Is there any way to *not* run True Combat as an admin user? Whenever I run the game as a regular user I get kicked from games for Insufficient OS Priveleges.

What OS priveleges does the game need? Why?

Regardless thanks for activating my login so fast and for the great game. True Combat is the only FPS I play. Iron sights is a must and the people who play are much more fun/mature than people on other FPS servers.

TCE and WET's anti cheat software, Punkbuster requires OS Privileges to play on PB enabled servers.

To be able to play as a regular user, you need to disable Punkbuster but these will limit you to non-PB servers which are usualy cheat servers and the like.

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Well I cant say that many people in TCE are mature as it is a fact that a lot of them are immature - you just have to get into the right servers - look for the big clans and go to thier servers, those people are more mature in those servers than compared to public servers.

Thanks for the info. I'll look into PB more then...


I only play on the official servers. I think usually clan servers... maybe I just getting lucky with the people I meet.

Yes, you probably did just get lucky you got on the right servers. However, most if not all clan servers are actually PB servers and you need to have PB activated to play on those. Just use the OS priviledges or change your account to an admin account, it wont hurt anyone.

Just use the OS privileges? Please clarify. Do you just mean the same thing before and after the 'or'? I currently run TC as admin.

he confused me too :S

I don;'t think there's any real way to get around without dealing with cheats

There is a way to play TCE as a non admin, though it requires an admin account to set it up:

1) Go to Control Panel => Administrative Tools => Local Security Policy. This will open up the Local Security setting window.

2) Expand the Local Policies folder and select, User Rights Assignment. This will bring up a list of security settings for the computer. You will need to add the user that will be launching the game to have the following privileges.

3) If the user is logged in while making changes, the user must be logged out and back in for the changes to take effect.

Debug Programs
Load and unload device drivers
Manage auditing and security log
Modify Firmware environment values
Profile Single Process

An example Screenshot.

This is done by double clicking on the setting and then the "Add User or Group" button. You can either type the user or group name into the field or click on "advanced" to select from a list. If you select advanced, you may need to click on the "Object Types" button and make sure all 3 boxes are checked. Then click "OK". Click on the "Find Now" button to generate a full list of all users and groups on the system.

Highlight the user you want to add the rights to and click "OK". Keep clicking "OK" untill you are back at the Local Security Settings window. Repeat this process for the rest of the list. That user will now be able to play on PB servers without getting kicked for "Inadequate O/S Privileges".

Post if you have any problems

Well in a Windows operating system, there can be multiple user accounts. There are regular accounts which can access most applications but cannot change any major computer settings. The other account type is an admin accoutn which can control all the settings of a computer.

If your desktop only has one account, by default it is an admin account. If you have multiple accounts, by default all of them are admin accounts unless someone changed other accounts to regulars.

Admin accounts have OS priviledges and are allowed to change settings within the operating system and how it runs. PB and along with several other programs like Nero, need OS previledges to work properly.

You either play TCE on an admin account - if you share a computer with your family, it must be your parent's account -

or

Use thier account, go to control panel, look for user accounts, find your account, and change the account type to admin and save yourself the trouble.

If anyone is wondering what these privileges allow a user to due you can find all the descriptions at:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/sag_seconceptsunprivs.mspx?mfr=true

I guess just setting those is better than running as admin. But those are some powerful privs. Stupid punkbuster. Tough choice between playing with cheaters or running as a user w/all these privileges. I guess if you're not surfing the web and just playing TC you're okay.

Or use Buschman's idea and meet 1/2 way Thanks all for the research!

If I amy ask, what is so bad about having these previledges on your computer? You arent hurting anyone to have access to these unless you really abuse it or use them against another user. (However if it is your computer you have all the say in how it runs and how it works)

Just set it to an admin user, its not like you really intend to use these priviledges for sometihng other than playing games.

I'd just rather not allow programs access to change drivers, windows registry and especially log files. Here's what allowing some of these privileges gives the program permissions to:

Debug Programs
Allows the user to attach a debugger to any process. This privilege provides powerful access to sensitive and critical operating system components.
Load and unload device drivers.

Manage auditing and security log
Allows a user to specify object access auditing options for individual resources such as files, Active Directory objects, and registry keys. Object access auditing is not actually performed unless you have enabled it in Audit Policy (under Security Settings, Local Policies). A user who has this privilege also can view and clear the security log from Event Viewer.

Profile Single Process
Allows a user to run Windows XP Professional performance-monitoring tools to monitor the performance of nonsystem processes.

If punkbuster can pull a screenshot from your computer, what else can they do?

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Well use a password.

It's not that I don't want someone else using the account. I don't want to be running the computer as a user with these privileges. More specifically I don't want to be using a program that requires these privs to run. You don't know how hard it is to avoid installing daemontools. Know of any good virtual CDrom programs?

Yes I sat all day reading these forums... It's a slow day at work.

Well to tell you this, I have been using the admin account for so long - its never been a problem to avoid installing something. You can just stop yourself from doing so and that these priviledges do not really do any harm unless you itnentionaly use them to do harm, but this is yuor opinion so you make the choice. (You could try switching to linux or mac if that would work for you, the chances of installing anything you dont want or the problem of needing OS priviledges doesnt exist for those two)