ShoWorks Help Articles

Cannot start ShoWorks with non-Administrator Windows Account

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"A problem was encountered when starting ShoWorks. Please run the most recent update located at http://www.fairsoftware.com. If you have already ran the latest update, you should try restarting Windows and/or re-running the update again tot correct any issues. ShoWorks reference item: 'swOpeninterface'. Error Detail: 13 - Type mismatch."

Summary

Users with a Windows account that is not the original 'administrator', experience problems (run-time errors or failure to activate) when opening ShoWorks.

This behavior can occur if you are user that does not have administrative permissions. Administrators can run ShoWorks correctly without modifying Windows, while non-administrators must have permissions enabled.  Windows Vista users may need to right-click on the ShoWorks icon and select "Run as Administrator" to start ShoWorks.  (Note to Vista users: If this behavior occurs each time, you can set the icon to permanently run as an administrator by right-clicking on the ShoWorks icon, selecting Properties, then Compatibility, then placing a check in the box that reads "Run as Administrator".)

Cause

ShoWorks requires permission to write to the Windows system registry.  Non-administrative users (or administrative accounts that are not the original administrative account) typically do not have required permissions to read and write these registry values.  You may also need to set permissions to the location where ShoWorks is installed (such as "C:\Program Files\ShoWorks 2006\" or "C:\Program Files\ShoWorks 2009\" ) to allow the user full access.

Solution

Enable registry permissions for users

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Gladstone cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 256986Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry.

To resolve this issue:

*Note: If you are running a 64-bit version of Windows, the registry key locations below will have an extra folder "Wow6432Node" after the "Sofware" folder.  For example: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Gladstone Inc.

1. Log on to tStart the Registry Editor by click 'Start', then 'Run' then type regedit then click OK - if using Vista, click Button, then in the start search type "regedit"
2. Click the following key (navigate to the yellow folder and make sure it is selected): navigate to the yellow folder and make sure it is selected):
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Gladstone Inc.
   
3. On the Edit (or Security in Windows 2000) menu, click Permissions.
4. Add (or select) the Local Users group or Domain Users group.
5. In the Permissions box, give the appropriate user group Full Control access rights.
6. ShoWorks 2006 users need to repeat this process for the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft
   ShoWorks 2009 users need to repeat this process for the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Shared Databases\Microsoft Access
7. Close the Registry Editior
8. You may need to also set permissions on the actual folder that ShoWorks resides in.  Normally, this is not required, but if steps 1 through 8 do not resolve the problem, do this following:
1. Using Windows Explorer, navigate and right-click on the folder "C:\Program Files\ShoWorks 2009\" (or "ShoWorks 2006")
2. Choose "Sharing and Security"
3. Click the "Security" tab and verify that the user has "Full Control" of this directory.  If not, then add them with full control.