1. Topics
  2. Can't run NVDA with admin rights on a MS Surface

Can't run NVDA with admin rights on a MS Surface

james.luxton@...
 

I can't run NVDA software on a Microsoft Surface if the user does not have Admin permissions.  I have tried giving the user admin access to the C:\Program Files (x86)\NVDA folder.  Any advice is very much appreciated.
Quentin Christensen
 

Hi James,

You can't run NVDA, or can't install NVDA?  You do need admin access to install any software, but once it is installed you should be able to run it on a user account without admin priveledges

If you can't get admin access to install software, you can setup a portable copy of NVDA.  This works in much the same way as an installed version, with a couple of limitations.  For all the limitations, see https://www.nvaccess.org/files/nvda/documentation/userGuide.html#PortableAndTemporaryCopyRestrictions

When you run the NVDA setup file that you can download from https://www.nvaccess.org/download it presents a window with the license agreement.  Check the checkbox to agree to that, then there are three options - install NVDA, create portable copy, or continue running.

You can create a portable copy in a folder on your computer, or a memory stick.

Regards

Quentin.

On Thu, Aug 29, 2019 at 7:59 AM <james.luxton@...> wrote:
I can't run NVDA software on a Microsoft Surface if the user does not have Admin permissions.  I have tried giving the user admin access to the C:\Program Files (x86)\NVDA folder.  Any advice is very much appreciated.



--
Quentin Christensen
Training and Support Manager
Brian Vogel
 

On Wed, Aug 28, 2019 at 08:01 PM, Quentin Christensen wrote:
You do need admin access to install any software, but once it is installed you should be able to run it on a user account without admin priveledges
Quentin, although your point is true in the vast majority of cases, it does matter what the program itself is actually trying to do.  There are programs where its very actions require admin permissions, and if it's installed and a user with a standard account tries to start it, it will be blocked.

I doubt that NVDA requires admin privileges to do what it does, but I don't know exactly what it seeks to do under the hood (you'd know that far better than I would).

Since I use nothing but accounts with admin privileges on this machine I can't check here.  But if I think of it I'll log in to my test account that is a standard account on my other machine when I get the chance and see if NVDA refuses to start, or suddenly closes, if that account tries to start it.
 
--

Brian - Windows 10 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 1903, Build 18362  

The color of truth is grey.

           ~ André Gide

 

 
Luke Davis
 

Brian

Because it is generally better from a computer security prospective, I use a non-administrative (I.E. standard) account as my usual every day account. NVDA has no trouble starting or running on these accounts, any version, any type (portable, temporary, installed).

There are problems elevating to run certain installers (the Nullsoft installer, for example, if you elevate it to run, several aspects don't work right, though you can still get the job done usually if you just accept all the defaults). You also can't use an administrative command prompt. Other than that, everything works fine, and most things where you have to enter an admin password to elevate also work fine, except as noted.

Luke

On Wed, 28 Aug 2019, Brian Vogel wrote:

would).Since I use nothing but accounts with admin privileges on this machine I can't check here.  But if I think of it I'll log in to my test account that
is a standard account on my other machine when I get the chance and see if NVDA refuses to start, or suddenly closes, if that account tries to start it. --
--
Luke Davis
Moderator: NVDA Help mailing list (NVDAHelp+subscribe@groups.io)
Author: Debug Helper NVDA add-on (https://github.com/XLTechie/debugHelper)
Brian Vogel
 

Luke,

           Thanks.  Can't argue with experience, that's for sure!

            I never use a standard account for myself.   For those (and I'm not saying you're one of them - people make choices for their own reasons) who are inclined to get infected repeatedly even after having been taught about safe practices for interacting with cyberspace I always recommend using a standard account.   I haven't had an infection in at least 25 years and so often need to install, uninstall, or otherwise tweak my system in a way that requires admin rights that I don't want to constantly have to either switch users or provide passwords to elevate stuff.

More data is going to be needed to get to a root cause and solution on this specific issue.
--

Brian - Windows 10 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 1903, Build 18362  

The color of truth is grey.

           ~ André Gide

 

 
james.luxton@...
 

Hi Quentin,

I installed the software with an admin account and can run the software without issues on the admin account.  When I log in as a standard user, NVDA will not run and this is only an issue on Microsoft Surface laptops(All our Lenovo units run fine).  Currently I am running NVDA in Portable mode to get my users up and running but I was hoping to resolve the standard install.

