UAC is Useless in Windows 7

UAC's purpose is not to judge if a user's 'allow' action could be bad for the system. It is just a layer of security put in place to stop changes being made to the system without the user's knowledge and intervention. Other programs are installed on most computers that will hopefully detect, warn against or prevent bad moves being made.

The UAC alert still comes up whether running as Admin or a Limited User. A difference with a Limited User account in W.7 is that a password is needed to allow the process to run. Entering a password can be a nuisance for a person who is the only user of a computer because password or not, a conscious decision has already been made to run the process. For this reason, I prefer to run as Admin and not to be troubled by a password being needed.

However, I still think it best to have UAC operational purely because it does give an alert that a change to the Admin account is about to take place. Nothing unknown about is going to happen. An extra mouse-click seems a small price to pay for this layer of security.

The clue is in the wording: User Access Control.

In other words, UAC has little to do with virus protection, but everything to do with preventing unauthorised access to your computer.

Keeping away from dodgy sites (particularly porn), using a standard account with UAC switched on along with an effective anti-virus program such as Microsoft Security Essentials and using Windows/Microsoft updates should keep your computer relatively safe.

Windows forums everywhere are full of posts from supposedly computer-savvy folk who want advice on cleaning an infected computer. Chances are, they've clicked on a link because they were prompted to do so, which is so wrong.

After all, you wouldn't go into a burning building if you were asked to, so why click on a link that you know nothing about just because you were asked to?

Common sense, UAC and a good anti-virus program should keep most computers safe. Failure to use less is really saying you get what you deserve.

Hi,

Having said that, I am single user on my laptop and I use admin account etc. If i switch to a limited account and leave the admin account alone, does it provides any speed benefits ?

Thanks.