My wife and I have 1 account each. When you turn on windows xp a screen comes up with my name and hers. I downloaded Avast and it’s working fine on my account but it won’t work on hers. I tried entering the registry number in her account and it tells me it’s not a valid # . What am I doing wrong and how can I set avast to moniter my whole computer and not just my account. I have 2 kids who like to get on the internet and I would like to set up an account for them but I need Avast to monitor the whole computer no matter who is on. What can i do?
Is your account and your wife an Administrator account?
Generally, if there are two accounts with administration rights, could be trouble for applications.
avast works perfectly in computers with one Administrator account and any common (non-admin) accounts.
What do you mean ‘won’t work on hers’?
When I turn her account on the Avast window comes up and says “liscense key not entererd” with an OK button to push. And when you push it, Avast does not come on.
But, which is the system Administrator account? Yours or hers? Or both?
Both. I tried changing it to hers and that didn’t work and I tried giving limited access and that didn’t work either.
Your best bet is to probably uninstall avast using the account that you installed it with and reboot. login as ‘The Administrator’ not just an account with admin privileges and install avast, reboot and enter the registration key, again from ‘The Administrator’ account.
It isn’t advisable having more than one administrator, perhaps you could make your wife’s account a power user but not full admin privileges.
I looked and I can’t find Power user.
How to login as administrator: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/admins.htm
If you are able to do as I suggested (excluding the power user bit) you may well be able to leave things as they are.
If not a google search for { how to create XP “power user” account } with the quotes returns many hits, this being one, http://www.devhood.com/tutorials/tutorial_details.aspx?tutorial_id=739.
Overview XP User Groups, http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_groups.htm.
from what i understand that only works in windows xp Pro
Not sure, which point you are queering, the power user stuff or logging on as ‘The Administrator’ ?
The built-in Administrator account is hidden from Welcome Screen when a user account with Administrator privileges exists and enabled. In Windows XP Home Edition, you can login as built-in Administrator in Safe Mode only. For XP Professional, press CTRL + ALT + DEL twice at the Welcome Screen and input your Administrator password in the classic logon window that appears.
From http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_passwords.htm this I can only assume that it is available in XP Home also.
- If you are running Windows XP Home Edition, restart the computer and then use a power user account to log on to the computer in Safe mode.This one also seems to suggest that it is available to XP Home users, [url]http://www.mcse.ms/archive71-2004-10-1189619.html[/url].
I only have XP Pro, so I can’t confirm this for certain.
Welcome to the forums, wincup6. 
Part of your problem might be resolved with this quote from Tech above …
Generally, if there are two accounts with administration rights, could be trouble for applications. avast works perfectly in computers with one Administrator account and any common (non-admin) accounts.
… and your reply here …
Both. I tried changing it to hers and that didn't work and I tried giving limited access and that didn't work either.
Well, I may be wrong but after reading both of those links from David, I see nothing that says Power User only works with XP Pro. They do say, though, that certain priviledges are given to Power Users under XP Pro.
Since you never said above, I guess we can now take it that you have XP Home? If so, why not try this with XP Home and see if it works? Use the link Tech supplied to see how to log-in as an Admin with XP Home.
I guess i’m stupid I’ve been on this all day. I use xp home and i’m very generic when it comes to all technical BS.
"Well, I may be wrong but after reading both of those links from David, I see nothing that says Power User only works with XP Pro. They do say, though, that certain priviledges are given to Power Users under XP Pro.
Since you never said above, I guess we can now take it that you have XP Home? If so, why not try this with XP Home and see if it works? Use the link Tech supplied to see how to log-in as an Admin with XP Home."
I can log as admin in safe mode but when i get there it doesn’t let do anythind to avast.
As in tech’s post:
" Posted by: Tech Posted on: Today at 04:17:57 PM
Insert Quote
Quote from: wincup6 on Today at 03:46:52 PM
I looked and I can’t find Power user.
How to login as administrator: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/admins.htm"
Tried this like it said…
"Method 2 - Manual registry edit
*
Click Start, Run and type Regedit.exe
*
Navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ Winlogon \ SpecialAccounts \ UserList
Everything is cool till you get to \SpecialAccounts\UserList… That part of the equation is not there.
Also found this in google:
"Pro features that aren’t in Home Edition
The following features are not present in Windows XP Home Edition.
