Using XP and I just installed something while signed into a non-Admin account.. :?

[billdotson]

So while my PC is down I am doing all my the stuff I can do (continuing to learn python, etc.) without installing anything other than Python on my dad's PC. It is odd I am in a non-admin account but when I clicked on the python.msi package it automatically installed. my dad refuses to use firefox or thunderbird and uses seamonkey because it has a browser + email client combined. Although I tried to install firefox simply because I could not stand using seamonkey's clunky Netscape style interface any longer.

So I downloaded the firefox installer and doubleclicked on it and instead of the default C:\Program Files install location (which I know I don't have access to) I choose to install to my my accounts desktop. Firefox installed to my desktop and the firefox folder with all of the data and the firefox launcher icon were on the desktop. in the Start>All Programs> there was (and still is) a mozilla firefox folder with mozilla firefox and mozilla firefox [safe mode] in it. Is this a glitch or bug in XP where it will allow you to install programs but without writing the program values to the registry and/or the C:\Windows folder? I just simply deleted the firefox fodler and icon from the desktop and looked in the add/remove programs and there is no mention of Firefox in there.. hmmm. I wonder why the shortcuts are still in the start menu though

As I have never heard of something like this I wonder could installing something this way mess an XP install up? If not (which I don't think it will/should) it seems like this program is only available to me and does not show up in the add/remove programs. I guess to remove the firefox icons I ust have to go to start>all programs in the explorer windows and delete them but this seems odd. I tried installing firefox to my USB thumb drive but it froze and I had to kill the installer. Maybe I didn't have enough space on there or something.

I had a similar thing happen when I backed up Steam and my steam games. Since the games downloaded through steam go into the steam folder I simply backed my Steam folder to my external harddrive and then when I reinstalled XP I just installed Steam and then copied the contents of my backed up Steam folder to the inside of that Steam folder, then put the game icons on the desktop and voila! when I clicked on them I could play all of my Steam games yet they were not visible in the add/remove programs folder. So it was like they weren't actually installed into the C:\Windows and the registry like they normally would. Odd..

[Tomosaur]

Windows will let you install things into your own userspace - nothing wrong with that. The registry is not absolutely important - indeed, many programs don't write anything to the registry at all.

[billdotson]

so I should be fine just installing Firefox to my desktop or anywhere I want? and it would be fine to even have my Steam games and other games installed somehwhere else so all I have to do to uninstall them is delete the folder and to back them up is to copy the folder to my external drive? Then if something happens and I have to reinstall XP or something all I have to do is copy my game install folders back over to the Windows partition and I can run them?

If so that = awesome

[jpkotta]

You can even put Firefox (or Opera, or OpenOffice.org, or ...) on a USB drive, and you can take it anywhere with you. It requires no installation on the host computer.

[billdotson]

so I can just install all my games on my external drive and simply plug it into any PC? or just copy their folders to my XP partition to play them? That is pretty cool. I will try to get Firefox on my USB drive although it is quite small (64MB)

[DoctorMO]

Back in windows 98/NT non administrators could write to the registry with impunity; a quick VBA script was all that was needed to break an entire systems security.