I will show you how to turn off all that, at the end of this.
The answers to your main questions "What's going on?", and "Am I
Administrator, or What?" are great points for a new Vista user to begin
understanding Vista's new 'paradigm' (way of thinking). My best way to
understand it for myself came when I realized that the UAC(User Access
Control) and Limited User status for any admin, (when in a normal user
role), were both efforts at the answer to the same issue that existed in XP.
Remember the 'Blaster Worm'? There was a message embedded it that, that said
something like 'Bill!, Fix your software!'. Well..., he did.

Not wanting to get too technical, I'll just say that what the Blaster used,
(RPC, Remote Procedure Call) is the basic building block of Distributed
Computing. (DCOM). If you are going to communicate, anywhere, anytime, you
use that. (and I do mean e-mail, web sites, downloaded apps, ... the
works).
Nobody wants to be a 'pushover' for the first punk with an agenda they
happen to run into on the web. The system should help you fend off such
trash. The UAC, and not operating with admin rights are your 'redoubt', your
last place to stand and fight.
Anti-spyware, and anti-virus apps are fine, but they are no less
restrictive, in their own way. Both of them operate from a standpoint I
prefer to avoid. It used to be called 'closing the barn door after the horse
has already gotten out'. I never though much of that chase.
You can turn off the UAC in the User Accounts app.
You can cause the Administrator account to appear on the Welcome screen, and
even use it by default, and without a password, if you choose.
Show default Administrator on Welcome screen
Go to Start/all programs/accessories/run, and type:
control userpasswords2
Advanced tab, Advanced button, Users folder, rightclick Administrator,
Properties, uncheck checkbox for "Account is disabled" (not available in
Home edition)
Restart Windows. (If Home edition, start in Safe Mode, F8 on restart, to be
the admin)
Add Take Ownership to right-click menu in Vista:
http://www.petri.co.il/add-take-ownership-context-menu-vista.htm
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Mark L. Ferguson
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