profile, and that *should* work regardless of how you installed it... So this issue here is a bit odd. Sadly I have no bright idea on what might cause it right now, though. :/

Something seems to have eaten my last message, or maybe it never got posted at all, but according to the README it will keep using scummvm.ini in the Windows folder, if there already is one there. It seems a bit far-fetched, but could that be the cause of the problem here?

JCDenton · Post by **JCDenton** » Mon May 03, 2010 9:59 am

eriktorbjorn wrote:Something seems to have eaten my last message, or maybe it never got posted at all, but according to the README it will keep using scummvm.ini in the Windows folder, if there already is one there. It seems a bit far-fetched, but could that be the cause of the problem here?

ah... on my system the scumm.ini file is definitely in the app data folder under my user profile, inside a folder labelled "scummvm" (as confirmed by fingolfin in an earlier post)

If scummvm is trying to write the ini file to the Windows folder then that will cause a problem on a limited user account. Windows will not let anything write to the Windows folder in limited user because of the enforced policy restrictions.

Also certain security software monitors the Windows folder for activity, which may also be causing difficulties.

Katzwinkel · Post by **Katzwinkel** » Wed May 05, 2010 8:39 pm

well, now i deinstalled Scummvm and reinstalled it not from my user account using "run as" but directly after having logged in as admin. And now it works perfectly with all users on my machine. Not quite sure what the problem was, maybe i just did something insanely stupid when i first tried to install and didn't notice. Usually i install new programms without logging in as amin but instead by running the installer via "run as" and using the admin password. This usually works, so i can't see that this could have been the problem here.
Anyway, problem is solved now and i am happy anyhow.

Thanks for your advice