Win 10 Home: Running game that needs ADMIN privilege in a normal User account

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tzl99

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Hi,
I have a laptop with Win 10 Home, build 1903. I have two parent admin accounts and 1 regular account for my son. Normally I install a game that he wants to play, setup a short cut in his account and he can play it fine. He currently plays Asseto Corsa and Grid2 fine.

Recently I installed the old Test Drive 2 unlimited game as he wants to just drive on streets without racing anyone.

TDU2 can only run by 1st running their Update launcher program, which checks for an update and then allows the game to run. That program needs admin privileges. If he tries to run it, Windows 10 asks for an Admin PW, I enter my PW, the launcher runs fine, then launches the game. Without the password the game won't launch.

With Google I've tried 2 methods to get him to be able to run without me entering the PW each time.

1. First method required using Task Scheduler, setting it up to run the program at the highest privilege setting and entering my PW through Task Scheduler. Then I can make a special shortcut to the task, put it on the desktop and run the shortcut.

Method 1 did not work on his Laptop. I then read that that method works if you run the shortcut in a local admin account, not a regular user account. So that defeats the purpose of what I want to do.

2. The 2nd method seemed the most promising. It involved the "runas" command. Various pages showed a shortcut that looked like:

"runas /user:ComputerName\AdministratorAccountName /savecred "Full path to program's exe file" "

In My case it was:
"runas /user:Legion\LET /savecred "D:\Racing\TDU2\UpLauncher.exe" " (missing the most outside quotes of course).

When I attempt to run this on his account, it opens a CMD prompt and essentially says I'm trying to run the program under LET credentials. It asks to me to enter my PW. I do, the box goes away but nothing happens.

I even tried the same shortcut under my Local Admin account on his Laptop, again it asks for my PW the 1st time, but nothing happens. Subsequent uses of the shortcut just briefly open the CMD window, then a second later it closes with no further action.


The page where I read this had a comment further down that RUNAS doesn't work in Windows Home editions.

So I am asking, is there a way for me to setup a shortcut in my son's local user, non-admin, account that will let him start and run the UpLauncher.exe without me entering my PW each time. To clarify, this is on Windows 10 Home, Build 1903, non-admin account. Thanks!

Louie.
 
what happens if you go to the exe file's properties and set it to run as admin for all users?
 
pendragon1 said:
what happens if you go to the exe file's properties and set it to run as admin for all users?
Click to expand...

Hi Pendragon1,
I did try that but again it asks for the admin password when I try to run launcher.

Maverick, those were the instructions I have tried so far. But I was using my credentials as a local admin to try it. I did not use the built in Administrator account from Windows.

Tonight, I'll try to see if I can enable the built in Administrator for Windows 10 Home and try the same instructions.

What is odd though is I have Windows 10 Pro on my home machine. I installed TDU2 there, and just like on the Home account it asks for the admin PW to run the launcher. I then created a local user, tried running the game as a local non-admin user, following the RUNAS command there (but again with the local admin, not the Windows 10 Administrator) and the RUNAS command didn't work on the Win 10 Pro machine either?

This is weird. Maybe this is a Windows 10 problem? Or I think TDU2 used Securerom. But if it were a Secure Rom problem I don't think the game would run at all, but it does run when I type in the PW manually.

Thanks for both your advice, though. I'll see if I can enable the Windows 10 administrator account tonight and try that.

Take care,
Louie.
 
Something in the game requires administrative privileges, no getting around that. You can always try disabling UAC but, I do not think that will help.
 
Probably better to ditch the game or run it on linux instead.
 
pendragon1 said:
shut up with the linux bs. if you cant actually offer help stay out of it.
Click to expand...

Yes but, that may be only one of two options available, the other being given a full account with full admin access. It sounds to me like this is an XP era game that assumed full access to all things all the time.
 
ManofGod said:
Yes but, that may be only one of two options available, the other being given a full account with full admin access. It sounds to me like this is an XP era game that assumed full access to all things all the time.
Click to expand...

Hi,
I think I will give up. I've tried everything I could but unless I put in an admin PW when the launcher starts, I can't get the game to run no matter what type of automated shortcut I tried. Perhaps this would work on an enterprise version of Win 10, but the 2 main methods that I listed in my post did not work with Win 10 Home (latest update applied as of yesterday), or with a Win 10 Pro (also latest updates) machine. I also checked for corrupt Win 10 files, and none were found. Maybe a securerom issue (game came out 2011)? Although I thought it was stripped off later updates, not sure. Running in Win 7 compatibility mode did not help.

It may not matter though. We found another incompatibility with his laptop and the game. Once in the game it runs fine and we played it for about 1+ hour. But when we tried to access the map, the game would frequently, but not always crash with an errors that tdu2/exe has been denied access to the graphic hardware. Funny, I don't get the error on my desktop with a separate discrete graphic card (Nvidia 1080Ti). But his laptop with the 1660Ti does crash in map mode. Sometimes it does not crash but pauses with a black screen for 10-20 seconds, then goes into the map. Usually during that pause the game crashes with the message it was denied access to the graphic hardware.

