You set the account the ProVide service runs as in the Windows Services console, not inside ProVide itself. Open services.msc, find the ProVide service, open its Log On tab, choose This account, enter the user name and password, and restart the service. The change takes effect once the service restarts.
Why you’d change the service account #
The most common reason is to let ProVide reach network storage. By default, a Windows service runs as the Local System account, and Windows does not allow Local System to access network (UNC) paths. This is a Microsoft design rule that applies to every vendor’s service, not just ProVide. So if you want ProVide to serve files from a network share, mapped storage, or a NAS, you run the service as a domain account that has permission to those locations.
Step by step #
- Create or choose a domain (or local) user account that has access to the ProVide program folder and to any network paths you want to use as resources.
- Open the Windows Services console (
services.msc). - Locate the ProVide service and open its Properties.
- On the Log On tab, select This account and enter the account name and password. Windows normally grants that account the “Log on as a service” right automatically when you do this.
- Click OK, then restart the ProVide service so the new account takes effect.
After the restart, ProVide runs under the chosen account and can access any folders and network shares that account is permitted to use.
A note on per-user access rights #
Running the service as a specific account sets the identity for the whole server. If you instead want each connection to use the individual Windows user’s own access rights, including on UNC paths, that’s a separate capability: Active Directory integration with Windows account impersonation. See ProVide’s Active Directory documentation if that’s what you need.
