Cannot Install Disk Director Suite 10

I paid for and downloaded Disk Director Suite 10 this morning. As it was going to take 15-20 minutes, I walked away to do something else, checking on it from time to time. I happened to miss the end of the download, but I assume I would have gotten an error message if it failed. Just in case, though, the file is DiskDirectorSuite10_s_en.exe, the file version is 10.0.0.2160, and the size is 27.2 meg (information from Windows Explorer).

I am running Windows Vista Home Premium, Version 6, Build 6000.

I double-clicked the .exe file named above, and got a message from User Account Control saying "an unidentified program wants access to your computer" and it gave me the option to allow access which I chose. The program appeared to be running, but never displayed anything, and stopped after maybe a minute or two, with no error messages or any evidence of having done anything. I would have expected something, a request for "where do you want to install" or an error message of some kind.

Is the file size correct? If so, does anyone have any idea what might be wrong?


-- Guerri

 

Guerri:

The file size seems incorrect. It should be 68.6 MB (71,942,752 bytes). I would try downloading again.

When installing on Vista you may want to right-click on the installer and choose "Run as administrator" to be absolutely certain that the installer is running with privilege escalation (although, if you got a UAC prompt then that's a pretty good indication that it is).

 

Thank you for your help. My memory of the file size was about what you state in your message. I wonder if my session timed out or something.

I don't think I can download again until I hear from Acronis. Although I carefully wrote down the password I chose, apparently that is not what I actually typed and I must have typed it wrong twice! I have received one Email from them saying they'll get back to me in 48 hours, but it is oddly worded so I am not sure they understand what I'm requesting!

I will experiment tonight, but just in case I can't figure it out, do you happen to know how to go about downloading again?

I was logged in as administrator, so that should not be an issue.

-- Guerri

 

Guerri:

The way to download the file again is to log into your account on the Acronis web site, but if you don't have the right password then obviously that won't work.

That's one of the common misconceptions about Vista. Even though your account might be a member of the Administrators group, you are not logged in as an administrator when running Vista. In Vista, all accounts run as standard users. Privilege escalation to Administrator only occurs when prompted by a UAC prompt, and then only briefly. This is a big change from how it used to work on Windows XP.

Good luck with the password issue - I've done that. Maybe if you try a few combinations you'll hit on the right one.

 

Actually the way to download the file again is to be smarter than I was when I wrote my message. When I bought the product, I got an order confirmation from Digital River. I printed it out, and lo and behold there are instructions for downloading. Basically you go to http://www.findmyorder.com. There you have two options for finding the order: one is to enter your order number and password; the other is to enter your Email address and the last 5 digits of your credit card. The latter worked for me.

I tried to download that same night but got only 50meg or so. I live out in the country where there is neither cable nor DSL, so we have a dish. I suspect conditions have to be exactly right for downloading a file of that size. Then again, the past couple of days in the latter part of the evening I've had trouble getting to web sites, so it may not be just downloads. Fairly early the next morning I was able to get it all downloaded.

So how do you escalate properly to Administrator if you need to do something that requires that amount of privilege?

-- Guerri

 

Most processes that need administrative privileges will prompt you with a UAC prompt before running. However, there are a number of improperly-coded installers from older software that assume you are running on XP with an admin account. These will fail to install properly on Vista. Until the vendors fix the installer (by making it prompt for privilege escalation), the way to force the issue is to right-click on the installer file and choose "Run as administrator".

This also applies to running some commands from a command prompt in Vista. If you simply open a command window and start typing, the commands will only run with user privileges, and those that require administrative privileges will not work. So sometimes you need what's called an "Elevated Command Prompt". To obtain one, right-click on cmd.exe and choose "Run as administrator".

 

That was helpful information, so I thought I would Email the page to myself. But I got an error message saying I didn't have the right to do that. I apologize for not having written down the exact message. Should a member be able to Email a page?

Hmm, maybe I can Email a link to the page. I'll try that.

Thank you for your help!

-- Guerri

 

Guerri:

In most browsers you can choose to save a page as a text file, or as an html file, so you could try doing that also.