Vista: Stop Security Warnings

[mooseracing]

Originally posted by: SilentRunning

Originally posted by: Smilin
I still find this whole thread very ironic.

The OP is trying to disable UAC because it's bugging him when it's stopping some misbehaving or malicious app. He WANTS the misbehaving or malicous app to run.

Boggles my mind. There are a lot of competent people on this forum and only a few on this thread have pointed this out. What's going on?


OP: You want Microsoft to "let admins be admins"? You sir should not be an admin at all.

You forgot to mention that they will be back claiming Vista "sucks" as the malware and viruses overtake their systems creating unstable behavior.

I haven't run into a single problem with UAC disable since beta testing Vista. People just need to understand what they are installing and clickin gon its that simple. You can run as the admin account (not jsut admin privealages) and not have a problem.

I've had programs that refuse to work correctly until actually unlocking the admin account and installing them through that.

People just take no responsibility from their actions, then sue the other for damages. Ridiculous.

 

[thegorx]

what about running a file manager like ExplorerXP with Admin privileges, it can be very handy you can also do a command prompt from any folder you've selected. I'm not sure if it work in all situations but I've found it handy.

 

[rchiu]

This is what I don't get. The OP asked a simple question, how to turn UAC off. And you get bunch of people defending UAC, and telling the OP how to use his computer. Geez, vista fanboy really gets defensive.

 

[Crusty]

Originally posted by: mooseracing

Originally posted by: SilentRunning

Originally posted by: Smilin
I still find this whole thread very ironic.

The OP is trying to disable UAC because it's bugging him when it's stopping some misbehaving or malicious app. He WANTS the misbehaving or malicous app to run.

Boggles my mind. There are a lot of competent people on this forum and only a few on this thread have pointed this out. What's going on?


OP: You want Microsoft to "let admins be admins"? You sir should not be an admin at all.

You forgot to mention that they will be back claiming Vista "sucks" as the malware and viruses overtake their systems creating unstable behavior.

I haven't run into a single problem with UAC disable since beta testing Vista. People just need to understand what they are installing and clickin gon its that simple. You can run as the admin account (not jsut admin privealages) and not have a problem.

I've had programs that refuse to work correctly until actually unlocking the admin account and installing them through that.

People just take no responsibility from their actions, then sue the other for damages. Ridiculous.

That's the absolute biggest mistake when writing any kind of code/software. Never ever assume anything about the user, what they will try to do with the code, or what inputs they will give to the code. Think of UAC like a child proof pill bottle; it's very easy to deal with, yet it prevents a large amount of problems.

IMO, any OS that is accessing information and systems in the public domain needs to have a security policy that prevents spyware, viruses, and other general OS exploits from happening built into the OS.

Microsoft's problem is that since the beginning of their OS's they have not followed that idea, and now it's stuck in everyones head that it's okay to use a computer for daily tasks as an administrator to the machine. At least they have started moving in the right direction

The other problem with Microsoft's OS's are the software writers for 3rd party programs. Many programs simply require administrative privileges because they are poorly written. It's a lot easier to force a user to run the program in Admin mode so that it can write that temporary file to C:\TEMP instead of fixing their code and doing things the proper way. So if more software was written properly the 'headache' of UAC would be a lot less. I could go on and on about how poorly some software is written but I won't!

Back to your post, I agree that people should take responsibility for their actions in an OS, but until the average user understands how an Operating System really works they won't even understand what they should be taking responsibility for! Since that level of education will never happen, there needs to be another way to protect the computer from it's user.

 

[Crusty]

Originally posted by: rchiu
This is what I don't get. The OP asked a simple question, how to turn UAC off. And you get bunch of people defending UAC, and telling the OP how to use his computer. Geez, vista fanboy really gets defensive.

It's hardly Vista fanboy's saying it. Disabling security features on ANY OS is a bad idea. If somebody were to come and ask about how enable their root account in Ubuntu so they can use that as their daily account you have the same kinds of responses.

 

[rchiu]

Originally posted by: Crusty

Originally posted by: rchiu
This is what I don't get. The OP asked a simple question, how to turn UAC off. And you get bunch of people defending UAC, and telling the OP how to use his computer. Geez, vista fanboy really gets defensive.

It's hardly Vista fanboy's saying it. Disabling security features on ANY OS is a bad idea. If somebody were to come and ask about how enable their root account in Ubuntu so they can use that as their daily account you have the same kinds of responses.

Heh, like UAC is the only security measure out there? The OP can use any number of ways to secure his PC, firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware software, and most importantly, good judgment without having to deal with all those pop ups with UAC. How the heck do you people assume he knows nothing?

