User Account Control: Most Annoying Feature Ever?

[TomBrooklyn]

Is User Account Control the most annoying Windows feature ever? Or close to it?


When I click on an icon to open a program, it's because I want it to open. I don't want to be asked if I want to open it. If I didn't want to open it, I wouldn't have tried to open it.

I set User Account Control to the second to lowest setting, where it ominously warned that me and my computer were needlessly exposing ourselves to grave danger. Then it continued to queery me to confirm if I wanted to open programs that I wanted to open.

The latest interation of this confirmation was with CrapCleaner. I have now set User Account Control to the lowest possible setting.


Out of curiosity, I was wondering if this program has any redeeming virtues; or if I am not alone in assessing it to be just an annoyance best circumvented?

 

[zigzag3143]

IMHO, I am with you. Its the first thing I turn off on a new install. For the average user it may give a bit more security, but for me, Ugh!

 

[Brink]

Hello Tom,

Yes, UAC can be a pain if you do a lot that requires elevatation to run.

The whole purpose of UAC is to alert you for permission before any program is allowed to run elevated (run as administrator). When a program runs elevated, it will have full control and access to everything on your computer. You can just imagine the damage that could be done to your system if say malware was to run elevated in the background and you never got a UAC prompt to have a chance to deny permission and stop it from running in the first place. If you turn off UAC, then you will never have a chance to allow or deny anything that wants to run elevated on your system. :shock:

I repeat, yeah UAC can be a pain, but how long does it really take and how many times do you really have to click on Yes/No in a UAC prompt compared to having that sort of last line of security??

It's something that you should weigh carefully before just disabling.

For more details and information about UAC:

• How to Change UAC Notification Settings in Windows 7
• User Account Control Step-by-Step Guide
• Mark Russinovich on Windows 7 UAC - Windows Security Blog - The Windows Blog
• User Account Control: Inside Windows 7 User Account Control
• User Account Control - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[pparks1]

I honestly don't run many applications at all which need to elevate. And then they do, it's 1 second and 1 click, no big deal. I leave UAC on. I've had a few instances where I am running something and then all of sudden, for no good reason, I get a prompt saying a program wants to elevate to admin. And that's where the annoyance becomes the feature, because I click no and try to figure out which program is trying to do something unwanted.

Edit: of course, I'm also a linux admin who is VERY used to running as a standard user and typing sudo command and providing a password for everything that needs administrative access. So, compared to this system, UAC isn't even a bother.

 

[Golden]

I'm with pparks1 on this : I've just got so used to it, and I understand the benefits as outlined by Brink.

The analogy of a Linux user is perfect - you usually don't run as ROOT, so UAC on Windows is akin to running as a STANDARD user requiring SUDO and a password.

 

[MWRed]

I've learned to live with it. Yeah, it's annoying, and I really hated it at first, but a single click a couple times a day isn't all that big of a deal.
It's not as if it asks for every single program. CCleaner is the only one I notice on a regular basis.

I will say however, the idea of having a "whitelist" that can be modified would be nice. Only issue with that is something adding itself to the list without the user knowing.

 

[elstupido]

It will save your ass:shock:

 

[Frank1]

In my opinion, the annoyance is worth it. Stop to think about something: Are we a little bit spoiled (and, yes, I’m including myself) when it comes to how many times we have to click our mouse? Actually, how many seconds, or fraction of a second, does it take to do an extra click or two? ??

 

[Borg 386]

I think every layer of protection you can get is good, especially in nowadays web environment. Suppose something sneaks onto your PC and you're unaware of that, the UAC may just warn you about that.

As Frank1 said, 1 or 2 seconds isn't going to make a big dent in your day. When I fix someones PC, I usually put FF on it with NoScript. Even though I explain the benefits of having this plug in, people tend not to like it because "it's an extra click or 2" to get something to go.

Yepperz, I think we are a little spoiled

 

[seavixen32]

I leave it at its default settings and very rarely get prompted for anything.

In fact, I didn't know it was there until this thread reminded me!

 

[pincushion]

I have UAC switched off as I found it a pain personally - I have never had any malware and I am not a saint when surfing but I don't do p2p or search for/use warez or ever open email attachments from an unknown source. I also run as admin for the same reason as not using UAC - I like to be in control of what I do and see on my computer. Have run as admin for many years without problems. I do image my system regularly but have never needed to restore due to malware but if you do lower your protection I think imaging is essential.

Just my experiences. :huh:

 

[elstupido]

I have UAC switched off as I found it a pain personally - I have never had any malware and I am not a saint when surfing but I don't do p2p or search for/use warez or ever open email attachments from an unknown source. I also run as admin for the same reason as not using UAC - I like to be in control of what I do and see on my computer. Have run as admin for many years without problems. I do image my system regularly but have never needed to restore due to malware but if you do lower your protection I think imaging is essential.

Just my experiences. :huh:

What is your security set-up?

