Tip: Turn off swith to secure desktop UAC

[MMaster23]

You should use UAC! Not disable it!

Do you find it annoying whenever UAC pops up and your screen flikkers when using Glass Areo?

This is because it switches back to "secure desktop" wich does not feature Areo offcourse. The flikker you see, is the swith from Areo to Areo basic.

You can turn this off (with an possible security hazard?) using the Policy editor.

Goto control panel --> administratieve tools --> Local Security Policy

(UAC kicks in again ^^)

Browse to Local policies --> Security Options.

Find "User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation" and disable it by double clicking it and choosing Disabled. (it's the one-to-last option in the listing).

Close the Policy editor and launch something that kicks in UAC. Just run the policy editor again. You'll see UAC again but this time with the glass theme and no switch in UI.

This really speeds up the whole Vista expierence.

Just a note: They built Secure Desktop for a reason (i guess). Turning it off will increase the speed of your UI when using UAC but I cannot say at what cost. For all I know you may break the entire security layer of UAC. Use at own risk!

[ShaneSparky_YYZ]

I think the only reason why it does it is so you can't click anywhere else. It may break UAC a bit, but I hate the flicker. Thanks for the tip :)

[I8PP]

edit: oops... misunderstood the whole thing. move along children :shiftyninja:

The point of the secure desktop is to prevent any cloning of the cursor or keystrokes to click one way or another.

[primexx]

Just disable UAC and disable the computer unsafe notification. Prefect!

[GeeZuZz]

Just disable UAC and disable the computer unsafe notification. Prefect!

Yup. Theres no way i will ever use a feature that is that fantastic annoying. As if it wasn't anyoing out of the box, the latest Nvidia drivers makes both my monitors TURN OFF for 7 seconds, before they turn on again and the dialog is shown.

Thats 10 seconds wasted every time that dialog appears! Which it does every 10 seconds if you are trying to configure your computer :wacko:

[kl33per]

Please use UAC. The people turning it off are thr ones MS are trying to protect. It is an important security feature that is implemented by virtually every other OS out there.

I8PP is right, switching to secure desktop is used to prevent any faking of the mouse pointer.

[Tech_Dude_5000]

thanks! :D

[andothfc]

I would use it were it not it's ubiquity. I create folders and move files a lot and there's no way I'm going through the UAC rigmarole everytime.

[Malisk]

I would use it were it not it's ubiquity. I create folders and move files a lot and there's no way I'm going through the UAC rigmarole everytime.

But that has to be system or non-user folders in that case?

Can't you start working in your home folder like Windows wants you to? :-/

I have a feeling the UAC is as much of a problem as the users' traditions are.

Working in home folders to avoid security hazards (and prompts) is a given in many other operating systems than Windows.

[:: Lyon ::]

I turned UAC off.. can't stand the annoyance ^^

Never had my computer hacked or anything in my entire life anyway, so I feel brave!

[Fatman]

Just a note: They built Secure Desktop for a reason (i guess). Turning it off will increase the speed of your UI when using UAC but I cannot say at what cost. For all I know you may break the entire security layer of UAC. Use at own risk!

...Secure Desktop runs with reduces privileges, doesn't it? Surely that's the ideal context for a UAC-triggering event. If I understand this correctly you'd be compromising the integrity of the UAC feature by using this tweak.

[andothfc]

Maybe it's hubris but I think people with an good understanding of how to keep their computers secure have little need for this. I hope it helps those that haven't got a clue, but I think people will get very sick of this very soon.

[MrCobra]

People complain that there isn't enough security. When more of it is put in place they b*itch about that too. Go figure.

[andothfc]

It's the obtrusive nature that people hate.

[Tech_Dude_5000]

I would use it were it not it's ubiquity. I create folders and move files a lot and there's no way I'm going through the UAC rigmarole everytime.

you dont have to. Just do it once and you dont have to do it again

[aristofeles]

Please use UAC. The people turning it off are thr ones MS are trying to protect. It is an important security feature that is implemented by virtually every other OS out there.