 

[Crusty]

Originally posted by: rchiu

Originally posted by: Crusty

Originally posted by: rchiu
This is what I don't get. The OP asked a simple question, how to turn UAC off. And you get bunch of people defending UAC, and telling the OP how to use his computer. Geez, vista fanboy really gets defensive.

It's hardly Vista fanboy's saying it. Disabling security features on ANY OS is a bad idea. If somebody were to come and ask about how enable their root account in Ubuntu so they can use that as their daily account you have the same kinds of responses.

Heh, like UAC is the only security measure out there? The OP can use any number of ways to secure his PC, firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware software, and most importantly, good judgment without having to deal with all those pop ups with UAC. How the heck do you people assume he knows nothing?

All those are great tools, but they still do nothing to prevent the User from destroying his OS. Also, I didn't notice anyone here telling the OP how to run his computer. They are informing the OP about what a bad decision it is to disable UAC, and for the most part why it's a bad idea.

 

[mb]

Originally posted by: rchiu
This is what I don't get. The OP asked a simple question, how to turn UAC off. And you get bunch of people defending UAC, and telling the OP how to use his computer. Geez, vista fanboy really gets defensive.

Did you miss the first reply to this thread? The one by Schadenfroh?
That's what I don't get. Geez.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: rchiu

Originally posted by: Crusty

Originally posted by: rchiu
This is what I don't get. The OP asked a simple question, how to turn UAC off. And you get bunch of people defending UAC, and telling the OP how to use his computer. Geez, vista fanboy really gets defensive.

It's hardly Vista fanboy's saying it. Disabling security features on ANY OS is a bad idea. If somebody were to come and ask about how enable their root account in Ubuntu so they can use that as their daily account you have the same kinds of responses.

Heh, like UAC is the only security measure out there? The OP can use any number of ways to secure his PC, firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware software, and most importantly, good judgment without having to deal with all those pop ups with UAC. How the heck do you people assume he knows nothing?

We don't, but some of us know more

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: bsobel

Originally posted by: rchiu

Originally posted by: Crusty

Originally posted by: rchiu
This is what I don't get. The OP asked a simple question, how to turn UAC off. And you get bunch of people defending UAC, and telling the OP how to use his computer. Geez, vista fanboy really gets defensive.

It's hardly Vista fanboy's saying it. Disabling security features on ANY OS is a bad idea. If somebody were to come and ask about how enable their root account in Ubuntu so they can use that as their daily account you have the same kinds of responses.

Heh, like UAC is the only security measure out there? The OP can use any number of ways to secure his PC, firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware software, and most importantly, good judgment without having to deal with all those pop ups with UAC. How the heck do you people assume he knows nothing?

We don't, but some of us know more

And the rest of us are just afraid he's doing the technological equivalent of opening a crate full of Black Widows in the middle of New York City.

 

[Pastore]

Why are people jumping down the OPs back? I freaking got the UAC popup when all I was trying to do was rename a folder. It's ridiculous and over protective, and that's why I disabled it.

The OP doesn't want Trojans, he wants a certain usability and security from a system without being hassled 20 times a day. This is like having roadblocks every 2 miles on the highway to make sure there are no drunks on the road.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: Pastore
Why are people jumping down the OPs back? I freaking got the UAC popup when all I was trying to do was rename a folder. It's ridiculous and over protective, and that's why I disabled it.

The OP doesn't want Trojans, he wants a certain usability and security from a system without being hassled 20 times a day. This is like having roadblocks every 2 miles on the highway to make sure there are no drunks on the road.

Something was wrong with your config or your permissions, you shouldnt see a UAC prompt for renaming most folders (unless they were systems ones). So instead of fixing the problem, you turned off one of your best tools, not the best solution...

 

[Pastore]

Originally posted by: bsobel

Originally posted by: Pastore
Why are people jumping down the OPs back? I freaking got the UAC popup when all I was trying to do was rename a folder. It's ridiculous and over protective, and that's why I disabled it.

The OP doesn't want Trojans, he wants a certain usability and security from a system without being hassled 20 times a day. This is like having roadblocks every 2 miles on the highway to make sure there are no drunks on the road.

Something was wrong with your config or your permissions, you shouldnt see a UAC prompt for renaming most folders (unless they were systems ones). So instead of fixing the problem, you turned off one of your best tools, not the best solution...

This was on a brand new dell laptop, Vista Business with a single admin user.

It's a boy who cried wolf situation. The average joe computer user isn't going to investigate why he keeps getting these popups, he's just going to click ok to accomplish whatever he was doing. So when there is a real security threat, it will be accepted just the same.

Then there's the power user like you and I who will have our own protection and know what to do about certain security threats.

So Microsoft has made it annoying for power users and average joes, and it could be argued that it hasn't helped with security at all because of the boy who cried wolf scenario I put forth.

