Windows installer requires administrator privileges

[GoogleCodeExporter]

The windows installer will not run unless the current user has
administrator privileges. For most users in corporate environments this
means they are unable to install. I would think there is probably no reason
the installer needs such access. However most installer builder software (
like innosetup ) tend to default to admin mode.

Would it be possible to upload a .zip file with the binaries ? - as there
was in previous releases ? pretty keep to try out the 1.01 release.

thanks,
Ian

Original issue reported on code.google.com by imacl...@gmail.com on 14 Oct 2008 at 4:22

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. The reason admin privileges are 
required is
that the installer adds the directory containing pandoc.exe to the system path. 
 It
does this by modifying the Registry, which requires admin privileges.

There may be another way to do this that doesn't require admin privileges - I 
haven't
used Windows much for the last seven years, so I'd have to look into this.

As for offering a .zip: I'd rather fix the installer so that it can set the path
without admin privileges, if this is possible.

Original comment by fiddloso...@gmail.com on 16 Oct 2008 at 5:19

• Changed state: Accepted

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Thanks for the response. A couple of points. Modifying the registry per-se 
doesn't
require admin access - just certain nodes - like HKLM require it. In windows 
the PATH
variable is actually composed of two registry settings:
- HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment and
- HKCU\Environment

To add an entry to the search path for non-admin, you can use the second one 
which
will be writable.
Also - see this blog post for tips on making a non-admin install with inno 
setup.
http://www.kinook.com/blog/?p=53

As for the .zip, I would argue that it's useful regardless of whether there is 
an
installer or not. Given that the target audience for this are likely to be quite
technical - since its commandline only, being able to unpack the files and put 
them
wherever is beneficial. For example you might want to package up pandoc as part 
of a
build tool chain and having to use the installer and then tracking down where it
installed to is just a bit more hassle. 

It also means that should there ever be an issue with the installer again there 
will
be a fallback.

thanks,

Ian

Original comment by imacl...@gmail.com on 17 Oct 2008 at 1:50

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Thanks for the help on this.  As of r1465, the inno setup scripts no longer 
require
admin privileges.  I expect to release an update fairly soon.  I may also 
include a
zip, as you suggest, but my download space on Google Code is limited, and I'll 
go
through it much more quickly if I upload both an installer and a zip.

Original comment by fiddloso...@gmail.com on 18 Oct 2008 at 7:04

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Original comment by fiddloso...@gmail.com on 18 Oct 2008 at 11:17

• Changed state: Fixed