In my eyes the single biggest standout feature of Windows Vista and 7 is the much maligned UAC. Do you have it running? Have you tweaked it in any way? Why do you have it disabled if you do?
Thread started in an attempt to allow the Windows 7 thread to get back ontopic.
UAC is one of the reasons to run Vista rather than XP
Its a good idea imo. Kind of like the Superuser access you get with linux.
I disabled it on my own pc but starting to think it would be a good idea to have it enabled after all i can then see what programs are doing naughty stuff a lot easier
perhaps a poll?
anyways I use it.
As someone who has never clapped eyes on Vista (XP here, still), could someone kindly explain what this UAC thing is exactly? I've seen a few complaints about it here and there but am not clear about what it actually is? And has this issue been addressed/modified in the Windows 7 beta, does anyone know?
Sorry for the dumb question but I genuinely want to know what this is about. Cheers!
Ive just enabled it on my home machine now after thinking about it and reading ur posts splash.
I`d never really thought about the security implications of disabling it until I read the windows 7 post it just seemed like a good thing to do at the time and also there was all the fuss at the time about it being too restrictive.
in the time someone takes to respond, you could have easily googled it
*ffs kopite stop posting the same time as me!
It's a part of the Windows OS that is designed to flag when something tries to make a system level change (installation, that kind of thing), and allow you to decide if it's something that you really want to happen or if it is indeed a malicious or unrequested act, in which case you can block it.Originally Posted by NightOwl
I'll leave this to gather some more responses before I reply again, but my feeling are in the Windows 7 - Reactions thread for the time being.
UAC..
The important thing to understand about UAC is access rights. Before Vista, all users had to run as administrators - and any program they launched therefore gained administrative rights too. Hence, if you launched some malware by mistake, it had full admin rights and could therefore do anything it darn well pleased on your PC. This has long been one of the biggest flaws in Windows.
So, MS, full of good intent decided to tackle this - and so they decided on Vista, they'd try and get their users to run as 'standard' users, which don't have full administrative rights and thus any program they launched didn't either. This is a very (very) good thing indeed. To do this (and to force developers long used to the idea of writing applications that could do 'anything all the time') they came up with UAC (User Access Control). UAC prompts a user when a program asks for administrative rights, or tries to access a sensitive part of the filesystem or registry. It also stops programs from 'talking' to programs with a higher administrative level than their own (which is good, because otherwise they might try and subvert them). Part of this prompting is to allow the user to specifiy an administrator account (username and password) so that they can elevate a application to 'administrator' for good reason - for example, and installer will almost always need to make changes to sensitive parts of your system (and so you'll be prompted).
People, of course, object to being prompted about anything by Windows - mostly because before UAC there wasn't really any security outside of virus checkers or firewalls, and MS created this situation in the first place. But they're changing it - and this is a really good thing, in a World filled with malware infested zombie PCs. Those who object to UAC, or simply disabled it "cos they know what they're doing" usually don't really understand it, or are being plagued by prompts because they're either
a: running crap software that ought not to cause the prompts in the first place
b: regularly using the PC in a darn odd way - i.e. user error (and those who think this isn't the case present a good case for why you're doing it please)
As a developer, I do understand UAC - i've made our own software fully compliant and not a single prompt occurs as a result - and yet on my home Vista and W7 systems UAC is firmly turned on. About the only time I see prompts is when i'd expect it - installing, uninstalling or making (potentially) hazardous system changes. The only PC I have it OFF on, is my main development machine - and this is for credible reasons (i.e. Visual Studio isn't quite compliant and it will stop me doing my job which is, by nature, incredibly system invasive).
If anyone's interested, I can go into specifics - UAC's filesystem/registry redirection, the sensitive locations etc.
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j.o.s.h.1408 (30-01-2009),jonathan_phang (23-02-2009)
i think i will re enable mine as well. if a few popup windows saves me from my pc getting hacked then so be it
I, in no way shape or form want to offend you or anyone else but I do think that UAC is one of the most misunderstood features of Vista. It really is a good thing, and whilst not perfect, it's better than (literally) 'nothing'. I regularly do testing on UAC-enabled systems and i have to say, the prompts are really quite low now (post patches and third party updates). Surprisingly so, in fact.
If you think it's painful from a user point of view, then trust me, us developers found it a lot harder to deal with! But it was worth it - our stuff now works 100% fine on Windows 7There was a quote from an MS employee somewhere where he said the reason UAC was so 'full on' in Vista was to force developers to change their ways. It's working.
Last edited by dangel; 30-01-2009 at 04:52 PM.
Crosshair VIII Hero (WIFI), 3900x, 32GB DDR4, Many SSDs, EVGA FTW3 3090, Ethoo 719
It's been a while since I came across UAC but it was one of several reasons I went back to XP from Vista. I found it extremely annoying and extremely intrusive to point when I would've been clicking Yes, OK, Whatever no matter what it was warning me about.
I understand Microsoft's reasoning behind it but as a person who has (touch wood) never had a virus or any malware ever simply by using my common sense I didn't see any need for UAC. i also reckon that UAC would fail to gain any traction with it's target market ie the PC Illiterate General Populace. These people will click on OK and Yes whenever they're prompted and never stop to think.
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Understandable - but I would ask exactly what you were doing to get so many prompts? Also, things have improved over time (as a footnote).
As for traction, it's in Vista and it's in Windows 7 - it's pretty much staying there. Other OS' have similar systems in place (albeit more mature).
Crosshair VIII Hero (WIFI), 3900x, 32GB DDR4, Many SSDs, EVGA FTW3 3090, Ethoo 719
As I've said elsewhere simply being careful about what websites you visit and not opening attachments from untrusted email sources just isn't enough these days. Sure, it'll help reduce your risk somewhat but if you could reduce your attack surface by blocking administrative actions until you were sure you wanted them to go ahead, and at no cost to yourself then why wouldn't you?
Again, it comes down to people not understanding what UAC is there to do. I made the analogy (and it may be a poor one, but it has to be better than the standard use of a car) elsewhere that my software firewall lets me know that an application is trying to connect to my network and blocks that connection unless I tell it otherwise: UAC is effectively doing the exact same thing except it blocks access to your system until you tell it otherwise. If UAC doesn't block some malware installation or similar then you won'tnecessarily know about it until it's too late.
Installing lots of software! I was starting from scratch so had the likes of Office, Photoshop, the odd game or two, etc to install. UAC drove me dotty. As I said though, this was only one of several things that sent me back to XP. I'll no doubt encounter it again when I move to Windows 7 if it's any good.
An Atlantean Triumvirate, Ghosts of the Past, The Centre Cannot Hold
The Pillars of Britain, Foundations of the Reich, Cracks in the Pillars.
My books are available here for Amazon Kindle. Feedback always welcome!
Fair enough - although you would of only encountered that in bulk initially, rather than all the time!
Crosshair VIII Hero (WIFI), 3900x, 32GB DDR4, Many SSDs, EVGA FTW3 3090, Ethoo 719
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