"sysprs" and "lsprst" files from SPSS 14 and 15

[Richard Ristow]

This question was raised in thread "system files", 8 Jun 2006 11:55 ff,
but it doesn't seem to have been answered.

SPSS 14 and 15 seem to like to leave files sysprs7.tgz, sysprs7.dll,
lsprst7.tgz, and lsprst7.dll, in whatever directories they take as
'active'.

It doesn't seem to do any harm beyond cluttering up the directory
listing a little. (The files themselves are very small.) But I'm
curious: what are they, and why are they there?

The original poster said they only show up if you are running without
administrative privileges on the computer you are using; I haven't
checked that. (I run without administrative privileges on my own
machines, as a safeguard against certain accidents, viruses, etc.)

It's hardly a big deal. But at least one inquiring mind wants to know.

[Richard Ristow]

At 07:22 PM 4/30/2007, I wrote:

>SPSS 14 and 15 seem to like to leave files sysprs7.tgz, sysprs7.dll,
>lsprst7.tgz, and lsprst7.dll, in whatever directories they take as
>'active'.
>
>The original [post on this question] poster said they only show up if
>you are running without administrative privileges.

Many thanks to Daniel J. Robertson, who wrote off-list,

>This resolution in SPSS Knowledgebase may help...
>
>http://support.spss.com/tech/Troubleshooting/ressearchdetail.asp?ID=52297

 From that resolution,

"These files are directly related to our new SPSS/Clementine licensing
scheme. When an SPSS or Clementine data file is opened the internal
license manager will search for a valid license and set these files
accordingly. [It] will first attempt to write these files to the
\windows\system32 directory. If the user doesn't have permission to
write there, [it then] writes them to the directory where the data
files reside. [...] Our development is looking to see if this can be
handled in a more elegant way in the future."

And that's why it doesn't occur with administrative privileges, since
those convey write access to system directories.

With, again, warm thanks,
Richard