That's what lead me to update his machine, install the latest WHQL drivers, run various benches. Tried a CPU stress test (IBT & CPUid stress tests only), and used MSI Afterburner to stress it. His laptop can run the stress tests for 30-60 min each (the longest I allowed) with fairly high temps but no crashes. CPU peaks 95C though, GPU peaks around 85C, in those stress tests, but not in the games.

But in TDU2, even with a fresh bootup when the laptop is cool, going into map mode will often crash it. Using MSI with the OSD, I can see that the game is not demanding. The GPU is running below max speed (usually <1500 MHz) with temps in the 60+C with just 40% power. The CPU usually is pegged at 20% but temps can exceed 80C. I think it is maximizing out one core.

Whenever the game crashes the laptop fans are blowing at full speed, though, even though the temps before the crash were under 80C. I'm buying a laptop cooler to see if that has any effect.

Weirdly, he can play Asseto Corsa, which is a far more demanding game and it runs at 144 Hz nearly continuously, for over an hour at a time with no crashes, though fans are blowing at full speed throughout. This TDU2 game is the 1st where we have had a crash, since getting the laptop last summer.

Anyways, thanks for the suggestions. He is ok with just driving around and not actually doing things that requires the maps. He really just wants an open world game to drive around in, with traffic, people and scenery. He doesn't care about racing.

Take care everyone,
Louie.

P.S. My main machine runs linux Mint. Perhaps I'll fool around with Wine and see if it runs, though if it still has Securerom I don't think it would.
 
pendragon1 said:
shut up with the linux bs. if you cant actually offer help stay out of it.
Click to expand...

It's a perfectly valid option, relax.

Personally I would say this is a game that bypasses the Windows .DLL translation layer, accessing the kernel directly for certain functions. Not the way any software should be coded and literally impossible to work around.
 
Try the community launcher, maybe the community patches and see how you get on with those.
I haven't played this game in a very long time and from your original post, and the way the game is failing to start, your issue _might_ (note the underlining) be related to securom.

Have a read of this to begin with:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/9930/discussions/0/368542844480207876/

This install guide might be useful (or not):
https://steamcommunity.com/app/9930/discussions/0/2592234299537007093/?ctp=1

This guy (boringly) walks through an unpack and installation of the community patches:


And this is a link to the Universal Launcher (double check there isn't a newer version, but I think v3.6 is the latest from what I've read).
https://turboduck.net/forums/topic/28202-knyazev-tdu2-universal-launcher-v36/


All up - it took about 5 minutes to dig up info on possible work-arounds.
Depending on how much you want to run this game on a standard user account, you could also create a VM dedicated to it using whatever virtualisation platform you like and use that as a last resort - in which case you can run whatever version of Windows you need to, to get the most from the game.
I have at least two old Windows virtual machines, which come in handy if I need to mess around with old stuff - and you can download pre-created images if you feel like it.
I had some good links floating around for VM images, but can't find them right now - but a google search for "Windows 7 virtual machine image" gives you a few options.
In terms of making a VM available to a standard user - you can use something like VMware's player application, which means the target person doesn't need to actually use VMware or know anything, as a random example (other virtualisation platforms probably have similar tools available).

Oh and I forgot to say - if the root cause of your permissions issue is Securom - which is quite possible, then you may need to use a "fixed" executable - i.e. a game crack. Personally I've used fixed executables a lot in the past, typically to remove CD-ROM and then DVD-ROM checks back in the days where they were common, and a fixed EXE might be a quick and easy method to bypass securom - which is very old technology and I read in my travels while reading about your issue that Microsoft actively patched their OS'es (at least Windows version 7) to prevent it from being used. Most of the stuff that I owned which used it was russian software - like the Flanker and Digital Combat Simulator series and there's another couple I can't think of right now. Basically securom is a pain in the ass - assuming you have it installed and working.

...so you've definitely got options, but you might need to do some messing around and/or testing of what works best.
 
Last edited:
Muz_J,
Thanks! I used the links, but unfortunately the links to software or instructions from "turboduck.net" were outdated and no longer available.

However, the link to the new Universal launcher (2017 or so) did work! As it turned out I had a previous version of Universal launcher but that program needed elevated privileges to run.

The newer universal launcher however does NOT need elevated privileges. We tried it on my son''s account, and he can just click on the universal launcher without administrative access/password and the launcher ran, and successfully launched the main game executable without a problem.

So, that fixed the main problem with him needing an admin PW to start the game.

