Re: "What's the deal with UAC (Windows Needs Your Permission scree

[Guest Lemonheart]

I can't stand permissions - I'm a stand-alone user and do not need them - I

know how to turn them off but still get denied permission anyway and it

drives me nuts - you Vista people don't understand the difficulty of trying

to figure out "inherited"?? permissions and how to drill down or up to get

the darn permissions granted and talk about "special permissions" - there's

no way I can get in or out of that screen - even when I turn off User Account

-the stupid icon shield comes up with a scary message that puts chills up

and down my spine - come'on folks just tell me how to get rid of them - they

make me want to go to a MAC - I know someone posted a way to get rid of the

from DOS - Please help me if you have any compassion - I don't need the

reasons you Vista people extoll - I'm a DINK and want ease of use and

simplicity in my computer work -

 

Let me know

--

luckylindy

 

 

"Alan Simpson" wrote:

<span style="color:blue">

> Well said Jimmy. But just a couple minor additions. Using a computer in a

> limited account for day-to-day stuff has been a security "best practice" for

> many years, and totally ignored outside the corporate environment for just

> as many years. Basically Vista makes that practice security best practice

> automatic and as painless as possible by letting you temporarily elevate

> on-the-fly on an as-needed basis.

>

> Also, for home users, there's a tie-in to parental controls here. From a

> password-protected administrative account you can set parental controls on

> children's standard accounts and monitor their computer and Internet use.

> The kids can't get to any of that from their standard accounts (without an

> administrative password). So they can't tamper with any of that.

>

>

> "Jimmy Brush" <JimmyBrush@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:3DD0CEBA-1550-486F-9361-9A0F826897A0@microsoft.com...<span style="color:green">

> > Hello,

> >

> > I've noticed that a lot of the questions in these newsgroups are either

> > directly or indirectly related to UAC (User Account Control). In this

> > post, I will go over what UAC does, how it works, the reasoning behind it,

> > how to use your computer with UAC on, why you shouldn't turn UAC off, and

> > answer some common questions and respond to common complaints about it.

> >

> >

> > What is UAC and what does it do?

> >

> > UAC mode (also known as Admin Approval Mode) is a mode of operation that

> > (primarily) affects the way administrator accounts work.

> >

> > When UAC is turned on (which it is by default), you must explicitly give

> > permission to any program that wants to use "administrator" powers. Any

> > program that tries to use admin powers without your permission will be

> > denied access.

> >

> >

> > How does UAC work

> >

> > When UAC mode is enabled, every program that you run will be given only

> > "standard user" access to the system, even when you are logged in as an

> > administrator. There are only 2 ways that a program can be "elevated" to

> > get full admin access to the system:

> >

> > - If it automatically asks you for permission when it starts up, and you

> > click Continue

> > - If you start the program with permission by right-clicking it, then

> > clicking Run As Administrator

> >

> > A program either starts with STANDARD rights or, if you give permission,

> > ADMINISTRATOR rights, and once the program is running it cannot change

> > from one to the other.

> >

> > If a program that you have already started with admin powers starts

> > another program, that program will automatically be given admin powers

> > without needing your permission. For example, if you start Windows

> > Explorer as administrator, and then double-click on a text file, notepad

> > will open and display the contents of the text file. Since notepad was

> > opened from the admin explorer window, notepad WILL ALSO automatically run

> > WITH admin powers, and will not ask for permission.

> >

> >

> > What's the point of UAC?

> >

> > UAC is designed to put control of your computer back into your hands,

> > instead of at the mercy of the programs running on your computer.

> >

> > When logged in as an administrator in Windows XP, any program that could

> > somehow get itself started could take control of the entire computer

> > without you even knowing about it.

> >

> > With UAC turned on, you must know about and authorize a program in order

> > for it to gain admin access to the system, REGARDLESS of how the program

> > got there or how it is started.

> >

> > This is important to all levels of users - from home users to enterprise

> > administrators. Being alerted when any program tries to use admin powers

> > and being able to unilaterally disallow a program from having such power

> > is a VERY powerful ability. No longer is the security of the system

> > tantamount to "crossing one's fingers and hoping for the best" - YOU now

> > control your system.

> >

> >

> > How do I effectively use my computer with UAC turned on?

> >

> > It's easy. Just keep in mind that programs don't have admin access to your

> > computer unless you give them permission. Microsoft programs that come

> > with Windows Vista that need admin access will always ask for admin

> > permissions when you start them. However, most other programs will not.

> >

> > This will change after Windows Vista is released - all Windows Vista-era

> > programs that need admin power will always ask you for it. Until then, you

> > will need to run programs that need administrative powers that were not

> > designed for Windows Vista "as administrator".

> >

> > Command-line programs do not automatically ask for permission. Not even

> > the built-in ones. You will need to run the command prompt "as

> > administrator" in order to run administrative command-line utilities.

> >

> > Working with files and folders from Windows Explorer can be a real pain

> > when you are not working with your own files. When you are needing to work

> > with system files, files that you didn't create, or files from another

> > operating system, run Windows Explorer "as administrator". In the same

> > vein, ANY program that you run that needs access to system files or files

> > that you didn't create will need to be ran "as administrator".

