Allowing trusted programs through UAC

[Thad Student]

Is there a way to allow a trusted program through the user account control
without asking for permission every time? I log into my laptop as an
administrator and there is one program that needs consent through the user
account control in order to run.

The program is Cisco Clean Access Agent. The geek squad at my school
installed it so I can log onto the school's wireless network with my laptop.

This program is initiated through the Start Menu | Startup folder. I can't
see why this shouldn't be possible because there are about 10 other programs
starting when I log on (including some from the startup menu), and the Cisco
app is the only one asking for permission.

 

[P. Di Stolfo]

Hello,

on 03/13, Jeff Smith from Microsoft said:

"Unfortunately, no. There's no way to white-list specific applications.

(If this were possible, there would be sneaky ways that evil programs could
ride on the coattails of the good applications)."

So I don't think it's possible without re-writing the application.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Thad Student]

Is it possible to "re-write" the application using the Microsoft Application
Compatibility Toolkit? Or is this tool for something different altogether?

 

[Thad Student]

I have the tool, but I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing with it. I guess
I'll have to read some of the documents that came with it. Otherwise... It
doesn't seem to be making a difference so far...

 

[Olivier]

Maybe you could try to start it using the schedduler instead of the startup
folder (rights are not the same)

regards

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Thad

The best solution for this problem, without disabling any security
components, is to use the Task Scheduler to creat a task that starts the
program when you log on. This task can be run with highest privileges and no
prompt from the User Account Control.

See the following website for instructions and a small utility that
automates creating the scheduled task.

Download and run the Startup Unblocker utility. It will give you a list of
all programs that are configured to start at bootup. Each item will have a
drop down menu that you can use to 'run as administrator'. When you select
this option for an item, the Scheduled Task will be automatically created.

How do I run an administrative program (that needs my permission to start)
every time I log in and prevent the "Windows has blocked some startup
programs" message?:
http://www.jimmah.com/vista/Administration/autostart_admin_program.aspx

 

[Thad Student]

Thanks for the help. It is most appreciated

Thad

The best solution for this problem, without disabling any security
components, is to use the Task Scheduler to creat a task that starts the
program when you log on. This task can be run with highest privileges and no
prompt from the User Account Control.

See the following website for instructions and a small utility that
automates creating the scheduled task.

Download and run the Startup Unblocker utility. It will give you a list of
all programs that are configured to start at bootup. Each item will have a
drop down menu that you can use to 'run as administrator'. When you select
this option for an item, the Scheduled Task will be automatically created.

How do I run an administrative program (that needs my permission to start)
every time I log in and prevent the "Windows has blocked some startup
programs" message?:
http://www.jimmah.com/vista/Administration/autostart_admin_program.aspx

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Thad

Your welcome, glad to help.

 

[Dean Halter]

Thad, the agent does NOT require UAC if run as a regular user. If run as an
administrator, it does.

Here's a note I received from Cisco support -

"What you are seeing is unfortunately expected behavior. With 4.1.3.1 we
ask for the highest available privileges. As an admin this produces a
UAC prompt to give all privileges. There has been an enhancement bug
filed to change the behavior in future versions."

Problem I have with this is that it'll convince folks to come up with
workarounds or disable UAC when its not necessary. While seemingly trivial,
I see it as one of those ounce of prevention vs pound of cure situations.