Disable UAC - Windows 7
- Thread starter Johnobody
- Start date
This, it got disabled when I was at work on all new computers as well.
I've never really had it enabled but all I remember is trying to open something and it not letting me without clicking OK or something.
Anyone with it disabled isn't allowed to make threads here with titles along the lines of "Damn, got some malware, but how!?" and "PC acting strangely, help pls" 
There will come a time when even Microsoft stops supporting non-UAC configurations.
There will come a time when even Microsoft stops supporting non-UAC configurations.
Anyone with it disabled isn't allowed to make threads here with titles along the lines of "Damn, got some malware, but how!?" and "PC acting strangely, help pls"
Or "I'm pro enough to disable UAC but I still need A/V".
I've yet to see a single thread on this forum where a problem has arisen from having UAC disabled! I haven't read every thread though but I've read enough since UAC was released on vista
They really won't. If they did then it would be via not allowing you to turn off UAC so basically anyone with UAC disabled would be violating the EULA they agreed to when installing the OS. As long as the option exists, they won't question it.
NathanE said:
They really won't. If they did then it would be via not allowing you to turn off UAC so basically anyone with UAC disabled would be violating the EULA they agreed to when installing the OS. As long as the option exists, they won't question it.
I've yet to see a single thread on this forum where a problem has arisen from having UAC disabled! I haven't read every thread though but I've read enough since UAC was released on vista
Plenty of malware threads. No doubt a couple of them had UAC disabled.
Problem? UAC level?
LOL yes they will... you really think UAC will still be "optional" on such things as Windows 8 ARM tablet PCs? Of course it won't! And they might even go a step further than that. Maybe even the Win8 editions for traditional Intel desktops will make UAC mandatory. It WILL happen sooner or later.
Why do you need 7zip to run with elevation? Trying to extract things directly to Program Files by any chance? Why not have a separate bespoke folder for hackily installed tools/apps. Separation of concerns and all that...
I've heard Microsoft guys at conferences explicitly state that in the future UAC will be mandatory.
They're running it in "training mode" at the moment. It was primarily put there to wean lazy software developers off of assuming they have admin rights all the time. That programme is largely completed now. So now it really is a case of the ball being back in Microsoft's court. They have the option now of making it mandatory whenever they want. Given that Windows 8 is already looking to make a break from the past in hundreds of areas, it is likely they will bundle the UAC change(s) with that OS. And with all the huge and far more significant changes coming in that OS it would go completely unnoticed. Because everyone is used to UAC these days and the prompts just keep getting less and less as developers keep improving and updating their software. The prompts are getting so rare that they only time they appear is for system-wide program installations and for malware installations.
Spotify is good example. A while back it needed elevation to install an upgrade. At some point last year they fixed this because it no longer does. UAC best practices adoption has reached a critical mass.
They're running it in "training mode" at the moment. It was primarily put there to wean lazy software developers off of assuming they have admin rights all the time. That programme is largely completed now. So now it really is a case of the ball being back in Microsoft's court. They have the option now of making it mandatory whenever they want. Given that Windows 8 is already looking to make a break from the past in hundreds of areas, it is likely they will bundle the UAC change(s) with that OS. And with all the huge and far more significant changes coming in that OS it would go completely unnoticed. Because everyone is used to UAC these days and the prompts just keep getting less and less as developers keep improving and updating their software. The prompts are getting so rare that they only time they appear is for system-wide program installations and for malware installations.
Spotify is good example. A while back it needed elevation to install an upgrade. At some point last year they fixed this because it no longer does. UAC best practices adoption has reached a critical mass.
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Have never read any threads either, where people have got malware etc. Just because they had uac disabled. As I said been using, my security setup since the rc of 7 and no problems what so ever *touch wood* . The only threads I ever read where people have spyware/viruses is due to them not having an AV or just a crap one installed and/or no firewall at all.
Besides, a couple of my friends laptops have got infected despite them having uac enabled.
Oh and imo AV is essential, no matter how knowledgeable you may be with software, computers etc. there have been a few sites (not dodgy ones either) where the banners have triggered nod's real time protection and instantly blocked or quarantined the spyware/virus.
. The only threads I ever read where people have spyware/viruses is due to them not having an AV or just a crap one installed and/or no firewall at all. Besides, a couple of my friends laptops have got infected despite them having uac enabled.
Oh and imo AV is essential, no matter how knowledgeable you may be with software, computers etc. there have been a few sites (not dodgy ones either) where the banners have triggered nod's real time protection and instantly blocked or quarantined the spyware/virus.
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Exactly this. It doesn't matter what safeguards are in place. UAC isn't a surefire way to protect a PC, neither is the most expensive or popular AV package.
The only surefire way is common sense and it doesn't matter what's left enabled, a user without common sense is a user that cannot benefit from protection mechanisms, mandatory or otherwise.
I had to use www.join.me last week to wipe out many instances of adware that my cousin had installed on her desktop because she "just wanted to use the software so clicked yes to everything". It took over an hour to get back to normal but thankfully she's on a stable BB connection with Virgin Media so the pain was less harsh.
That's because they (stupidly) don't feel the need to mention it or, when asked, they deny ever disabling it. The former are those who are still in denial that UAC provides any level of protection for them, and the latter are those who actually start using UAC once they've reinstalled or cleaned the infection.
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I'd consider my all-round PC knowledge to be well above the "average user" frequently referred to here, and I'd certainly like to believe I'm not an idiot, but I'm emphatically *not* a security expert - I do know enough however to be aware that there are some massively sophisticated threats out there, created by people whose knowledge of the subject is as far beyond mine as Steven Hawking's knowledge of astrophysics is beyond Jedward's. To pretend otherwise would be arrogant and naive in the extreme.
The whole point of UAC is to prevent code from executing *without your knowledge and approval* - it might be stating the obvious, but to read some of the posts here it really does bear repeating. If you don't *know* that your computer has been compromised, and the malicious code is allowed to go about its business unhindered and with no obvious indication of anything unusual happening, you might only become aware of it at some point in the future when (for example) your credit card is unexpectedly declined.
I'm not advocating paranoia and obviously UAC isn't a foolproof panacea (nothing is), but it helps considerably in swinging the odds in my favour, and on that basis it more than justifies the occasional very minor inconvenience IMO.
