Dual Booty

[howeird]

So now I have the big PC set up to dual boot XP and Vista, having partitioned my non-RAID drive 40GB and 200GB respectively. While I can see all my drives in XP, Vista will only show the non-RAID drives. Installing Intel's Storage Monitor in Vista shows me the array, and everything looks normal, but I still can't see anything on the drive. "Access denied" still. So before leaving for work I set the machine to XP and started running the check/repair widget.

Meanwhile it looks like the problem may a change in Vista permissions on a single-user machine. XP by default makes the sole user an administrator. Vista does not. A web search shows maybe what I have to do is either find a way to make myself admin, or re-assign ownership of the RAID array to my Vista user name. We'll see.

One side effect of Vista installation is I found the bug which the readme mentioned - it fried my USB drive. No biggie, it's an old USB 2.0 120MB memory stick, all it had on it was the Intel Vista drivers which I re-downloaded, and my Quicken backup from the laptop, which I'll just back up again next time I update Quicken's data. MicroCenter has 2GB USB drives for less than I paid for this puppy.

Comments

[unseelie23.livejournal.com]

Technically speaking, the sole user in Vista is an Administrator, but they are not "root". In XP, if you are the administrator, you are also root.

The easiest way to deal with this is to enable the built in administrator.

1) Open Start Menu, type cmd
2) Right click on cmd, select 'run as administrator'
3) type 'net user administrator /active:yes' and press enter
4) Restart (may or may not be necessary), Administrator account should available as a log in option afterwards

Note that the administrator account does not have a password by default. If you're planning on leaving this enabled, you should set a password. And of course, by doing this you are effectively bypassing almost all of the security improvements that MS made in Vista and you're back to the less secure level of XP while running as built in administrator.

[howeird]

Thanks, that sounds more like what I'm looking for than just setting drive permissions.

IMHO, Vista's security features are wonderful in an enterprise network situation, but downright stupid for a personal PC running third party virus software behind router behind a cable modem. So far it has prevented me from seeing my own local files, installing known clean software from CD/DVD and it took 10 minutes to get connected to the Internet.

[unseelie23.livejournal.com]

Up until the point that you start downloading software from unknown third party sources, or accessing compromised web pages, I'd agree with you. It's really a matter of taking into account the risks and deciding what you're willing to accept... but in full admin mode, you potentially are allowing any software installer to do things it shouldn't.

That said, it's probably safe enough for most people.

[unseelie23.livejournal.com]

What would be preferred is that software vendors rewrite their software for the new security model so that you're both a) safe, and b) not inconvenienced. MS seems to feel that the inconvenience is worth it because it will put pressure on the third parties to improve their products. *shrug*

[howeird]

The third party we are talking about here is Intel. All the drivers are WHQL, there is no reason Vista's "security" features should be asking me if I really want to install this 'unknown' software.

[lisa-marli.livejournal.com]

MicroCenter has a coupon for a Free 2GB USB. You should get it in the mail soon. If not, let me know at harriganfam at sbcglobal dot net and I'll bring the second one they gave us to give to a friend to the next BASFA meeting (provided my stomach lets me).

[unseelie23.livejournal.com]

Sure there is, their driver installer needs process elevation and there are likely ways to accomplish what they're doing that would be cleaner. Ask yourself this, why doesn't Intel's installer set the proper ownership to begin with.

I'm not saying MS is right... strictly speaking, as an Apple employee, I think I'm supposed to mock Vista. *shrug*

But there are likely things Intel could do on their end to avoid this situation for you.

[unseelie23.livejournal.com]

Also, if the device is "unknown" it's quite possible that the drivers are only signed for XP and not for Vista but without details I'd have no way of checking.

[howeird]

I was being facetious, not literal. The drivers in question are specifically only for Vista. Intel's storage manager application was also a Vista-only version. Oddly enough, while I can't double-click on the RAID array in "Computer" and get it to open, Intel's app works in Vista with the array as if nothing was wrong.

[howeird]

Thanks, I appreciate the offer, but got a couple of smaller ones at lunchtime. It's just for backing up Quicken, so the cheapest one they had was fine.