ENTIRE HDD Erased!

The reason why THIS person got infected is because he dident use his brain and installed programs such as "The ultimate virus" and a "Virutal Girl HD" Screensaver.

InternetLord said:

i am quite aware of what uac does and what zonealarm and counterspy does.

Apparently not.

If you did, you would not have made the statement about UAC.

InternetLord said:

the idea of uac is for people who do not bother to scan files when they are downloaded

~Lordbob

While UAC could use a some more improvements, it is not the end all be all of defense and security.

But by no means should people be instructed to turn it off cause they think it is worthless.
There are advantages to having it on. But am not listing them.

If you don't know what they are and you are instructing people to turn off UAC, then you are misinforming people with a service you know nothing about.

InternetLord said:

please talk about what you know and not what you don't. uac is meant to make the dumb stop and think before they proceed. over half the people using windows machines think they need nothing more than uac. the first time i used vista and left uac on and would get a prompt from it i would either get the same prompt from counterspy, zonealarm or both. after installing all of my drivers and software i finally realized i did not need uac running.

You really have no idea what UAC does do you?

Here:

Microsoft TechNet said:

What is User Account Control?

User Account Control (UAC) is a new security component in Windows Vista. UAC enables users to perform common tasks as non-administrators, called standard users in Windows Vista, and as administrators without having to switch users, log off, or use Run As. A standard user account is synonymous with a user account in Windows XP. User accounts that are members of the local Administrators group will run most applications as a standard user. By separating user and administrator functions while enabling productivity, UAC is an important enhancement for Windows Vista.


When an administrator logs on to a computer running Windows Vista, the user is assigned two separate access tokens. Access tokens, which contain a user's group membership and authorization and access control data, are used by Windows® to control what resources and tasks the user can access. Before Windows Vista, an administrator account received only one access token, which included data to grant the user access to all Windows resources. This access control model did not include any failsafe checks to ensure that users truly wanted to perform a task that required their administrative access token. As a result, malicious software could install on users' computers without notifying the users. (This is sometimes referred to as "silent" installation.)
Even more damaging, because the user is an administrator, the malicious software could use the administrator's access control data to infect core operating system files and, in some instances, to become nearly impossible to remove.
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.
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.
After an administrator logs on, the full administrator access token is not invoked until the user attempts to perform an administrative task.
Contrasting with this process, when a standard user logs on, only a standard user access token is created. This standard user access token is then used to start the desktop.

Source: User Account Control Step-by-Step Guide


Don't argue about something you obviously don't know about.


~Lordbob

P.S. While I did agree with John removing Negative Rep, it is situations like this where I believe it would be beneficial. I will not tolerate advice so wrong it could seriously cause trouble.

InternetLord said:

uac is meant to make the dumb stop and think before they proceed.

I am done with this.

Keep your ignorance, I have no desire for it.

~Lordbob