vDos should not run elevated

[rikvl]

I just downloaded and installed vDos 2020.03.01. When I try to run one of my programs I get the Exception shown in the subject line. I am running Windows 10 and I my account is set up as Adminstrator. So how do I get over this problem?

Thanks

[Jos]

This is NOT considered a problem, but intended as a safeguard. There should be no reason to run vDos elevated.
If you didn’t explicitly start vDos as Administrator (why would you), you should first determine why your Windows 10 seemingly starts ALL programs elevated w/o notifying you.
This is a major security issue!

Jos

[rikvl]

Well I disabled the Administrator account

>>
Hold the Windows Key while pressing “R” to bring up the Windows Run dialog box.
Type “lusrmgr.msc“, then press “Enter“.
Open “Users“.
Select “Administrator“.
Uncheck or check “Account is disabled” as desired.
Select “OK“.
<<

rebooted and had exactly the same problem.

[emendelson]

Whether or not a program runs elevated has nothing to do with whether or not the user has an administrative account. The two are different things. Something in your Windows environment is causing programs to run elevated; as Jos said, this is a security risk, because it gives programs access to parts of your system that application programs normally should not have.

Possibly you have turned off User Account Control in Windows settings. If so, turn it back on again.

[rikvl]

OK, I had UAC turned off so I turned it on with the lowest level of 'ínteference' and that has solved the problem. Thank you.
As a matter of principle I never use UAC because I feel that I am savvy enough about IT to recognise when a new program installation might cause problems. You probably disagree.

[Jos]

Any Windows (end user) program should only run elevated if you explicitly told it to do so, or it requires that.
vDos, like most other common Windows programs, doesn’t need that. Suppose vDos was malware, you wouldn’t be warned by Windows it requires extended rights to implement a backdoor, or whatever.
How is this recognized by you with UAC turned off? UAC in Windows 10 surely isn’t that interference as with previous versions.
That elevated check is merely a safeguard. If you have trouble with that, contact me directly for disabling that by an entry in config.txt.
Now it just seems (as intended) to expose security issues, so the ‘fix’ remains not public (for now).

Jos

[charlessurrel]

Hello Joss
First I want to thank you for this excellent program.
I have downloaded the last version of VDOS (2020) and installed it.

When I run it,I have the same problem with the warning : "Dos should not run elevated" although I have not this warning with the previous versions (2018 et 2019).
On my computer, the UAC is at the lowest level of 'warning'
Can you help me to solve the problem and give the 'fix' (or should I keep the previous version)
Thank you for your help

[Jos]

That "vDos should not run elevated" check was added to version 2020.03.01.
The main problem/question would be: Why is vDos.exe at all started elevated?

Jos

[charlessurrel]

Hello Jos
(Sorry for having misspelt your name)
Do you think it is possible to find a solution to solve my problem ?
Thank you for your help

[Jos]

Answered by PM.

Jos

[dirk]

I too get this error on my Windows 7 machine even after raising the UAC.  I had no problem with a test on my Windows 10 machine but the older one is the one I want to run QB on since it has an RS232 port.

[Jos]

Still means vDos.exe is started with elevated rights. If you can’t get it figured out, you can add the “admin=on” option to config.txt.
You get a ($ 15?) USB-to-Serial adapter for the Windows 10 PC.

Jos

[dirk]

Well, I got it working on both machines--sort of.  After some more searching I found your old post that QuickBASIC 4.5 won't work in vDos.  The program does come up but then nothing else works, no keyboard, no mouse, even the first screen box is missing.  I guess I'll have to explore DOSbox unless I can get my old windows95 machine working again which I can boot into DOS.

[dirk]

Well, I used DOSBox and it runs QuickBASIC 4.5 perfectly and implements my RS232 COM to my hardware control as well.  All is good!

[adim]

Hi Jos,

Same error here.

Windows 7 64 Pro, 16GB RAM, 250GB SSD.

Added
admin=onin config.txt

UAC settings doesn't matter.

autoexec.txt was not changed.

It starts when directly clicked,

but not from short-cut/link.

As a workaround, I copied autoexec.txt, config.txt and vDos.exe

into the root of the old DOS program and it seems to work

However, I got another problem when started old keyboard program -

the program started (and stayed resident as supposed),

but didn't work as expected.

(tested with two different programs)

Such programs generally deal with in-memory font replacement/switching

and altering character map when switching languages

(as far as I remember - by hooking/replacing some interrupts).

I'm wondering if this program behavior is possible at all in vDos?

Any idea will be highly appreciated.

And thank you for all the efforts!