* Power user Remote Desktop - All versions of Windows XP--including Home Edition--support Remote Assistance, which is an assisted support technology that allows a help desk or system administrator to remotely connect to a client desktop for troubleshooting purposes. But Only Pro supports the new Remote Desktop feature, which is a single-session version of Terminal Services with two obvious uses: Mobile professionals who need to remotely access their corporate desktop, and remote administration of clients on a network. You can access a Windows XP Remote Desktop from any OS that supports a Terminal Services client (such as Windows 98 and, interestingly XP Home). XP Home can act as the client in a Remote Desktop session; only Pro can be the server.
* Multi-processor support - Windows XP Pro supports up to two microprocessors, while Home Edition supports only one.
* Automated System Recovery (ASR) - In a somewhat controversial move, Microsoft has removed the Backup utility from the default Windows XP Home Edition, though it is available as an optional installation if you can find it on the CD-ROM (hint: it's in the /valueadd folder). The reason for this the integration of Microsoft's new Automated System Recovery (ASR) tool into Backup. In Pro, ASR will help recover a system from a catastrophic error, such as one that renders the system unbootable. ASR-enabled backups are triggerable from XP Setup, allowing you to return your system to its previous state, even if the hard drive dies and has to be replaced. Unlike consumer-oriented features such as System Restore, ASR is not automatic: It must manually be enabled from within the Backup utility in Windows XP Pro. In any event, while there is a Backup utility available for Home Edition, you cannot use ASR, even though mentions of this feature still exist in the UI. Confusing? Yes. But it's better than no Backup at all, which was the original plan.
* Dynamic Disk Support - Windows XP Professional (like its Windows 2000 equivalent) supports dynamic disks, but Home Edition does not (instead, HE supports only the standard Simple Disk type). Dynamic disks are not usable with any OS other than Windows 2000 or Windows XP Pro, and they cannot be used on portable computers. Likewise, Home Edition does not include the Logical Disk Manager.
* Fax - Home Edition has no integrated fax functionality out of the box, though it is an option you can install from the XP Home CD.
* Internet Information Services/Personal Web Server - Home Edition does not include the IIS Web server 5.1 software found in Pro.
And this also in google:
-
Advanced and power-user: The following advanced features are not included in Windows XP Home Edition:
- Remote Desktop Service
- Multiprocessor support
- Multilanguage user interface
- Start menu option to show administrative tools
- Internet Information Services (IIS)
And this:
6488 » Windows XP Home Edition errors when using ‘Control Userpasswords2’ to add a user? 28-Mar-03
When you use Start / Run / control userpasswords2 / OK to add a user in Windows XP Home Edition, you receive errors similar to:
The user could not be added because the following error has occurred, The group name could not be found: When creating a new user and make it member of the ‘Power Users’ group.
The group membership for <ComputerName\UserName> could not be updated : When updating an existing user, adding him to the ‘Power Users group’.
DO NOT use the Userpasswords2 applet to add or modify users in Windows XP Home Edition. This tool is reserved for Windows XP Professional Edition.
The Userpasswords2 applet allows access to the Power Users group which is NOT a built-in group in Windows XP Home Edition.
To add or edit a user in Windows XP Home Edition, use Control Panel / User Accounts, which does NOT show the Power Users group.
What’s the date on that info, wincup6? I ask because I have access to administrative tools from Start menu with my XP Home while in admin account. Also, is your XP Home updated to SP2? ???
As for Remote Desktop Service, the below is from a MS webpage published on October 25, 2001 at this link:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/tools/rdclientdl.mspx
And, yes, I checked … RDS is on my XP Home computer.
Note The Remote Desktop Connection software is pre-installed with Windows XP. To run it, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, click Communications, and then click Remote Desktop Connection. This software package can also be found on the Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Home Edition product CDs and can be installed on any supported Windows platform. To install from the CD, insert the disc into the target machine's CD-ROM drive, select Perform Additional Tasks, and then click Install Remote Desktop Connection.
But really, all that is not the point of your post, is it? So, let us get back to the problem you have.
To cure your problem, you need to go back to having only one administrator account. After that, we can advance forward to solve your problem.
CharleyO, Thanks for your patients. I have changed my wife’s account to make her a limited user. Lets start from the beginning… When my computer comes on there is my name and my wifes name. No Admin. I can find Admin in safe mode but unsure what to do from there. All of the other thing that have been discussed has not worked to this point. Please help if can. I really like Avast but i will be forced to drop it if i can’t get it run on all accounts that will be used. like I said I have 2 children who like to get on the net and I want Avast to help protect my computer
OK, at this point, I suppose it is best to do as David suggested in this post …
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=20073.msg168198#msg168198
That should succeed in making Avast work for all accounts.