I8PP is right, switching to secure desktop is used to prevent any faking of the mouse pointer.

People who turn it off normally knows what they are doing, and knows how to use the OS without a problem. I think they are trying to protect the rest of the users...

[Stonkwell Bogtrotter]

Please use UAC. The people turning it off are thr ones MS are trying to protect.

Rubbish. The ones turning it off are the ones who know about security.

The ones not turning it off are the bozos of the World who actually need something like this!

[Evolution]

UAC is incredibly helpful. If you're going to turn off UAC, you may as well turn off your antivirus and firewall while you're at it since you are effectively increasing your chances of being attacked or infected.

The reason a lot of worms and viruses create so much destruction is due to the fact that most users are on an admin account, and therefore are giving all rights/permissions to the virus/worm. If you really hate UAC, please only disable some of the features and not all of them - this can be done via the group policy editor.

Microsoft is trying their best to make it as unintrusive as possible i.e. if you delete a file in documents, UAC won't prompt you. If you really hate all the prompts when deleting files, then at the very least disable the confirmation to delete from the recycling bin since UAC will ask you again :)

[primexx]

Please use UAC. The people turning it off are thr ones MS are trying to protect. It is an important security feature that is implemented by virtually every other OS out there.

I8PP is right, switching to secure desktop is used to prevent any faking of the mouse pointer.

You'd expect people turning it off to know a decent ammount about computers since they could turn it off in the first place...

People complain that there isn't enough security. When more of it is put in place they b*itch about that too. Go figure.

Well, instead of using things that are counter intuitive, they could have just built the windows core to be more secure...

UAC is incredibly helpful. If you're going to turn off UAC, you may as well turn off your antivirus and firewall while you're at it since you are effectively increasing your chances of being attacked or infected.

The reason a lot of worms and viruses create so much destruction is due to the fact that most users are on an admin account, and therefore are giving all rights/permissions to the virus/worm. If you really hate UAC, please only disable some of the features and not all of them - this can be done via the group policy editor.

Microsoft is trying their best to make it as unintrusive as possible i.e. if you delete a file in documents, UAC won't prompt you. If you really hate all the prompts when deleting files, then at the very least disable the confirmation to delete from the recycling bin since UAC will ask you again :)

Uh, no. UAC just asks for your confirmation for every little action, a Firewall blocks unauthorised access and anti virus protects against, detects, and removes viruses. VERY large difference.

[GamblerFEXonlin]

Can't you start working in your home folder like Windows wants you to? :-/

What kind of power-user are you? My "home folder" can't easily span over several partitions and drives. Also recent games and applications love to put their settings and savegames right there, under "My Documents." In Vista "My Documents" seem to have become "Home Folder."

That why I let D:\ act as "My Documents" or "Home Folder," just not associated as "My Documents" so games doesn't mess it up with savegames.

Microsoft hasn't been any good at this part. Someone at work lost all his email because a friend forgot to copy Application Data folder before a reformat. That folder is hidden too... In my opinion Windows is one big mess.

http://jooh.no/programs_on_d.html

Oh and the start menu also gets good and messy after a while, I have a friend where it covers his entire screen. I whish they could have a "Start - Games - Battlefield 2.lnk" standard and force developers to use it. Ubuntu has something similar.

Edited September 4, 2006 by GamblerFEXonlin

[GeeZuZz]

Uh, no. UAC just asks for your confirmation for every little action, a Firewall blocks unauthorised access and anti virus protects against, detects, and removes viruses. VERY large difference.

You are absolutely right.

With a firewall, the attacker will in 99% of the cases not be able to attack without the user's help.

To attack a firewalled PC you need the users to start the application/virus. This is where UAC really comes into play. And i can explain to you why UAC is not that effective: Ok, you have Mr. stupid is sitting on his computer when the screen suddenly flashes with a message. Here is what Mr. Stupid thinks:

What is this? Unauthorize blablablebla security? I don't understand, or want to understand - i just want to continue. From previous experiences, clicking Yes on dialogs lets me continue, so i'll do that.

