User Account Control: Annoying, but Secure?

[Dortz]

If you have installed 'anything' in vista, you have encountered one of these 'This program is trying to run 'blah blah blah' and windows needs your authorization to do this.' And you need to click to respond. You have just encountered the User Account Control. It is a new 'feature' in vista, that helps protect users from having unauthorized scripts run. basically, if you didn't just start trying to install a program, update a driver, or change a security setting, then don't click 'authorize', click 'cancel.'

but honestly, does 'anyone' actually read what those alerts say? This is why I just turned it off, because I don't typically pay attention to anything windows has to say to me. I realized that if an authorization window popped up saying 'windows was told to run the script 'murder your computer and steal all your stuff' i would just click through it an not even read it. The way this would work better is if you had automatic authorization for stuff like installing programs through install shield and altering security settings. If somehow, it could register when an unexpected script was trying to run, I would pay more attention, but when it barks about 'everything' i do, it's annoying, and that defeats the entire idea behind the UAC concept.

[jwenting]

sigh...
If Microsoft don't install security systems people complain about that.
If Microsoft do install them people complain about having security systems that request permission to do things.

Guess it's a no-win situation for them, whatever they do people are going to complain about it.

[Dortz]

That's just the problem with being at the top. People attack your product any way they can.

but a system to tell if we wanted to install something or not automactically wouldn't be that hard.

[TheNNS]

It's actually a secure system. This new method only allows programs run that you let run. If some unwanted software wants to run it'll ask you permission, and the user will mostly likeley click cancel. I'm not complaining about it. If people understood how that works, maybe they wouldn't complain so much.

[Dortz]

you underestimate the user's uncanny ability to be stunningly retarded. I'm not saying I, your you, or most of the people here. I'm saying 'they' will. the wonderful people who jam envelopes into dell printers thinking they can print designs on them, then wonder why the thing is jammed. and the people who think office is the operating system... They will likely be irritated with UAC, and just give permission over and over, without thinking.

[jbennet]

theyy just click yes like with licence agreements - one day someones gonna invent a virus with an EULA and oh then they will be sorry....

[Dani]

If you ask me, I think the UAC is a rip of the Mac OS X feature that has you type in the admin password to do certain system-level tasks. Regardless, I keep UAC disabled because it's a pain in the neck.

[Ancient Dragon]

Thanks to this thread I found out why Notepad was unable to save an existing text file. I kept getting errors that it could not save the file even though I read the messages carefully and answeres Yes to them all. After reading this thread I went to control panel and turned User Account Control off. Now I no longer get those annoying messages and Notepad saves the file(s) ok without error. :) :) :) :) :) :)

[lasher511]

I think Mac makes a pretty good point about this new popup system at www.apple.com/getamac in the security video.

I think you are right though we may know why something like this is needed but then most of the people on here are not your standard computer user and that most of your standard users wont understand.

[indigo196]

I personally do not see why the UAC prompts are more annoying than the prompts in OS X or in Linux (sudo / gksu / etc).

The security feature is there and it works very well. I watched a virus that ripped through XP SP2 fully patched w/ Symantec up-to-date get stopped cold by an unpatched Vista install with no AV solution.