-= GB64 Forum =-

When I try to start the Gamebase frontend in Windows XP Pro (Dutch version) when I am logged on as a user who isn't administrator of this computer, I get the following error message:

Run-time error 3051
The Microsoft Jet-database-engine cannot open the file C:\Program Files\GameBase\GBC_v02\GBC_v02.mdb.
It is opened exclusive by another user or you need a permission to view the data.

I gave the non-administrator user Full Control rights to the GameBase folder and that changed something, but I got another error message:

Run-time error '380'
Invalid property value

I think I have to give them some more permissions, maybe in the Windows registry or in the Windows folder.
The only way to let other users start GameBase is to make them administrator, but I don't want to give all users full control to my PC.
I have tried all this on 2 XP Pro systems with the same results.
Anybody knows what to do?
Thanks

You may need to bethe administrator to install the VB6 library. Just a guess.

That is not the point. Gamebase64 is already succesful installed and works fine when I logon with my own name.
When I make another user administrator, Gamebase can be started succesfully too.
The problem comes when I remove the Administrator-privileges from the user and make him a Windows XP user with limited rights. Then I get the messages you see in the post above.
So I don't think it is an installation problem, because everyting is installed and can be started. The problem must have something to do with too few rights to write to a certain folder or to the Windows registry.
I hope that I was clear in describing what goes wrong.
Anyway thanks for your reply. Maybe someone has another suggestion?

Yes, you must have admin privledges. This is a known "bug" that has been ignored and will probably never be fixed or even addressed. I brought up this issue when the unzip folder was chosen to be C:\GBGame, since usually only the admin can delete files in that path. This problem also exists under Win2K.

YES, I FOUND OUT HOW TO DO IT!

When you want to give non-admin users access to Gamebase, you have to give them some permissions. This is what you minimal have to do:

To give other users permission to start the frontend, you have to:
- Give all permissions except Full Control to the folder where Gamebase is installed (Normally C:\Program Files\Gamebase).
- Give Full Control Permission in the Windows Registry to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\GB64

To start games in an emulator with Gamebase, you have to:
- Give all permissions except Full Control to the folder C:\GBGame
- Give all permissions except Full Control to the folder where you have copied the emulators.

When this permissions are set, all users - also non-admin users - can start and enjoy Gamebase!

Oops... forgot to log in!

I'm glad it works for you. I still have this problem at work, since I am not the administrator on some machines. Why doesn't my work want me playing C64 games instead of doing real work?

In v1.2, it gets a bit more complicated because the front-end program will automatically register the DLL files, so you need permission to modify another part of the registry (HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT). However, at that point you may as well just make the person a local admin, because they'll be able to make big changes to the software you have installed.

AFAIK these DLL files are registered once at installation time. So if you install the frontend as a local admin user, you can give the permissions specified above to the limited users on that computer. This will make it possible for them to start the frontend and use the existing databases, but will not give them the possibility to create new databases.
This is how ik works on my PC. My sons have a limited user account on my computer and can use v1.2 of the frontend with all the gamebases I have given them the right permissions for.

there is a previous post that explains how to have the front end run without having to actually 'install' the program on every machine..
(thankfully the front end looks for DLLs and if it finds them local to itself, it runs!)

Do a search for DLL's, and standalone in the forum..

Regards,
Arthur.