The only issue now for him is a crash when he enters his map. However, I don't think that is a Win 10 problem and I don't know if unpacking the large files would help. I don't get any crash going to map mode on my machine with Win 10, but does on his. It may be a graphic card/driver problem since we have different cards. It MIGHT be heat and I'll have a cooling pad tomorrow but since the crash can happen on a fresh bootup with a relatively cool machine, the cooling pad might do nothing.

Finally, I did just install the game in a VM, using an old VMWare (V12 I think) with my very old Win 7 that I kept around when I moved to Win 10. The game installs and runs surprisingly. The performance is poor at anything over 800x600 resolution and low to medium details but it ran.

I don't think he needs a VM. Still, with the universal launcher from your links he can at least get in the game and drive around which is what he wanted.

Thanks,
Louie.

Quick edit: I just realized the actual Youtube video had working links to the unpacking files and the unofficial patch. I'll try them later. Thanks again!

Edit 02: The unpacker, unofficial patch and serenity patch have been downloaded and installed. This had no effect on the crash to the map on the laptop. Game runs fine on a desktop, not the laptop. Just an update in case someone else comes across this thread.
 
Last edited:
tzl99 said:
Muz_J,
Thanks! I used the links, but unfortunately the links to software or instructions from "turboduck.net" were outdated and no longer available.
However, the link to the new Universal launcher (2017 or so) did work! As it turned out I had a previous version of Universal launcher but that program needed elevated privileges to run.
The newer universal launcher however does NOT need elevated privileges. We tried it on my son''s account, and he can just click on the universal launcher without administrative access/password and the launcher ran, and successfully launched the main game executable without a problem.
So, that fixed the main problem with him needing an admin PW to start the game.
The only issue now for him is a crash when he enters his map. However, I don't think that is a Win 10 problem and I don't know if unpacking the large files would help. I don't get any crash going to map mode on my machine with Win 10, but does on his. It may be a graphic card/driver problem since we have different cards. It MIGHT be heat and I'll have a cooling pad tomorrow but since the crash can happen on a fresh bootup with a relatively cool machine, the cooling pad might do nothing.
Finally, I did just install the game in a VM, using an old VMWare (V12 I think) with my very old Win 7 that I kept around when I moved to Win 10. The game installs and runs surprisingly. The performance is poor at anything over 800x600 resolution and low to medium details but it ran.
I don't think he needs a VM. Still, with the universal launcher from your links he can at least get in the game and drive around which is what he wanted.
Thanks,
Louie.
Quick edit: I just realized the actual Youtube video had working links to the unpacking files and the unofficial patch. I'll try them later. Thanks again!
Edit 02: The unpacker, unofficial patch and serenity patch have been downloaded and installed. This had no effect on the crash to the map on the laptop. Game runs fine on a desktop, not the laptop. Just an update in case someone else comes across this thread.
Click to expand...


Cool - well you solved your main issue, which was the goal from your original post :)
The map issue is something you'll need to work through and it sounds like you've got a plan in mind. If it's a heat issue, you could use something like RivaTuner's Statistics server - for it's On Screen Display overlay and monitor the CPU and GPU temp's on the target machine.
The only reason I mentioned a Virtual Machine was as alternative approach to work around your problem, if the community launcher and patches didn't resolve the fault. By running an older version of Windows - like Windows 7, you could likely work around any old software issues that rely on direct access to the OS hardware. That's a common problem with running older software on modern versions of windows, but you've fixed the issue with the launcher, so it's not really relevant any more.
VM performance might be related to not having GPU acceleration enabled within the VM. GPU acceleration was introduced on v10 of VMware Workstation, but you would need to confirm it was enabled within the VM configuration settings. Also make sure the virtual GPU is assigned enough memory.
I recall testing Skyrim back in the day on v10 and getting pretty close to the same performance I was getting natively within Windows (playing the game in a virtual machine), so you should be able to configure the VM to get pretty close to normal performance and if your hardware is decent and the game's old (which TDU 2 is) then the difference should be minimal. But again, if you've solved the problem, forget about it and move on - unless you want to run it in a VM for some other reason.

Re: the links, yes - one link had working links and the other had outdated ones.
 
pendragon1 said:
no it wasnt. muz had the answer.
Click to expand...

The game is still crashing?

When it comes to older titles, sometimes the OS alternative actually runs such games better than Windows using Wine. In taking B00nie's comment out of context you're dragging this thread off topic with pointless arguments.

Relax and enjoy the discussion.
 
Mazzspeed said:
The game is still crashing?

When it comes to older titles, sometimes the OS alternative actually runs such games better than Windows using Wine. In taking B00nie's comment out of context you're dragging this thread off topic with pointless arguments.

Relax and enjoy the discussion.
Click to expand...
you relax and stick to the topic.
 
The Linux Zealots are out in full force ITT. Telling someone to switch their entire OS for an old game that requires Admin rights is asinine.

A lot of old games/programs "required" admin rights for no other reason than that's how they were programmed. No way around that unfortunately. Also never, EVER disable UAC.
 
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