Notes on the installation and the operation of ELCAD/AUCOPLAN under Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.x, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2012
You are just about to install ELCAD/AUCOPLAN under Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.x, Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2012.
ELCAD/AUCOPLAN has been adapted and released to operate under the current operating systems.
Due to the peculiarities of the new operating systems, we consider it meaningful to supply you as the administrator or user with information concerning the peculiarities of the installation and operation of ELCAD/AUCOPLAN under these systems.
Characteristics
--------------------------------
User Account Control
One of the major innovations is the User Account Control. This stands for a new procedure that enables all applications to be carried outonly with the restricted privileges of the standard user. This also applies to administrators.
Administrators use their full privileges only when they are actually required. The use of administrator privileges must be explicitly confirmed each time.
This is supposed to reduce the vulnerability of the PC to pests and thus to prevent or minimize damage. However, a built-in algorithm automatically recognizes installation programs such as Setup, Install and Update by their names and automatically starts them with administrator privileges.
Virtualization
Therefore some Windows system folders are protected under Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows Server 2008. Windows standard users can thus no longer gain write access to these folders and the files contained therein.
This includes the following folders:
%PROGRAMFILES%
%PROGRAMDATA%
%WINDIR%
%SYSTEMDIR%
Any write access for files in these folders is redirected separately into a user specific folder (virtualized) so that in fact the files are stored in a different folder in a user-related manner under
%LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore\.....
Likewise some areas of the system registration (Registry) can no longer be written by programs running under the privileges of a standard user. These are in particular entries under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.
Entries written here by a program with standard user privileges are also diverted (virtualized). They are then stored in a user-related manner under
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\VirtualStore\Machine
or
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Classes\VirtualStore\Machine\Software.
Entries under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT must therefore be created during the installation as long as administrators privileges are available.
The installation under the new systems
--------------------------------------
For the installation under the new systems you need as before administrator privileges. To be sure that the installation always has the required rights, please start ELCAD-Setup by right-click and the option “Run as Administrator”.
The installation of ELCAD/AUCOPLAN takes into account the characteristics and installs the files according to the Microsoft specifications in different system folders.
Under Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 the ELCAD files therefore are no longer located in a common folder tree. This is an important innovation to be taken into account when installing ELCAD/AUCOPLAN under up-to-date Windows systems.
Programs:
%PROGRAMFILES%
C:\Program Files\aucotec\elcad\7xx
or with 64-bit systems
C:\Program Files (x86)\aucotec\elcad\7xx
Data (sample projects, symbols, translate, etc.):
Common Documents
C:\Users\Public\Documents\aucotec\elcad\7xx
User environment (aucotec.ini etc.):
%LocalAppData%
C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Local\aucotec\elcad\7xx
Another novelty is that various folders with auxiliary ELCAD files (formats, standard texts, toolbars) are (because of the write protection) no longer located under the ELCAD program folder but in the data area, parallel to the projects and symbols in a folder "Resources". For you as user this is important to be able to carry out your own changes.
If you still require to use the ELCAD MS-DOS format generator "ADT", please make sure for the installation that you start the ELCAD setup with the option NO_NEW_INSTALL and thus use the conventional ELCAD installation procedure (install everything in one directory tree).
This type of installation cannot be executed in the standard folder C:\Program Files\aucotec\elcad\7xx . Use a free definable folder, e. g. C:\ELCAD.7xx.
Rights and file views:
Please note that you will see certain folders only if you set the Windows Explorer to also display system folders.
Furthermore folders in the Explorer may not be displayed with their real names if you got a localized Windows installation.
In order for ELCAD/AUCOPLAN to be able to have write access to projects in the data folder <Common Documents>, write access is granted for the following folder during installation:
C:\Users\Public\Documents\aucotec\elcad\7xx.
In the program folder
C:\Program Filess\aucotec\elcad\7xx
you do not have any write rights when executing ELCAD/AUCOPLAN after the installation.
After the installation, log on as the user who works with ELCAD/AUCOPLAN. You will find an icon on the desktop and in the start menu. ELCAD/AUCOPLAN is started by a double click on the icon. Should there be no ELCAD environment for the user, it will first be created.
Operating ELCAD/AUCOPLAN
--------------------------------------------
After the installation of ELCAD/AUCOPLAN, all necessary access rights for folders and files are prepared for permanent, smooth operation with standard user privileges.
If you restrict the user rights in the folder C:\Users\Public\Documents\aucotec\elcad\7xx and below after the installation, or if you move the data (projects, symbols, translate files...) to a folder where the users have only restricted privileges, then your projects will be damaged by the above-mentioned virtualization, which unnoticed by ELCAD creates shadow files. Please take this point in particular when operating under Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2012!
The only application requiring administrator privileges for functioning in the ELCAD environment is the ELCADfastwire autorouter. Please note that for the autorouter to function flawlessly you must start ELCAD/AUCOPLAN already with the right mouse button option "Start as administrator" to get the automatic length calculation and the routing to function.