Better answers for Windows support questions?

[Gordon Fecyk]

Looking at the sticky threads here regarding Windows support, the advice is now considerably out of date with KSP 1.2.2 running on Unity 5. Especially:

• Data Execution Prevention does not break KSP. If it did before, it doesn't now. Turning this off is a bad idea.
• User Account Control does not break KSP. The installation folder just needs Modify permissions granted to BUILTIN\Users. icacls "%programfiles%\[ksp-folder]" /grant Users:(OI)(CI)M  does the job if needed. Steam users don't need to do anything.
• The Program Files folder does not break KSP. Just needs permissions adjusted as above.
• Windows 10 does not break KSP. (OK, no one from Squad says that but I keep hearing it from others.)

My problem is bad computing advice is being suggested just to make KSP and some of its more esoteric add-ons work, which is unnecessary and just exposes players to computing abuses. And this bad advice is still stickied in this support forum despite it being false.

Claw hasn't been active since early 2016 or I'd have sent him a personal message about this. Is there someone else who can verify what I'm saying and edit the Known Issues and Self Help thread accordingly?

[TriggerAu]

Thanks for the heads up Gordon. Just been reading this and double-checking the how to doc for the above as well with @technicalfool and we do need to update the DEP part of that for sure.

In response to your notes there:

• DEP - the options there are two in the how to's copy the contents to a non-system folder or disable DEP for KSP - we'll edit that out
• UAC - We dont advise turning that off (as far as I can find) or advise changing the perms our advice is a copy in a non-system folder
• Program Files - as above
• Windows 10 - is all good - we both develop and text on that as one of our OS'es

The DEP one is edited out now and if we find others then happy to help fix em up for sure. Thanks for the questions

[Gordon Fecyk]

Thanks @TriggerAu.

I do this sort of thing for a living, so I'd be glad to help. That icacls.exe command will work on any incarnation of Windows since Vista, so you might even want to include that in an installer script.

What prompted this question was a line I read in Principia's Wiki, suggesting that players give Everyone / Full Control to the KSP folder. Unlike BUILTIN\Users, "Everyone" is everyone, including guests and anonymous network clients, and "Full Control" isn't needed unless an application is manipulating permissions. Thinking it wasn't specific to Principia, I figured I'd check back here.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Gordon Fecyk
Added explanation