Vista Accounts issue

[Guest]

How do I turn off the constant, nagging requests for administrator
authorisation & permission to continue? I can't even move an icon without
having to click ok in 2 boxes!!

 

[P. Di Stolfo]

Hello,

although I don't recommend it, you can turn off UAC which produces the
messages. Go to Control Panel -> User Accounts and Family Safety -> Turn
User Account Control on or off.

Hope this will help.

Greetings,
P. Di Stolfo

 

[Guest]

I know, I tried that. Then I just get nagged by the security Centre icon to
turn it back on!! Even more annoying.

As I only have one account, & it's an administrator, you'd think Vista would
realise it doesn't need to ask permission all the time.

I hope MS aren't getting all nanny on us.

 

[P. Di Stolfo]

Hello,

then, you could additionally turn off the Security center service: Run ->
services.msc -> Security Center .

Greetings,
P. Di Stolfo

 

[Guest]

Sounds like I'm turning off an awful lot of security to get rid of some
nagging messages. Surely you can just turn the messages off, that's all I
want. I don't mind the security, I just don't like being nagged & babied
through everything. I've been using PC's for long enough to know what I want
to do, without being reminded & asked & re-asked all the time. Doesn't seem
too much to ask.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Davey

Go to Control Panel / Security Center. In the Task pane, click "Change the
way security center alerts me". Click the third option, "Don't notify me and
don't display the icon" (Not recommended.

As long as your in there, you may as well go ahead and turn the Firewall,
Antivirus and all of the other security utilities that might possibly "nag"
you, at some point.

 

[Guest]

Well thanks for that. I had a feeling that more switch offs were coming, but
I didn't say so, as I didn't want to seem sarcastic.

All I want is for my PC to do what I want, when I want, without asking me
for administator oermissions all the time. Is it so much to ask?

And without the sarcasm please.

 

[Guest]

I don't want to switch anything off, that's the point, if you read the whole
thread.

All I want is for my PC to do what I want, when I want, without asking me
for administator permissions all the time. Is it so much to ask? XP managed
it.

It just seems like MS decided to write "Windows for nannies" or dummies this
time, & I know what I want to do, without being asked for permission all the
time. Is there an "expert level" or something, so it just does things?

 

[P. Di Stolfo]

Hello,

an "expert level" known from earlier Windows versions doesn't exist. The new
expert mode is, as far as I can see, Vista with a switched-off User Account
Control.
Normally, as an expert, you'll have to modify and switch things on or off,
and so it should be no problem.

Greetings,
P. Di Stolfo

 

[Guest]

I've been scanning through the other threads, & this seems to be a VERY
common complaint, UAC getting in the way, or blocking what people want to do.

One of the MVP's (may have been Ronnie Vernon) mentioned in another thread
that even an administrator account has only ordinary privilages, not admin
privilages. Can an account be raised to admin privilages?

I have nobody else using my PC, so have nothing to lose by removing
barriers. As I said before, I know my way around a PC, & usually mean what I
say when I tell it to do something. I even turn off the trash can, as I don't
need safety nets.

MS just seem to have spent so much time trying to make Vista idiot proof, &
hand-holding beginners, that they forgot there are some people who've been
around PC's for years, & don't need or want this level of help.

 

[Kerry Brown]

All secure OS' require some sort of prompt (usually with a password) to do
anything that affects the system. Without elevating your privileges you can
only do things that affect your user account. This protects you from many
things: other users accidently or maliciously deleting your files, yourself
accidently deleting or changing system files and settings, a buggy program
doing the same, malware doing any of these things. Linux, Mac, and even
Windows users in corporate settings have lived with these security measures
for years. Stand alone Windows users have ignored security and we now have
the malware infested Internet to deal with.

Turning off UAC as you deduced reduces the security in Vista. UAC is asking
"Did you intend to do this?" not "Do you want to allow this?". It may seem
like a subtle difference but once you understand that difference UAC makes
sense. The fact that you are the only user on your computer doesn't mean you
can ignore security. Other people via the Internet can become users on your
computer if you don't have proper security. XP, mostly because everyone ran
as an Administrator, cannot defend against this. Sophisticated rootkits and
malware can take advantage of the ease of elevating privileges in XP and do
whatever they want. It doesn't matter what protection you have this can
happen in XP. In Vista it is much harder for malware to do this, partly
because of UAC. There are other security features as well but turning off
UAC then running with an Administrator account puts you almost back to the
XP level of security. Security requires compromising freedom. UAC is an
attempt to be secure but still give you the freedom to do whatever you want.
The past poor security practices of Windows users and programmers have
forced things like UAC on us.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for that, Kerry. A nice clear, concise answer, even I could understand.

I get where you're coming from, & I don't resent the level of security, I
just wish Vista would, to quote Nike, "just do it" sometimes, that's all. My
firewall & AV protect my system, but don't require me to click a button every
time they do their job. That's all I wanted from UAC. Now I understand why it
has to display these messages all the time, I'm a little less resentful of
them

It might be useful if you could set levels of intervention though. Say no
announcements/dialog boxes when doing something to your own PC, but check
first before allowing a remote access, something like that. Just refine the
way it works, so experienced users don't hate it so much.

Thanks again.

 

[Kerry Brown]

You're welcome. I also wish there was some granularity in UAC rather than
all or nothing. I understand that this would be very hard to program but I
can still wish for it

 

[Guest]

I notice that some of these threads are marked with a green tick, presumably
when the person posting the query decides it's been answered. How do I do
that, so anybody else can see at a glance that I got an answer?