 

[bsobel]

It's a boy who cried wolf situation. The average joe computer user isn't going to investigate why he keeps getting these popups, he's just going to click ok to accomplish whatever he was doing. So when there is a real security threat, it will be accepted just the same.

That is incorrect.

So Microsoft has made it annoying for power users and average joes, and it could be argued that it hasn't helped with security at all because of the boy who cried wolf scenario I put forth.

Yes, but you are wrong, and our studies show that.

 

[Pastore]

Originally posted by: bsobel

It's a boy who cried wolf situation. The average joe computer user isn't going to investigate why he keeps getting these popups, he's just going to click ok to accomplish whatever he was doing. So when there is a real security threat, it will be accepted just the same.

That is incorrect.

So Microsoft has made it annoying for power users and average joes, and it could be argued that it hasn't helped with security at all because of the boy who cried wolf scenario I put forth.

Yes, but you are wrong, and our studies show that.

Can you elaborate?

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: Pastore
Why are people jumping down the OPs back? I freaking got the UAC popup when all I was trying to do was rename a folder. It's ridiculous and over protective, and that's why I disabled it.

The OP doesn't want Trojans, he wants a certain usability and security from a system without being hassled 20 times a day. This is like having roadblocks every 2 miles on the highway to make sure there are no drunks on the road.

I'll jump yours next

Make a folder on your desktop and rename it. Get a UAC prompt? Yeah didn't think so. Something else was going on.

I love how UAC haters always say crap like "hassled 20 times a day". They always try to exagerate to bolster their weak argument.

As to why the OP got jumped:
1. He's bitchin instead of askin.
2. He's asking a fairly dumb question (hint: use teh intarwebs searcher )
3. He reveals in his post that he's getting a UAC prompt for something that shouldn't get a UAC prompt which is both a serious warning, and exactly why you don't want to disable it.


On a more constructive note for the OP:
First, you shouldn't have seen that UAC prompt just opening IE/FF. Stop and investigate.
Second, Leave UAC on. The popups drop drastically after you have gotten past that "moving in" period where you are installing drivers and (poorly written) apps that require an admin token.

 

[Cutthroat]

The ONLY programs I still get a UAC prompt is when I launch Rivatuner, F@H or Everest. I also get one if I launch a Windows admin app such as Windows update or a control panel app. If I was to get one running any other app I would be worried.

 

[ShawnD1]

Originally posted by: Smilin
First, you shouldn't have seen that UAC prompt just opening IE/FF.

I've seen this a few times, and I have no idea what causes it. All 4 of the computers in my house have Vista, and none of them prompt when opening IE/FF/Opera. My boss's computer at my previous workplace would prompt when he opened Firefox.

I think people are going out of their way to break Vista. Firefox, by default, saves all settings and cache in your own user account, so it never needs administrator access. If UAC is popping up, that's a huge red flag.

edit:
UAC will only pop up when you are trying to write system files. Anything outside of your /name folder is considered a system file unless otherwise specified. Program Files is a system folder, and that's why UAC blocks people from screwing with it.

I bet the people hating on UAC would go on a rampage if they ever tried to use Linux or Mac OS. Those don't just ask you to click yes; they demand that you enter a password too.

 

[irishScott]

Originally posted by: Crusty

Originally posted by: rchiu

Originally posted by: Crusty

Originally posted by: rchiu
This is what I don't get. The OP asked a simple question, how to turn UAC off. And you get bunch of people defending UAC, and telling the OP how to use his computer. Geez, vista fanboy really gets defensive.

It's hardly Vista fanboy's saying it. Disabling security features on ANY OS is a bad idea. If somebody were to come and ask about how enable their root account in Ubuntu so they can use that as their daily account you have the same kinds of responses.

Heh, like UAC is the only security measure out there? The OP can use any number of ways to secure his PC, firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware software, and most importantly, good judgment without having to deal with all those pop ups with UAC. How the heck do you people assume he knows nothing?

All those are great tools, but they still do nothing to prevent the User from destroying his OS. Also, I didn't notice anyone here telling the OP how to run his computer. They are informing the OP about what a bad decision it is to disable UAC, and for the most part why it's a bad idea.

My WindowsXP install has been fine for a couple of years without any UAC-type program. I have AntiVir, Spyware Blaster, Spybot (for immunization) and Comodo Firewall.

The only extra thing I have is noscript, which protects me from porn sites, and I view porn fairly frequently. I also cahnged AntiVir's setting for maximum security/scanning.

AntiVir's caught a couple of trojans before they could take any effect. Beyond that, the OS still runs perfectly on my administrator account that I've used since install.

Security != Locking down your computer.

 

[Aberforth]

UAC stops generic unsigned exploits and some aren't detected by AV,AS, and Firewalls.