Samsung Kies - what a dog! but we're stuck with it... so let's fix it.
I may be able to help if you're receiving delightful error messages along the lines of "This device is not supported by Kies 2.0. Make sure that your device is supported and try again."
Please note the following instructions pertain to running Kies from a "Limited" user account on Windows XP Pro, however the proposed solution may be applicable to later versions of Windows. Please comment if successful.
The Story
After contacting Samsung support [see at the bottom of this post], I have learned that Kies requires Administrator rights to work [at all?]. From a security perspective it's all too easy to catch a nasty drive-by infection these days, and no one really wants to be running everyday tasks with an elevated user.
The Solution
The following method allows Kies to run as adminstrator from a Limited account, thanks to just a few lines of genius Windows scripting by Aaron Margosis thus limiting the security risk. Why not just use runas you ask ? Problems arise when trying to sync to Outlook because it will reference the Administrator profile. Also videos and photos transferred will be owned by Administrator instead of your regular Limited user...
Step 1 [from administrator account]
Install Smasung Kies just as you would any other software using an admin account. [ skip this step if already done]Step 2 [from Limited user account]
Download MakeMeAdmin.zip. For the juicy tech bits please read Aaron's blog.Step 3 [from Limited user account]
Right click the zip file and choose Extract AllEdit the file "MakeMeAdmin.cmd" in Notepad and change the program you want to launch (instead of cmd). Mine looks like this:
set _Prog_="C:\Program Files\Samsung\Kies\KiesAgent.exe"
Save the changes. Double click MakeMeAdmin.cmd to run it and you should be good to go! Happy syncing.
Please do let me know if this has made your day a brighter one.
