Running VoiceAttack as an Administrator

[gmagenheimer]

In order for it to protect users from rogue apps, Windows will block source applications from sending input to target applications if the source app is in a lower security context than the target. So, for example, if you install Application X to run as an administrator, and VoiceAttack is not set up to run as an administrator, Windows will block VoiceAttack from communcating keyboard and mouse events to Application X. This is actually a good thing. Think about it... you've given Application X the right to do pretty much anything it wants to do in Windows, and then you accidentally install a rogue app that takes over Application X. You probably don't want the rogue app to take over Application X, acting on your behalf for any reason.

The same rules apply to VoiceAttack. You'll experience things like your commands being recognized but the keys are not being registered in your game (but somehow are being registered in something like Notepad), or your mouse is moving but the clicks are just not happening.

In order to get around the maze of Windows security (well... it's really not THAT confusing, but this is generally faster) is to run VoiceAttack as an administrator. To run VoiceAttack as an administrator with the Steam installer, follow these steps (this is with Windows 10):

First, browse to the VoiceAttack executable (VoiceAttack.exe) installed with Steam. Mine is located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\VoiceAttack

Next, right-click on VoiceAttack.exe and select, 'Properties', and then go to the, 'Compatibility' tab.

Check the box labeled, 'Run this program as an administrator' and then click, 'OK'.

When you launch VoiceAttack through Steam, you're probably going to get the UAC box from now on asking you to confirm that you want to run VoiceAttack. Simply click, 'yes' and you are good to go. That's a very annoying box, but that is the rule under Windows. The solution, unfortunately, is to run your target applications in non-administrator mode which will, in turn, allow VoiceAttack to communicate without admin rights.

I hope this helps!