> >

> > If you are going to be working with the control panel for a long time,

> > running control.exe "as administrator" will make things less painful - you

> > will only be asked for permission once, instead of every time you try to

> > change a system-wide setting.

> >

> > In short:

> >

> > - Run command prompt as admin when you need to run admin utilities

> > - Run setup programs as admin

> > - Run programs not designed for Vista as admin if (and only if) they need

> > admin access

> > - Run Windows Explorer as admin when you need access to files that aren't

> > yours or system files

> > - Run programs that need access to files that aren't yours or system files

> > as admin

> > - Run control.exe as admin when changing many settings in the control

> > panel

> >

> >

> > UAC is annoying, I want to turn it off

> >

> > Having to go through an extra step (clicking Continue) when opening

> > administrative programs is annoying. And it is also very frustrating to

> > run a program that needs admin power but doesn't automatically ask you for

> > it (you have to right-click these programs and click Run As Administrator

> > for them to run correctly).

> >

> > But, keep in mind that these small inconveniences are insignificant when

> > weighed against the benefit: NO PROGRAM can get full access to your system

> > without you being informed. The first time the permission dialog pops up

> > and it is from some program that you know nothing about or that you do not

> > want to have access to your system, you will be very glad that the Cancel

> > button was available to you.

> >

> >

> > Answers to common questions and responses to common criticism

> >

> > Q: I have anti-virus, a firewall, a spyware-detector, or something

> > similar. Why do I need UAC?

> >

> > A: Detectors can only see known threats. And of all the known threats in

> > existence, they only detect the most common of those threats. With UAC

> > turned on, you control what programs have access to your computer - you

> > can stop ALL threats. Detectors are nice, but they're not enough. How many

> > people do you know that have detectors of all kinds and yet are still

> > infested with programs that they don't want on their computer? Everyone

> > that I have ever helped falls into this category.

> >

> >

> > Q: Does UAC replace anti-virus, a firewall, a spyware-detector, or similar

> > programs?

> >

> > A: No. Microsoft recommends that you use a virus scanner and/or other

> > types of security software. These types of programs compliment UAC: They

> > will get rid of known threats for you. UAC will allow you to stop unknown

> > threats, as well as prevent any program that you do not trust from gaining

> > access to your computer.

> >

> >

> > Q: I am a system administrator - I have no use for UAC.

> >

> > A: Really? You don't NEED to know when a program on your computer runs

> > with admin powers? You are a system administrator and you really could

> > care less when a program runs that has full control of your system, and

> > possibly your entire domain? You're joking, right?

> >

> >

> > Q: UAC keeps me from accessing files and folders

> >

> > A: No, it doesn't - UAC protects you from programs that would try to

> > delete or modify system files and folders without your knowledge. If you

> > want a program to have full access to the files on your computer, you will

> > need to run it as admin. Or as an alternative, if possible, put the files

> > it needs access to in a place that all programs have access to - such as

> > your documents folder, or any folder under your user folder.

> >

> >

> > Q: UAC stops programs from working correctly

> >

> > A: If a program needs admin power and it doesn't ask you for permission

> > when it starts, you have to give it admin powers by right-clicking it and

> > clicking Run As Administrator. Programs should work like they did in XP

> > when you use Run As Administrator. If they don't, then this is a bug.

> >

> >

> > Q: UAC keeps me from doing things that I could do in XP

> >

> > A: This is not the case. Just remember that programs that do not ask for

> > permission when they start do not get admin access to your computer. If

> > you are using a tool that needs admin access, right-click it and click Run

> > As Administrator. It should work exactly as it did in XP. If it does not,

> > then this is a bug.

> >

> >

> > Q: UAC is Microsoft's way of controlling my computer and preventing me

> > from using it!

> >

> > A: This is 100% UNTRUE. UAC puts control of your computer IN YOUR HANDS by

> > allowing you to prevent unwanted programs from accessing your computer.

> > Everything that you can do with UAC turned off, you can do with it

> > turned on. If this is not the case, then that is a bug.

> >

> >

> > Q: I don't need Windows to hold my freaking hand! I know what I've got

> > on my computer, and I know when programs run! I am logged on as an

> > ADMINISTRATOR for a dang reason!

> >

> > A: I accept the way that you think, and can see the logic, but I don't

> > agree with this idea. UAC is putting POWER in your hands by letting you

> > CONTROL what runs on your system. But you want to give up this control and

> > allow all programs to run willy-nilly. Look, if you want to do this go

> > right ahead, you can turn UAC off and things will return to how they

> > worked in XP. But, don't be surprised when either 1) You run something by

> > mistake that messes up your computer and/or domain, or 2) A program

> > somehow gets on your computer that you know nothing about that takes over

> > your computer and/or domain, and UAC would have allowed you to have

> > stopped it.

> >

> >

> > - JB

> >

> > Vista Support FAQ

> > http://www.jimmah.com/vista/ </span>

> </span>

[Guest semoi]

If you agree to purchase Vista SP3, aka Windows 7, your issues with UAC will

be resolved, along with some, not all, of the idiotic performance draining

issues in Vista.

Alas, in typical Microsoft fashion, your peripherals may not work ever again

due to driver changes for which Microsoft will blame the peripheral vendor

or you rather than itself, just like the UAC tries to shift the blame to you

for installing an errant program rather than actually screening the program

to tell you if it is dangerous.