Thank you,
James
Quentin Christensen
 

Hi James,

Interesting, I hadn't encountered this before, although I personally don't have a Surface laptop - which model do you have?  And which build of Windows are they running?

As you've found with your Lenovo's, the general advice I gave should usually work, but evidently there is something different happening with the Surface.  Can you get me a copy of the nvda.log and maybe the nvda-old.log files from the %temp% folder on one of the surface machines (ideally from when it was installed, and from when it wouldn't start, rather than the portable copy).

Regards

Quentin.

On Tue, Sep 3, 2019 at 10:12 PM <james.luxton@...> wrote:
Hi Quentin,

I installed the software with an admin account and can run the software without issues on the admin account.  When I log in as a standard user, NVDA will not run and this is only an issue on Microsoft Surface laptops(All our Lenovo units run fine).  Currently I am running NVDA in Portable mode to get my users up and running but I was hoping to resolve the standard install.

Thank you,
James



--
Quentin Christensen
Training and Support Manager
james.luxton@...
 

Hi Quentin,

 

I am using a Microsoft Surface Pro 1796 with Windows 10 1809.  I will work on getting the log files.

 

Thanks,

James

 

From: nvda@nvda.groups.io <nvda@nvda.groups.io> On Behalf Of Quentin Christensen
Sent: Tuesday, September 3, 2019 7:11 PM
To: nvda@nvda.groups.io
Subject: Re: [nvda] Can't run NVDA with admin rights on a MS Surface

 

Hi James,

 

Interesting, I hadn't encountered this before, although I personally don't have a Surface laptop - which model do you have?  And which build of Windows are they running?

 

As you've found with your Lenovo's, the general advice I gave should usually work, but evidently there is something different happening with the Surface.  Can you get me a copy of the nvda.log and maybe the nvda-old.log files from the %temp% folder on one of the surface machines (ideally from when it was installed, and from when it wouldn't start, rather than the portable copy).

 

Regards


Quentin.

 

On Tue, Sep 3, 2019 at 10:12 PM <james.luxton@...> wrote:

Hi Quentin,

I installed the software with an admin account and can run the software without issues on the admin account.  When I log in as a standard user, NVDA will not run and this is only an issue on Microsoft Surface laptops(All our Lenovo units run fine).  Currently I am running NVDA in Portable mode to get my users up and running but I was hoping to resolve the standard install.

Thank you,
James


 

--

Quentin Christensen
Training and Support Manager

 

-----------------------------------------
This e-mail message (including attachments, if any) is intended for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender and erase this e-mail message immediately.
Kevin Cussick
 

I have a surface go and had a surface pro4 I think it was or maybe 3 anyway have not seen this suspect something is going on with an AV product. do you use anything other than Defender? hope you get it working.

On 04/09/2019 00:11, Quentin Christensen wrote:
Hi James,
Interesting, I hadn't encountered this before, although I personally don't
have a Surface laptop - which model do you have? And which build of
Windows are they running?
As you've found with your Lenovo's, the general advice I gave should
usually work, but evidently there is something different happening with the
Surface. Can you get me a copy of the nvda.log and maybe the nvda-old.log
files from the %temp% folder on one of the surface machines (ideally from
when it was installed, and from when it wouldn't start, rather than the
portable copy).
Regards
Quentin.
On Tue, Sep 3, 2019 at 10:12 PM <james.luxton@...> wrote:

Hi Quentin,

I installed the software with an admin account and can run the software
without issues on the admin account. When I log in as a standard user,
NVDA will not run and this is only an issue on Microsoft Surface
laptops(All our Lenovo units run fine). Currently I am running NVDA in
Portable mode to get my users up and running but I was hoping to resolve
the standard install.

Thank you,
James
James Luxton <james.luxton@...>
 

Thank you all for your assistance and I have resolved the issue. I found the Microsoft Driver/Firmware package causes the issue with the security permissions. NVDA runs fine prior to installing the Driver package.


