Older games can run into UAC problems if installed under Program Files. You can fix this either by going to the compatibility settings for the .exe and selecting to start in administrative mode, or by installing GoG outside of Program Files.

The same solution works with old Steam games, for the same reasons. :)

thy Narf_the_Mouse, thing is afaik Steam will always install unde that 86x program folder and for some reason I cannot give myself Administrator status, even if I set so under settings or mess with that Security option where I choose to give myself that permission etc... It seems it is enforced somehow.

I think GOG I can install in other folders like simply C:Games that I create and pronto.

Have you had experience playing / installing this sort of game
+ mods in both Steam and GOG versions`?

Steam will always install in Common underneath Steam\Steamapps - unless you tell it otherways (you may decide when you install a game). You could also install Steam itself elsewhere (makes probably only sense when you install Steam on a new PC or after reformatting your old one :-)).

You may need to select "custom install" or some option like that. And odd that you can't get into admin mode - Er, quick check: You are an admin for the computer, right? If you installed Windows on the computer, you are almost certainly an admin. If someone else installed it, you might not be...

Steam can also install games in other folders, although it's somewhat obscure - Check the settings. And, IIRC, a lot more weird than GoG's; Steam will create a steamapps\common folder in that folder, and a few other folders.

I have both GoG and Steam in C:/Stuff/G/Games/Computer/Utilities, so I can't help you there, sorry.

Edited for clarity.

The GOG version installs by default under C:\GOG Games which is not under UAC protection and should allow any logged in user complete read/write permissions inside that directory (thus mods and modding tools should just work).

BTW, you can also give yourself rights to any other directory on the machine (if you have credentials to an admin user), when I modded the disc Oblivion version (installed under C:\Program Files (x86)) I did this: right click on the game directory, go to security, edit permissions (it should ask to enter admin password), then added my regular/non-admin Windows user as having full rights to that directory and everything underneath. Then mods and modding tools worked just fine running as regular user.

However, Steam in particular has some other issues to consider when modding, it automatically updates game files to the latest version and depending on how you mod a game (not talking about Oblivion now, as I think Oblivion mods do not have this issue), some of the changes made by the mods would be reverted by Steam updater which is one of the many reasons why I don't use Steam.

i bought this laptop and asked the store to install windows for me. so i dont know if the geniuses used some other account as administrator coz this sort of stuff never occurs to me... im the owner so it seems obvious that i be the Adm, but... no way to know.

I tried creating new folders in simply C:Games whatever for Steam but unsuccesfully. It always go to the dmaned x86 program folders...

will hv to buy from GOG then. it is very tiresome to just simply wanna play sth and hv to go thru tons of hurdles.

thx all for their feedback!

Do you know someone who could have a look at your laptop, and confirm whether or not it has a user with admin rights installed? In my experience it's unusual that PC shops sell PC's which don't have a user with admin rights. And how can you install anything if your current user is unable to create a new folder? Sounds a bit odd.
If what you think is true indeed, I'd go back to the shop and request either a fix or a refund.