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#1
Reverting an admin to a limited user?
Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this question. I'm not sure where else it should go, and since it's related to security I thought I might get the best answer here.
I've been running on a default account for Win 7 Professional (x64) since the RTM was released. I thought, at the time of installation, that the default user was not the administrator - But I've found that I was wrong on that point. I have the UAC set to maximum, by the way.
Anyhow, I'm interested in setting my user as a LUA now, and I've found fairly thorough instructions on how to do so online here. Before I take this plunge, though, I'm concerned about the impact this might have on my system stability and security. I have a number of applications that require administrator access during automated procedures - ESET NOD32 autoupdates itself, and obviously needs Admin access to do the automated scans that I have scheduled - not to mention the realtime access it requires. EVGA precision tool and RealTemp require Admin access to run. Beyond that, some programs autoupdate themselves, or record log files - Steam and my IM Client both engage in this behavior.
If I were to change my existing account to a LUA, would that break a lot of these programs? Would I still be able to run the programs I usually do, or patch the programs I need to? Would all of my programs fail to save logs, or fail to patch themselves, because they no longer have appropriate access levels?
In effect, would taking an administrator down to a standard user effectively break all of the applications installed under the Admin user?
Running as a standard user seems like a good security measure, but if it compromises stability and functionality, I'd like to avoid that before I fiddle with things I shouldn't.