How to use SlimmGBPVR with Vista's User Account Control

[Josef_K]

In order to use certain features correctly, for example restarting the recording service, you will need to have SlimmGBPVR running as Administrator. You can right-click the SlimmGBPVR icon in your Startup menu and change it to always Run as Administrator. However, this brings about another problem. If you have User Account Control switched on, you will see a confirmation box pop up each time you boot into Windows. To avoid this box each and every time you boot into Windows, follow these steps:

Firstly, you need to create a scheduled task. In your Start Menu, type 'task scheduler', as below. This brings up the Task Scheduler in the result list. Click it and accept the confirmation to run it:



Then you need to create a task:



Name the task (it can be anything you like but you might as well make it easily recognisable) then click Next:



Now you will need to define the task trigger. This states when the task should run. Since we want SlimmGBPVR to run when Windows first boots up, we will select the relevant radio button here then click Next:



Because there is a limit of four image attachments per post, the rest continues after this...

[Josef_K]

Now we need to set an action the task will perform when we log on. This will be to start SlimGBPVR:



The executable (SlimmGBPVR.exe) needs to be listed next in order to run. Along with this, the arguments (/priority belownormal, as they are in SlimmGBPVR's normal shortcut) need to be entered:



There are some more properties we need to set, so check the box and click Finish:



Check the box 'Run with highest privileges' and then switch to the Settings tab:

[Josef_K]

If Windows for some reason doesn't start SlimmGBPVR, we need to check the box here to make sure it's tried again, then click OK:



The task has been created but there is still one more thing to do. There are two methods, both of which are listed here:

Method one, use MSConfig.

Type 'msconfig' into your search bar in the Start Menu and click on 'msconfig.exe' in the results:



In MSConfig, switch to the Startup tab and find SlimmGBPVR. Uncheck the box to the left of it to disable it:



The advantage of using MSConfig is that you can always re-enable it in the future should you decide you want things back the way they were. The second method is much simpler but you will need to recreate the shortcut again if you decide to revert:

Method two, delete the shortcut.

Find the shortcut in your Start Menu. It will be in All Programs->Startup. Right-click the shortcut and select Delete:



Now each time you login after you start Windows, Task Scheduler will run SlimmGBPVR. It will run with Administrator permissions, allowing you to do things like restart the recording service which would otherwise not be possible. In fact, in my testing, there has been no indication of a failed restart. Using these steps removes any doubt.

[Josef_K]

There may be an extra step for those who run Vista as a Limited User. During the step where you select 'Run with highest privileges' you will need to input the Administrator password. Since I run as Admin I don't have a screenshot of that as an example. It should be a simple case of typing in the password and OK'ing it.

[Mister Slimm]

With many thanks. Nicely written and beautifully presented.

With regard to the startup shortcut you can also remove and recreate it from within Slimm GB-PVR by going to the Tools/Tray Configuration menu and checking / unchecking the relevant Startup options. You can also remove and recreate startup links for GB-PVR and GB-PVR Tray. All of these remove or create the links in your Startup menu only.

[Josef_K]

I appreciate the words.

I wrote this, obviously, as a guide. Therefore I will have missed some things that may or may not also apply to my setup and it's impossible to account for every individual system. Once SlimmGBPVR is up and running with Admin rights there's no need to revert but it's nice to be reminded there is another way to get the icon back. I'm afraid I come from the good old days of doing everything manually so it kind of stuck.