I know you have the "was this post helpful to you?" question & yes & no
buttons, but after I press them, nothing much seems to happen. Does that
score you points towards your MVP badge?

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Davey

When you view a message in the web view you are using, at the bottom of the
message you will see the option Did this post answer the question? with a
Yes/No button. If you click Yes, that places the green mark on the question.

You can see what the MVP program is all about on this website.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional:


--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

I notice that some of these threads are marked with a green tick,
presumably
when the person posting the query decides it's been answered. How do I do
that, so anybody else can see at a glance that I got an answer?

I know you have the "was this post helpful to you?" question & yes & no
buttons, but after I press them, nothing much seems to happen. Does that
score you points towards your MVP badge?

<snip>

 

[Kerry Brown]

Thanks, but no points. I see Ronnie Vernon pointed you to the MVP site.

 

[Greg Rozelle]

All secure OS' require some sort of prompt (usually with a password) to do
anything that affects the system. Without elevating your privileges you can
only do things that affect your user account. This protects you from many
things: other users accidently or maliciously deleting your files, yourself
accidently deleting or changing system files and settings, a buggy program
doing the same, malware doing any of these things. Linux, Mac, and even
Windows users in corporate settings have lived with these security measures
for years. Stand alone Windows users have ignored security and we now have
the malware infested Internet to deal with.

Turning off UAC as you deduced reduces the security in Vista. UAC is asking
"Did you intend to do this?" not "Do you want to allow this?". It may seem
like a subtle difference but once you understand that difference UAC makes
sense. The fact that you are the only user on your computer doesn't mean you
can ignore security. Other people via the Internet can become users on your
computer if you don't have proper security. XP, mostly because everyone ran
as an Administrator, cannot defend against this. Sophisticated rootkits and
malware can take advantage of the ease of elevating privileges in XP and do
whatever they want. It doesn't matter what protection you have this can
happen in XP. In Vista it is much harder for malware to do this, partly
because of UAC. There are other security features as well but turning off
UAC then running with an Administrator account puts you almost back to the
XP level of security. Security requires compromising freedom. UAC is an
attempt to be secure but still give you the freedom to do whatever you want.
The past poor security practices of Windows users and programmers have
forced things like UAC on us.

Kerry,

I am not sure but shouldn't Vista have a switch to turn of some
features without turn of the whole UAC?

Moving an ICON, seem ridiculous to ask for permission.

I am thinking that is what davey want. Maybe some will develop a
tweak program to do this.


Greg Rozelle


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[Kerry Brown]

Kerry,

I am not sure but shouldn't Vista have a switch to turn of some
features without turn of the whole UAC?

Moving an ICON, seem ridiculous to ask for permission.

I am thinking that is what davey want. Maybe some will develop a
tweak program to do this.


Greg Rozelle

I agree this would be nice but given the intent of what UAC does it's very
hard to implement. The intent of UAC is to determine if you have instigated
an action. There is no intent to check what the action actually is. Checking
what the action actually is doing, testing to see if it matches a whitelist,
testing programs to see if they have been modified, testing to see if a
physical user instigated the action, etc. would add a lot of code and
possibilities for exploits. UAC is very simple. Did you instigate this? It
would be nice if it did more but the programming involved would be
considerable and reduce the security of UAC itself to the point where it
wouldn't be worth it. UAC or something like it actually has a lot of
promise. It could be developed into a new security model altogether where
user accounts are not used for security boundaries. Security could be
controlled by something like an uber-UAC and user accounts would be for
privacy and data separation. I don't think this will happen in Vista. It may
not even be Microsoft who develops this. It may be some other OS. The point
is user accounts as a security boundary is an outdated concept. We are stuck
with it for now. UAC is an attempt to force users and programmers to get
back to the basics of user account security. As Vista matures and programs
are written specifically for Vista and UAC you should see UAC prompts almost
disappear. Very few programs actually need system wide privileges. Windows
users and programmers have gotten lazy and expect it but it's not needed.

In the example you mentioned where is the icon? If it's a public icon that's
on all user's desktops then you are making a change that affects the system
not just your account. If any old process could edit an icon on the public
desktop then malware would have an in to every user account. The problem is
caused by programs creating icons on the public desktop rather than the
user's desktop. This is rude and lazy programming. It's exactly what UAC is
intended to discourage.

 

[Guest]

Interesting point there, Kerry. The Icon's I was moving around were for
Microsofts own OS programs, & the games. Rude & lazy? MS? surely not ;-)

Anyway, to answer Greg's post, all I seem to get are "was this helpful to
you" questions, not "did this answer your question, so I've been unable to
close this thread off as answered.

Also how have you managed to unindent (is that a word?) your names, so you
can actually see who posted the..er..post??!?

 

[Greg Rozelle]

Did you instigate this? It
would be nice if it did more but the programming involved would be
considerable and reduce the security of UAC itself to the point where it
wouldn't be worth it.

Actually it is possible. Linux provides tools for just that.
There is a root account, super user account and you can have lower
user accounts as well. If one account get infected. You can just
delete that account and recreate it. You can set permission for almost
everything in Linux. I think you can do that in mac system as well.

I use windows 98se. (Yes, I know I am reading a Window Vista group
and I did have xp at one time) and puppy Linux. I am going to
either save up to a get a new computer, but from reading all the
problems with Vista. I am leaning more towards a mac or Linux
system.

From reading about Vista, Vista is trying to copy some of Linux
attributes.


Greg Rozelle


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