So, I’ve noticed this more as I’ve gotten deeper into piracy, but why do all the various programs installed through a fitgirl repack require administrator, even if they’re installed for the user?
I may be dumb but it just always makes me a bit worried.
Edit: I do not mean the installation process, I’m talking about running the process once installed.
Some cracks do require it and some games by default require admin rights. But most games work fine without admin. Fitgirl probably just wanna make sure that you won’t run into any issues running without admin elevation.
Games often write to Program Files, system-wide redistributables, or shared folders. VC++ runtimes, DirectX, .NET, PhysX installers all require admin.
Repack scripts are usually written to “just work” everywhere, so they have the stuff mentioned above built in. Or maybe fitgirl is just lazy and asks for admin even if it is not strictly needed.
There is definitely a risk of malware etc. when pirating, so you are not dumb to be wary.
Ideally you’d install the game in a VM first and run some virus/malware check on the whole VM afterwards.
Or something like process Explorer to monitor what accesses are done by the root-process (or parent process?)
I’m not sure, but this has me wondering how this works in Proton. I’ve installed plenty of fitgirl repacks through proton which worked very well.
Looks like Wine just acts like UAC is enabled and allowed, but still runs with the same privileges: https://gitlab.winehq.org/wine/wine/-/wikis/FAQ#head-c9e6502ad636315e905d07f7e44594757a6738e3%3A~%3Atext=Should+I+run+Wine+as+root
As of Wine 9.4, Wine programs run as a limited user by default, but will automatically and silently elevate themselves if necessary (in the same situations that Windows would spawn a UAC prompt), at which point they will report administrator privileges while still running as the same Unix user.
Installing apps in Windows is a privileged process. This keeps the average user from corrupting a system.
The only users that can install apps are ones with Install Apps permission (I forget what it’s actually called). Anyone in the Admin group has this. The group Users does not.
In a business/domain environment, very few people get local admin rights. For a home user best practice would be to run as a User or at most Power User, and only do admin level stuff when logged in as an Admin.
No one does this, of course. (I certainly don’t, even though I know better. It’s just easier to not do risky things and maintain backups).
Some installers write to the protected “Program Files” or “Program Files (x86)” folders. These are special folders requiring elevated permissions. (This is why a lot of modern programs install to your user folder or AppData instead).
Unfortunately, these same permissions also allow writing to OS files. It’s good to be wary. You may be interested in a Sandbox program (I use Sandboxie). Someone else here can tell me if this is unnecessary or not useful in general.
What’s the performance hit for sandboxie?
I know it’s not ideal, but I mainly use an old airgapped/no internet pc to running older/less demanding games. Obviously there’s a risk that the system becomes corrupted and infects the usb stick I use for file transfer, but that’s the gamble I’m taking right now.
If anyone reading this thinks it’s super risky, don’t hesitate to let me know. I’m kinda assuming that most malware/harvesters/miners/viruses will want to connect to the internet, and not go the usb route. Seems like it’d be too much of a hassle, unless you want to take down a nuclear program.
I used to use steam for some stuff, but everything’s so expensive and I’m tired of all the forced updates and always on requirements, so I honestly can’t be bothered and torrent as much as possible. Only buying from GOG now, so I can at least share games with the household. Fuck 1 person licenses.
You can right click and remove the requirement to run as admin on the exe. I have done this on a few releases without any issues but it might not work for some other releases
If you’re using Windows and there’s critical stuff on your system, you should be worried about security because of Windows itself, regardless of fitgirl repacks.
I can’t answer for sure, but admin privileges could have something to do with:
- Maybe overriding DRM functionality
- Maybe overriding limitations on what system resources can be accessed/controlled without the right developer’s signature (so the game can go fullscreen, change resolution settings, etc)
- Maybe stealing your data or reporting you for piracy, especially if the authorities or AI malware or something had recently compromised the “fitgirl repacks” identity before the repack was released - can reduce risk by setting a minimum time e.g. 2 years before you’ll use a torrent, or only installing on air-gapped systems or something