Conclusion: UAC won't help the really stupid people. And it will not help the experienced people, because they already know what they are about to do.

I understand why MS is doing this, it's because the stupid media is making fun of them because of their stupid users. They want to prove that they do think about security.

In my eyes, XP is rock solid - as long as you know how to use it.

BTW: I really don't understand why MS is not teaching their users how to do stuff right, instead of only stopping them when they are about to do it wrong.

How hard would it be to include a serious interactive learning guide that teaches the users about the most common security threats, and how to avoid it? I mean - why can't they just learn the users that an attachment in an email IS 100% SURE A VIRUS, unless you know what it is? MS rather choose to warn the user with a silly dialog every time.

Edited September 4, 2006 by GeeZuZz

[MMaster23]

Can't you start working in your home folder like Windows wants you to? :-/

What kind of power-user are you? My "home folder" can't easily span over several partitions and drives. Also recent games and applications love to put their settings and savegames right there, under "My Documents." In Vista "My Documents" seem to have become "Home Folder."

That why I let D:\ act as "My Documents" or "Home Folder," just not associated as "My Documents" so games doesn't mess it up with savegames.

Microsoft hasn't been any good at this part. Someone at work lost all his email because a friend forgot to copy Application Data folder before a reformat. That folder is hidden too... In my opinion Windows is one big mess.

http://jooh.no/programs_on_d.html

Oh and the start menu also gets good and messy after a while, I have a friend where it covers his entire screen. I whish they could have a "Start - Games - Battlefield 2.lnk" standard and force developers to use it. Ubuntu has something similar.

Go steal someone else's topic! This topic is about UAC and secure desktop. Not about user profiles of userdata storage. You can easily set your other drives to be your own folder.

Btw start menu thingy --> did you even bother to open "Games" in Vista. Completely revamped with seperate folders and rating tools. It has it's own "center".

Your start menu is just like everything on your PERSONAL computer your responsibility! if YOU let your start menu become a mess, YOUR fault. Just order it yourself into apps/games/porn/warez/etc etc. Look at how small your start menu is. Plus uninstalling some apps from time to time will help solve this problem.

Or buy a bigger screen haha

[Dashel]

Can't you start working in your home folder like Windows wants you to? :-/

Yea, not really happy with that solution when I use multiple drives/partitions.

Plus, after one of your 'users' has clicked 'Proceed' 20-30x do you really think they are reading it anymore? The average user is generally so lazy as to be illiterate. They see a button, they click OK. Maybe, just maybe, if it was as annoying as *nix/X and made you type in the password you might be on to something but it doesn't.

[»X«]

Heres what I thought of UAC from another thread.

Well heres my thoughts on UAC (those annoying confirmations popups when you do anything).

Its just insane. As an experienced user like most on here, the thought of having to wade through boxes of yes's and no's is lunacy. Wouldnt mind so much if it was done only in certain situations like trying to delete system files and such. But simply deleting something or trying to copy a file over another like it, causes the popups to commence.

so imagine what it will be like for new users, or users like my dear old mother who is right at the bottom of the computer literacy chain. She can browse and play card games, but if she used vista im sure she would ask of a way of disabling it. And my dad? He would throw the computer out the window.

Any security feature that interferes with the UI and interupts the end users work is just plain ANNOYING and should be removed. Im sure there are other ways of improving computer security. Besides, never had a single security problem in xp, so why change what isnt broken? First thing I do on a fresh vista install is disable UAC and I have no intention of turning it on, no matter how many people bang on about the security it brings blah blah. For those that have stated "You all moan about not enough security but when you get it you complain!" I say this. We didnt ask for this. Simple. We wanted safer browsing (mainly for IE) we wanted a better firewall and perhaps spyware protection. We didnt want a dialog telling us if we are sure we want to move a file, 3 times!

[Randolph]

Heres what I thought of UAC from another thread.

GOOD post. (Y)