Thanks,
James Luxton, Support Technician
IT Service Desk, Information Technology
City of Guelph
519-822-1260 x3479
james.luxton@...

guelph.ca
Facebook.com/cityofguelph
@cityofguelph

-----Original Message-----
From: nvda@nvda.groups.io <nvda@nvda.groups.io> On Behalf Of Kevin Cussick via Groups.Io
Sent: Wednesday, September 4, 2019 4:01 PM
To: nvda@nvda.groups.io
Subject: Re: [nvda] Can't run NVDA with admin rights on a MS Surface

I have a surface go and had a surface pro4 I think it was or maybe 3 anyway have not seen this suspect something is going on with an AV
product. do you use anything other than Defender? hope you get it
working.

On 04/09/2019 00:11, Quentin Christensen wrote:
Hi James,

Interesting, I hadn't encountered this before, although I personally
don't have a Surface laptop - which model do you have? And which
build of Windows are they running?

As you've found with your Lenovo's, the general advice I gave should
usually work, but evidently there is something different happening
with the Surface. Can you get me a copy of the nvda.log and maybe the
nvda-old.log files from the %temp% folder on one of the surface
machines (ideally from when it was installed, and from when it
wouldn't start, rather than the portable copy).

Regards

Quentin.

On Tue, Sep 3, 2019 at 10:12 PM <james.luxton@...> wrote:

Hi Quentin,

I installed the software with an admin account and can run the
software without issues on the admin account. When I log in as a
standard user, NVDA will not run and this is only an issue on
Microsoft Surface laptops(All our Lenovo units run fine). Currently
I am running NVDA in Portable mode to get my users up and running but
I was hoping to resolve the standard install.

Thank you,
James





-----------------------------------------
This e-mail message (including attachments, if any) is intended for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender and erase this e-mail message immediately.
John Isige
 

Is that something that's essential for the Surface? I might be getting one soon. Could you expand on the fix a bit? Do you just install NVDA before the driver, or roll the driver back or what?

On 9/5/2019 14:58, James Luxton wrote:
Thank you all for your assistance and I have resolved the issue. I found the Microsoft Driver/Firmware package causes the issue with the security permissions. NVDA runs fine prior to installing the Driver package.


Thanks,
James Luxton, Support Technician
IT Service Desk, Information Technology
City of Guelph
519-822-1260 x3479
james.luxton@...

guelph.ca
Facebook.com/cityofguelph
@cityofguelph

-----Original Message-----
From: nvda@nvda.groups.io <nvda@nvda.groups.io> On Behalf Of Kevin Cussick via Groups.Io
Sent: Wednesday, September 4, 2019 4:01 PM
To: nvda@nvda.groups.io
Subject: Re: [nvda] Can't run NVDA with admin rights on a MS Surface

I have a surface go and had a surface pro4 I think it was or maybe 3 anyway have not seen this suspect something is going on with an AV
product. do you use anything other than Defender? hope you get it
working.

On 04/09/2019 00:11, Quentin Christensen wrote:
Hi James,

Interesting, I hadn't encountered this before, although I personally
don't have a Surface laptop - which model do you have? And which
build of Windows are they running?

As you've found with your Lenovo's, the general advice I gave should
usually work, but evidently there is something different happening
with the Surface. Can you get me a copy of the nvda.log and maybe the
nvda-old.log files from the %temp% folder on one of the surface
machines (ideally from when it was installed, and from when it
wouldn't start, rather than the portable copy).

Regards

Quentin.

On Tue, Sep 3, 2019 at 10:12 PM <james.luxton@...> wrote:

Hi Quentin,

I installed the software with an admin account and can run the
software without issues on the admin account. When I log in as a
standard user, NVDA will not run and this is only an issue on
Microsoft Surface laptops(All our Lenovo units run fine). Currently
I am running NVDA in Portable mode to get my users up and running but
I was hoping to resolve the standard install.

Thank you,
James




-----------------------------------------
This e-mail message (including attachments, if any) is intended for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender and erase this e-mail message immediately.
James Luxton <james.luxton@...>
 

Hi John,

I ran a fresh install of OS and before I ran the Microsoft Driver/Firmware package, I installed NVDA and it tested fine.  Once I installed the MS package, NVDA stopped working.  I stopped testing at that point as I know I can run NVDA in Portable mode.  If I had more time to test I would re-image and install each driver manually and test NVDA but unfortunately I had to deploy my test machine.
1 - 12 of 12