
Application Compatibility Scripts for Windows NT Server, Terminal Server Edition 8
Inaccessible files due to file security:
Some applications store files in public directories such as %systemroot%. By
default, some public directories have read-only permission for non-administrative
users. This prevents accidental modification of common files. However, if an
application attempts to write a file into one of these shared directories, then it fails.
This type of problem frequently manifests as an application that works fine for an
administrative user, but fails for non-administrative users. To help track down this
type of problem, you can use file auditing to log writes that fail.
Resolution:
There are three ways to correct this situation. First, note that Terminal Server
automatically maps %systemroot% to the user’s home directory as mentioned
above.
Second, you can treat this issue just like the previous issue. That is, you find the
pathname that needs to be updated and you change it to reference data in the
user’s home directory.
Finally, you can add extra permission to a public directory or to individual files within
a public directory. Be very careful if you add permission to the entire directory,
because other programs may then be able to alter the behavior for the entire
system. The decision to make public directories read-only was based on the theory
that it is better for an application to fail than for the entire system to fail.
Applications accessing same cached files:
Some applications use temporary or cache directories to store information that
relates to the current user. The application may not create a separate directory for
each user. This causes the application to store temporary data for multiple users in
a single location. If the application isn’t intelligent about handling this data, one user
can delete data which is still needed by another user.
Resolution:
The best solution is to update the path as discussed in issue 1. Keep in mind that
the application may not automatically create the directory on an as-needed basis.
Therefore, your logon script should check the user’s home directory, and create the
sub-directory if it doesn’t already exist.
Icons for applications do not show up in the start menu:
During installation, some applications add their Start menu shortcuts to the menu of
the user performing the install instead of to the All Users Start menu. Then, other
users don’t have the program on their start menu.
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