Old version of Sigma Studio please

Hi Mark,

This is indeed the proper place to post SigmaStudio questions.

SigmaStudio versions up to about 3.2 were designed primarily with XP as the intended operating system. In XP, it was possible for programs to access the Program Files directory without admin privileges. SigmaStudio accesses files located in its install directory inside the Program Files space. So, on XP, since this was possible without admin privileges, we did not require admin mode when the program was run.

For Vista, Microsoft decided that allowing a program to access Program Files while not running in admin mode posed a security threat, so they made changes that prevented programs from being able to modify files located in Program Files unless they were running in admin mode. This means that we had to change SigmaStudio to require admin mode at runtime in order to be compatible with this security update for Vista. That change propagated backwards to XP. So, from that revision (3.3?) onward, admin mode was required when running SigmaStudio.

Running admin mode on one program only allows that particular program to have access to secure areas on your system. As long as you logged into Windows as a non-admin user, then you should not be at risk from malicious code that would attempt to make changes to your system files... as long as the program running in admin mode does not contain malicious code itself. We can assure you that SigmaStudio does not contain any malicious code of this sort.

SigmaStudio does not access anything via network and SigmaStudio is not a malicious program itself. But, SigmaStudio being a .NET program could access the network if it wanted to, since that's built into .NET. So, if somebody went out with the express goal of writing a virus that exploited SigmaStudio's built-in (but unused) .NET networking capabilities, and then managed to deliver that virus onto your system, then it's possible that they could gain access to your machine or network.

If you want to use the latest version of SigmaStudio and are concerned about security issues, one option would be to simply disconnect from the network when you run SigmaStudio.

If you're still not convinced and you want to revert to an earlier version of SigmaStudio, we can set up a short-term private FTP and post an older version of SigmaStudio on there for you to access. Keep in mind that you would be limited to whatever algorithm library and chip support was available at the time of that build. Newer ICs and algorithms would not be included.

As of version 3.4 or so we stopped writing user files to the Program Files directory, so this admin mode requirement is no longer necessary. However, there is a small amount of time that would need to go into changing the software to allow us to remove the admin flag. We have this on our "to do" list and it might be ready by the next release build.

Lastly, I just wanted to mention that I'm not a software engineer, and the description I wrote above is based on the conversation I had with several software engineers today. I hope I accurately conveyed what they explained to me.

Brett:

Thanks for the quick and lengthy reply. It is greatly appreciated

I do understand the difference between logging in as admin (therefore allowing all programs full access) vs running only one program as user admin.

I never suspected Sigma Studio to be a threatening program and have no issues running it as a privileged user, (of course remembering to right click and selecting “run as” and picking a user and password is a pain)

Logging in as admin is a different matter (I do try to disconnect from the internet when I do this.)

I would like to take you up on your private FTP to get the other version you talk about (was that 3.2?) until you get the “admin flag” requirement sorted out. I am looking forward to the latest versions without that limitation.

Ultimately, my client wants me to write an ap that we would post on your site for others to download and use in their applications.

I don’t understand how all this works yet. My “big picture” view of Sigma Studio and Sigma Dsp is still a bit cloudy.

I guess you will have to send me an email with user/password info to get to the FTP?

You can contact me at the email address associated with this account (if you have access to that info) or I can send you an email if you need.

I have the feeling I will be in contact with you and your fellow engineers for the next few days till I get a better understanding how the system works.

Thanks for your help.

Mark.

Hi Mark,

I believe that you would need to be logged in as an administrator in order to actually install the program (after disconnecting from the network of course), but after that you would just need to do a "Run as" and be in privileged user mode in order to actually run the software. It might even be possible to set the properties for the executable itself to "Always run in administrator mode", if I remember my XP options correctly. That would save you the trouble of doing "Run as" each time.

I will check about getting an FTP set up for you and then I will send you a private message with the details.