Vista - Microsoft: The Why of UAC (User Account Control)

And you're sure about this - care to predict who's going to win the various playoffs that are upcoming as well?

You *conjecture* this - and turning off UAC is well advertised, just not by Microsoft. If you bother to *read* the responses, you'll understand that folks ***who know how to turn it off*** are still using it.

Ok JohnGalt and RBonser, lets calm the discussion down before it gets to heated.

Ah! Ignorance is BLISS. Unfortunately there will always going to be a justification or argument made to explain anything. The man is an unbeliever, nothing rational or logical will change his mind. Try to help somebody who wants to be helped.

Norm

He's not the only one - but I have another ongoing discussion at another forum about how a person sees that Internet access is a commodity, much like water, gas, and electricity, and that we should be paying for it on a per use basis.

That discussion is also full of flawed reasoning - no facts behind it at all, just conjecture- and as a mathematician, I realize all too well how 'statistics' can be used to skew the results of any theory that is set forward.

My position here is that the poster is simply making up statistics based upon his POV regarding the usefulness (or lack thereof) of UAC, and applying it to the rest of the world.

I will cease and desist if you so wish me to, Shawn, and the poll expires 90days from when I made it - but I am still interested in the outcome as I see not only his reasoning as being flawed but also his 'statistics' regarding the number of people who *would* disable UAC.

Okay, you want to make this as scientific as possible. Fine. Here is what we would have to do (And good luck doing it)

Give Vista to a group of "regular" users (i.e. not teckies) with the UAC turned On by default. Give them complete instructions on how to turn it off. See how many do.

Give the same Vista to another group with no instructions on how to turn it off. See how many figure out how and turn it off.

Give Vista to a group of "regular" users with the UAC turned OFF by default with complete instructions on how to turn it on. See how many do.

Give the save Vista to a group with no instructions on how to turn it on. See how many figure out how to turn it on and actually do.

Since we all know this will never happen, I am only left to guess what will happen. My point don't make your poll out to be this scientific study you claim it to be. You are guessing just as much as I am.

A Brink, this is the last I will have to say on the issue. My original point was simple. The UAC is overkill and MANY (maybe not all) of it's prompts are completely no needed.

I think that I qualify well for any of those catagories.

I am one of 'those' Oldies, and until last year, 1986 was the last time I had anything to do with Computer systems. It was a time of 'Commodore'[?] computers with large floppy disks and green screens. In my profession, plan records were held on pre-punched Microfiche Aperture-cards, and catalogues, based on a system of numerical 'key-logs' each with strings of 28 numbers, printed out by the tens of yards. Cross-referencing was similar to untangling a pot-full of spaghetti.

In June of 2007, I finally succumbed to mounting family pressure [and there are lots of them] and bought my Laptop [see System Specs]. This came with Windows Vista installed, including User Account Control. Since I am in complete ignorance of any other operating system, I did, and still do, accept this function of Vista as just part of the everyday protection in the safe running of my Laptop, and what it keeps stored just for me. Of course I have the usual AV etc set-up and do regular Backups, but I see UAC as a first line defence while the User is actually at the workface, and in operation of the system.

I am thankful that UAC is a default part of Vista, and have never felt that it intrudes in the flow of any of my operational habits when sitting at the Laptop. Rather the opposite applies, as I feel that the appearance of the UAC prompt pulls the User momentarily 'out of the zone', makes them re-consider what they are doing, and ensures that they are made aware of the repercussions of the requested action. UAC has made me re-think my actions on a number of occasions, especially in the early stages of learning this field, and especially when I didn't know my Right Click from my Left Click.

Frankly, I have never felt the need to 're-engineer' my system for the sake of disabling what in essence is just 'one click'. Somehow, I don't think that I will ever wear out one finger-tip in my lifetime clicking UAC, and nor have I noted the appearance of any abnormal growths or callouses on the finger. Any User who wants to operate their system in the safest possible environment, does everything possible to protect that environment. To me, UAC is an included and useful protection 'tool'.

So why, after visiting this site;

User Account Control Step-by-Step Guide

would any User CHOOSE to ignore the simple warning here?

ImportantImportant; Disable Warning.
Turning off UAC reduces the security of your computer and may expose you to increased risk from malicious software. We do not recommend leaving UAC disabled.

After reading the full text and the warnings in it, and now knowing how to disable the function of UAC, nothing in the text convinces me to do anything else other than retain the full use of UAC.......Disable it? Never! But you see......That's MY choice

However, to encourage other Forum Members to read the full text linked above and make their choice, the following extracts are included for additional information;

Standard User versus Administrator; Who can do what?
The primary difference between a standard user and an administrator in Windows Vista is the level of access the user has over core, protected areas of the computer. Administrators can change system state, turn off the firewall, configure security policy, install a service or a driver that affects every user on the computer, and install software for the entire computer. Standard users cannot perform these tasks and can only install per-user software.

Reason for UAC - in a word, 'PROTECTION' of the End User.
To help prevent malicious software from silently installing and causing computer-wide infection, Microsoft developed the UAC feature. Unlike previous versions of Windows, when an administrator logs on to a computer running Windows Vista, the user’s full administrator access token is split into two access tokens: a full administrator access token and a standard user access token. During the logon process, authorization and access control components that identify an administrator are removed, resulting in a standard user access token. The standard user access token is then used to start the desktop, the Explorer.exe process. Because all applications inherit their access control data from the initial launch of the desktop, they all run as a standard user as well.

So be it! Your choice!!

My first computer was a Vic20. Great system. A whole 2K of memory. I could write a great basic program to make my name fly all across the screen!

Nice to see someone else appreciates the good ole days!