 

[Brink]

I have UAC switched off as I found it a pain personally - I have never had any malware and I am not a saint when surfing but I don't do p2p or search for/use warez or ever open email attachments from an unknown source. I also run as admin for the same reason as not using UAC - I like to be in control of what I do and see on my computer. Have run as admin for many years without problems. I do image my system regularly but have never needed to restore due to malware but if you do lower your protection I think imaging is essential.

Just my experiences. :huh:

It's your choice of course, but just to note that having UAC turned on actually gives you more control of your system by giving you the ability to allow or deny permission of anything to run as administrator first.

 

[TomBrooklyn]

yeah UAC can be a pain, but how long does it really take and how many times do you really have to click on Yes/No in a UAC prompt compared to having that sort of last line of security??

It's something that you should weigh carefully before just disabling.

Ah, my problem is I am in the process of setting up a new computer for my own use with a new copy of Windows 7 and a fresh copy of many applications. So I've been seeing this UAC warning ad nauseum.

Once I get the bulk of loading apps complete, I'll turn the UAC back on. Probably, it will only have to pop up occasionally after that. I can live with that, and I like the added security if I'm not being prompted unnecessarily 20 times/day.

 

[Petey7]

With UAC set to the default level, you will almost never see it. When doing a new install, turning it off while installing programs you already know are safe isn't a problem, as long as you remember to turn it back on.

My parents both got new laptops a couple years ago. At first my dad was getting annoyed with the UAC prompts as well, until my mom suddenly started having it pop-up every five minutes one day. She kept clicking No and had me come look at it. Ran a scan with MSE and it found a trojan. After that my parents keep UAC set to the maximam setting on both computers. So, yes, it does have its redeming qualities.

 

[karlsnooks]

Answer depends upon the user and the situation:

I tried living with it for along time.

After extensive reading, you might find the article by Mark in that list of links that Brink gives interesting, then:
I've shut it down. and am far happier.

 

[JMH]

Tom, perceptions / tolerance levels vary with people & their personal situation.

Here UAC has been used on all computers since Vista days.
We do NOT find it intrusive or a waste of time.

IMHO the benefits outweigh the perceived negatives.

 

[C-11]

I turned off the UAC when I had Vista but left in on with Win 7.

New option in CCleaner as of 5/24/2012

Added option to skip User Account Control (UAC) warning.

As for other programs Elevated Program Shortcut without UAC Prompt - Create - Windows 7 Forums

 

[pincushion]

I have UAC switched off as I found it a pain personally - I have never had any malware and I am not a saint when surfing but I don't do p2p or search for/use warez or ever open email attachments from an unknown source. I also run as admin for the same reason as not using UAC - I like to be in control of what I do and see on my computer. Have run as admin for many years without problems. I do image my system regularly but have never needed to restore due to malware but if you do lower your protection I think imaging is essential.

Just my experiences. :huh:

What is your security set-up?

Hi

I use NIS 2011 at the moment, and have used Norton NIS for quite a while on this and another XP system and also use SpywareBlaster and have Spybot S & D but it doesn't get much use. NIS seems to to work for me. I use CCleaner regularly and although HiJackThis is not apparently that safe to use with W7 I still use that but mainly to monitor those programs insisting on installing what I don't want e.g. updating automatically. I install all Windows critical and recommended updates as soon as they appear and let Norton update at least every day. I image my system regularly perhaps now every two weeks or so and none of my restores has failed - have done dozens - so in my mind the system is as reliable as I want it to be. This works for me but I wouldn't recommend it to others unless they were comfortable tinkering and as I said do have a reliable method of restoring. Perhaps I just use too many tools that require admin permissions and UAC is just another block in the way.

I don't use System restore or Hibernation and use Macrium Reflect free edition for imaging and SyncBack free edition for backing up data to a second internal HDD and to USB drives.

I use IE9 for general surfing since I quite like the way it works. I know it is not the best but generally I am happy with it. For any other surfing I use the latest version of Firefox in Private mode with cache in memory and use Noscript. I don't have Java installed and use Foxit for PDFs. Since Scroogle vanished (shame) I use Startpage for Homepage now - have got fed up with Google and trying to avoid triggering pop-ups! I use RoboForm for storing web passwords and Truecrypt for personal data storage.

My system works fine for me but what we do with our machines and what knowledge we have is probably the most relevant so as I said previously I wouldn't recommend it outright but lowering the system protection can work if you are careful.

or your choice :huh:

 

[pincushion]

I have UAC switched off as I found it a pain personally - I have never had any malware and I am not a saint when surfing but I don't do p2p or search for/use warez or ever open email attachments from an unknown source. I also run as admin for the same reason as not using UAC - I like to be in control of what I do and see on my computer. Have run as admin for many years without problems. I do image my system regularly but have never needed to restore due to malware but if you do lower your protection I think imaging is essential.

Just my experiences. :huh:

It's your choice of course, but just to note that having UAC turned on actually gives you more control of your system by giving you the ability to allow or deny permission of anything to run as administrator first.

I am relatively intelligent and hopefully quite sensible too so logically everything tells me that lowering system protection is foolish, unwise and unnecessary but my experiences tell me otherwise so I'm afraid it is convenience over safety for me. When I fall flat on my face I assure you I will be the first to point the finger - directly at me!