ReadyNAS Remote requires UAC in Vista?

[mungojam]

Hi,

Am I right in thinking that the readynas remote software needs administrator permissions to run, and therefore will always bring up UAC prompt.

The admin of my computer installed it, but I am not able to run it, as it always prompts for admin credentials.

Could you set it up as a service running as admin so that it can work for non-admin users.

Mark

[vorlon69]

The only way I have found to get this to run on Vista and reliably connect to the NAS shares is by turning off UAC otherwise it just keeps asking for permission but never finds the NAS.

Control Panel > User Accounts > Turn off User Account Control

If you find another solution please let me know.

Neil.

[mungojam]

Oh right thanks, that's unfortunate, I need my computer to be locked down with UAC, and so I can't use ReadyNAS Remote until they make it run in as non-admin somehow.

[mjw]

I found a workaround to this problem (http://social.technet.microsoft.com/For ... 00ea708ecf) and I have tested it on my Windows 7 PC.

Code: Select all

1. Click Start, right click on Computer and choose “Manage”.
2. Click “Task Scheduler” on the left panel.
3. Click “Create Task” on the right panel.
4. Type "RNRStartTask" as the name for the task.
5. Check “Run with highest privileges”.
6. Change the "Configure For:" menu to reflect the operating system you are running
7. Click Actions tab.
8. Click “New…”.
9. Browse to the program in the “Program/script” box. Click OK. You should end up with something like "C:\Program Files (x86)\NETGEAR ReadyNAS\Remote\bin\ReadyNASRemote.exe" and you will need the quotes on this occasion since there are spaces in the folder name
10. Click "Conditions" tab
11. Disable "Start the task only if the computer is on AC power"
12. Click "Setting" tab
13. Disable "Stop the task if it runs longer than."
14. Click the "OK" button to create the task

Now we will change the program to be run at startup so that the task we just created is run instead of running ReadyNASRemote directly.
15. Open Regedit.
16. Find the entry of the "ReadyNAS Remote" startup item in Registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
17. Double-click on the correct key, change the path to "schtasks.exe /run /tn RNRStartTask"


Hope this is useful to someone. I also found a tool that claims to do this for any program but I didn't test it (http://www.itknowledge24.com/). Perhaps someone could try this out and report back.

Ultimately I believe that Netgear should fix ReadyNASRemote so that it does not cause any UAC problems.

[mungojam]

Thanks for that, I'll try it out next time my admin has his mitts on my pc. Does it include the system tray icon, or do you just navigate to the share directly in explorer?

I'm hoping the trick will work if I am not an administrator. The post linked to seems to be trying to bypass the UAC prompts rather than actually elevating the program, so might only work if the user is an admin.

[mjw]

Does it include the system tray icon, or do you just navigate to the share directly in explorer?

It includes the system tray icon.

I'm hoping the trick will work if I am not an administrator.

Please try it out and report back. When you create the task don't forget to set the check box "Run with highest privileges".

I have also PM'ed Cap1 to ask if they would consider wrapping RNR as a proper windows service. I believe this is the correct way to run a process in windows that requires admin rights.

[mungojam]

Cool thanks, it'll probably be a few weeks before I see 'The Administrator', but I'll let you know if it works

[ulfranky]

Hi,

I have a Pro 2 here and Windows 7 Pro as OS.

I tried the solution proposed by mjw and unfortunately it did not work.

I also tried to use runas.exe provided with Windows 7 with the same disappointing result. The same with giving all Netgear registry keys and the installation folder (Program Files\Netgear ...) full access for users.

Talking to a Netgear technician it seems that in his opinion it is a Microsoft issue and there is no way for this program to work other that with admin rights, which in a business environment is ... unfortunate. (B.T.W. I strongly disagree with that opinion)

Maybe someone with more insight into the functioning's of the remote client can describe what it does so that we might be able to figure out where to loosen the screws without opening the flood gates.

Thanks.

[mungojam]

Thanks for the info, I never got around to trying it in the end, though I do have remote access now using IPv6, but that's a bit dodgy since iptables doesn't seem to be ipv6 enabled yet on the NAS.

ideally it needs a driver service or something running as an elevated user (though preferably not admin), and then a client tool that can use/connect to it and that doesn't need admin rights. But, like you I don't really know what it does

[mjw]

I received a PM from Cap1 a few weeks back saying that netgear was hoping to fix this issue by this summer.

By the way, the workaround I posted is working fine for me but then again, my windows 7 account is in the Administrators group.

[ulfranky]

@mjw

Thanks for the info. I actually did not try to put the account in the admin group but will try this later. Not the solution, but another angle to work on.

@mungojam

I am surpised that it requires admin rights. From what I saw it installs a virtual network adapter (Leafnet). With this it should be enough to run a program as standard user accessing this virtual network adapter connecting to ... well, where does it go to? One of Netgears websites maybe? Or is the Leafnet self organizing like a Peer 2 Peer network?

More questions then answers at this time. I hope, Netgear can fix this issue soon.