User Account Control

  • Thread starter Thread starter Drew Leyda
  • Start date Start date
D

Drew Leyda

Hello:

A lot of times when I try to run a program I get a " User Account Control"
popup asking if I really want to do this. How can a turn this box off ??

Drew
 
Agree with first half of Brink's reply, however recommend you do not
"elevate the Administrator's privilege level".

Why - let me explain - basically UAC functions as follows: 1. To perform an
action that may affect system/registry files you get an UAC prompt asking if
you want to continue. 2. If you approve and the action requires
administrative credentials (approval required in addition to first UAC
prompt)) - a second UAC prompt requesting an Administrator ID and password
appears.

Utilizing one of the methods listed in the "tutorial" does not remove the
requirement for the ID and password to perform an action requiring
administrative approval - and most disturbing - for it to function you must
operate your computer in Administrator mode and not as a Standard User.

Also - a fact that seems to be ignored in discussions about UAC - UAC
prompts have four color codes (shield and color bar) to indicate the risk
level associated with an application.
For example, if the top bar is red the user does not have the option to
allow it to run - yellow and green relate to whether or not an application
is signed, unsigned, trusted or not - green indicates the action relates
to a component of Vista.

UAC also "freezes" (grays out) the desktop while waiting for a user
ecesion - the a-one route for "infection" is via the desktop.

Why sacrifice security and safety to save a mouse click.!!
 
..
Hello:

A lot of times when I try to run a program I get a " User Account
Control" popup asking if I really want to do this. How can a turn this box
off ??

Drew
Click to expand...
************************************************************************
I read your messages and I think I need to think about just what User
Account Control is for.

Thank you

Drew
 
Start Button/Windows Help and Support/Search Box (type): uac
One of the top links will tell you how to turn it off.
 
How does this tutorial differ from the TweakUAC program that is out and
about? I used it for a while, thinking that all it did was remove the
nagging prompt without changing any of the underlying security, only to be
told by another poster that this was unwise.
 
Don't look to me any difference.
It is unwise and I think this explanation by MVP Ronnie Vernon says it best.

Quote:
This is a fallacy! If UAC cannot notify the user that a program is trying to
gain global access to the system, then it is effectively 'disabled'. This so
called 'quite mode' setting just changes a UAC registry setting to
'automatically elevate everything without prompting'. This means that when
you click to open a file, it is 'assumed' that you already know that the
file will have unrestricted access to your computer.

The main thing that UAC does is to detect when a program or application
tries to access restricted parts of the system or registry that requires
administrator privileges. When a program does this, UAC will prompt the user
for administrative elevation. Without this prompt, UAC cannot warn the user,
which means that it is effectively disabled.

Some people will tell you that using "quiet mode" will still let IE run in
protected mode, but this just isn't true. Without the UAC prompt, a
malicious file that runs from a website can run, without restrictions, and
silently.

Another issue is that with UAC prompt disabled, some legitimate procedures
will just silently fail to work properly, with no notification, if you are
logged on with a Standard User account, since the application cannot notify
you that administrative privileges are required.

Even the developer of the TweakUAC utility includes this statement about his
product.
"if you are an experienced user and have some understanding of how to manage
your Windows settings properly, you can safely use the quiet mode of UAC."
In my opinion, if you are an experienced user, the last thing you would want
to do is turn off the UAC notification.

If you 'are' an experienced user, then you would already know how to
temporarily bypass the UAC prompt to perform just about any procedure in
Vista, such as running programs from an elevated command prompt, or using an
elevated instance of windows explorer.

The last problem I have with this so-called 'quiet mode' is that it
dissuades developers from programming their applications to run in a least
user privilege environment.
End Quote


--
All the best,
SG

Is your computer system ready for Vista?
https://winqual.microsoft.com/hcl/
 
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