Will Windows 7 run Photoshop CS2?

Question

Will a new laptop running Windows 7 be able to run Photoshop CS2?
Mary Lou

Answer 1

In a nutshell, with User Account Control enabled, Windows Vista and newer try to run your programs as though you're a non-privileged user, even if your account is a privileged Administrator of the computer (most people set themselves up as Administrator).  UAC also redirects accesses to certain parts of the file system to other places, and this is what can interfere with the operation of Photoshop.
The idea is that if you inadvertently run malware, it has less chance to wreck your system if you're running it in a non-privileged manner.
If you're confident your good computing practices and anti-malware software are protecting you from malware infections, then you can disable UAC and Windows will run pretty much as it did back in the day (of XP).  With UAC disabled (set to the lowest setting), if you're a privileged user all the software you run will have full privileges, and no file accesses will be redirected.
It may be that you can temporarily disable UAC while installing Photoshop CS2, then reset it back to default levels.  I haven't tried that but it has a chance of working.
To disable UAC, do this:
1.  Click Start, then type UAC into the search box (don't hit Enter).
2.  When Change User Account Control Settings comes up, click it.
3.  Drag the slider to the bottom ("Never notify").
Some light reading:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Account_Control
It's worth taking the time to understand what UAC does, then you'll fully understand the risks you're taking (or not taking) by changing the settings.
-Noel