This article will guide you in setting up a PC with several Windows accounts, so you can use Artec Studio under each one.
General information
The license files for Artec scanners and the Artec Studio software are stored locally under the Windows user account. The full path to the folder is C:\Users\<Windows_account_name>\AppData\Roaming\Artec. Please note that folder AppData is hidden in Windows by default.
Copying Artec Studio files
- Install Artec Studio under the administrator's account or with administrator's privileges (see below).
- Delete the studio.conf file located at C:\Users\<User1>\AppData\Roaming\Artec\<Artec Studio main version>\
- Copy the C:\Users\<User1>\AppData\Roaming\Artec folder with all its remaining contents to each folder for the other user accounts (i.e., C:\Users\<UserN>\AppData\Roaming, where UserN is User2, User3 and so on). User1 in this example is the user account under which Artec Studio is installed. User2, User3 and so on are the other Windows accounts under which you want to use Artec Studio.
- Login in Windows using <User2> account.
- Open Start menu, type %APPDATA% there and press Enter. If Windows opens C:\Users\<User2>\AppData\Roaming folder, then your setup is correct and you can proceed to next step. If any other folder is shown, define APPDATA system variable and reboot your PC (see below).
- Run Artec Installation Center as administrator (or grant necessary Windows permissions to aic.exe in C:\Program Files (x86)\Artec\Artec Installation Center)
- Run Artec Studio as administrator (or grant these accounts necessary Windows permissions to Artec Studio exe-files in folder C:\Program Files\Artec).
- Login under <User3> account in Windows and repeat steps 4, 5 and 6.
APPDATA variable
Depending on the configuration of your Windows accounts, you should in some cases also set the APPDATA variable, so that Artec Studio looks in the correct folder to find all necessary files and licenses.
The value of this variable should be APPDATA=%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming.
Check the image below for more details (a hi-res version is available at the end of the article):
Note: your PC must reboot to apply any changes you make to APPDATA.
Administrator privileges & regular Windows accounts
Instruction below will guide you through installation of Artec Studio for users who will use only regular Windows accounts without administrator privileges.
As the first step, the employee responsible for software installation in your company, should use the account with administrator privileges to login in Windows. Artec Studio should be installed and activated under this account in a regular way. The further installation should be made in the following sequence:
- Run Artec Installation Center and Artec Studio as administrator, make sure that software launches correctly and Artec scanner is detected by Artec Studio
- Copy folder C:\Users\name_of_admin_account\AppData\Roaming\Artec somewhere where you can easily access it from other Windows accounts, as you'll need it later.
- Login under regular account in Windows - the one where you plan to use with scanner and Artec Studio.
- Copy files from p.4 to C:\Users\regular_account\AppData\Roaming\Artec.
- Manually create shortcut for astudio.exe from C:\Program Files\Artec\Artec Studio 12 at your desktop.
- Usually starting from this point you can run Artec Studio under non-administrator Windows account.
If extra setup is needed, right-click on shortcut created in p.5, open "Compatiblity" tab and enable "Run as administrator" option.
Additional window will appear, Windows will ask to grant permissions with administrator account credentials. Grant all necessary permissions and launch Artec Studio.
In case you experience any issues with your Artec 3D scanner or require technical assistance with your device or Artec Studio, in the first instance please contact your local Artec dealer/distributor directly. You can also contact the Artec Support Team by clicking on "Submit a request" button on the bottom right part of the screen or by emailing support@artec3d.com