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Published
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October 15, 2009 |
Last Updated |
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October 15, 2009 |
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Introduction |
With Windows Vista, Microsoft introduced a new feature
called User Account Control (UAC). UAC helps prevent
potentially harmful programs from making changes to your
computer. Unfortunately, it was one of the most annoying features in Windows Vista
as it was continuously showing its dialog box asking
for user's permission to accept the changes and continue
or cancel it.... this led many
people to turn off this feature the moment they touch a
Vista machine. However, With Windows 7, Microsoft did hear to us, the
customers, and changed the way User Account Control
works, but keeping in mind enhanced security and
ease-of-use.
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Here is a reminder of UAC dialog box :

With Windows Vista, a user only had two options
to follow with User Account Control, either keep it
On or completely Off. Whereas with
Windows 7, users have more control on UAC, now we can
set UAC to our preferred level or even disable it
completely, plus the UAC user interface provides
more information about each level.
To configure UAC, follow the below steps
:
- Click on Start
> then click on
Control Panel

- From the Control Panel page,
click on System and Security

- Under the Action Center,
click on Change User Account
Control settings

alternatively, to open UAC,
click on Start
, then type uac inside the
Search programs and files
textbox

- The User Account Control
Settings window will open, as you
can see, by default it is set to
notify you whenever a program tries
to make changes to your computer.

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You can alter the default level
using the slider, going up with the slider will give
more level of protection but more pop up dialog boxes
will be displayed for you asking for your permission to
continue.

going down with the slider, one
level below the Default level, in
this level, the UAC will notify you
with changes but will not dim your
desktop.

To
turn UAC Off, go with the slider till the bottom
where it says Never notify then
click on OK,
confirm the changes by clicking on
OK with the UAC
dialog box. A message will be
display that you will have to
restart your machine so that changes
( Turning UAC Off ) take effect.


The following table which can be found in
Windows Help and Support, provides you with a
description of the UAC settings and the potential
impact of each setting on the security of your
computer.
Always notify
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You'll be
notified before programs make
changes to your computer or to
Windows settings that
require administrator
permissions.
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When you're
notified, your desktop will be
dimmed, and you must either
approve or deny the request in
the UAC dialog box before you
can do anything else on your
computer. The dimming of your
desktop is referred to as the
secure
desktop because other
programs can't run while it's
dimmed.
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This is the most
secure setting.
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When you're
notified, you should carefully
read the contents of each dialog
box before allowing changes to
be made to your computer.
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Notify me only when programs try
to make changes to my computer
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You'll be
notified before programs make
changes to your computer that
require administrator
permissions.
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You won't be
notified if you try to make
changes to
Windows settings that
require administrator
permissions.
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You'll be
notified if a program outside of
Windows tries to make
changes to a
Windows setting.
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It's usually
safe to allow changes to be made
to
Windows settings without
you being notified. However,
certain programs that come with
Windows can have commands
or data passed to them, and
malicious software can take
advantage of this by using these
programs to install files or
change settings on your
computer. You should always be
careful about which programs you
allow to run on your computer.
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Notify me only when programs try
to make changes to my computer (do not dim my
desktop)
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You'll be
notified before programs make
changes to your computer that
require administrator
permissions.
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You won't be
notified if you try to make
changes to
Windows settings that
require administrator
permissions.
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You'll be
notified if a program outside of
Windows tries to make
changes to a
Windows setting.
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This setting is
the same as "Notify me only when
programs try to make changes to
my computer," but you're not
notified on the secure desktop.
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Because the UAC
dialog box isn't on the secure
desktop with this setting, other
programs might be able to
interfere with the visual
appearance of the dialog box.
This is a small security risk if
you already have a malicious
program running on your
computer.
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Never notify
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You won't be
notified before any changes are
made to your computer. If you're
logged on as an administrator,
programs can make changes to
your computer without you
knowing about it.
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If you're logged
on as a standard user, any
changes that require the
permissions of an administrator
will automatically be denied.
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If you select
this setting, you'll need to
restart the computer to complete
the process of turning off UAC.
Once UAC is off, people that log
on as administrator will always
have the permissions of an
administrator.
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This is the
least secure setting. When you
set UAC to never notify, you
open up your computer to
potential security risks.
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If you set UAC
to never notify, you should be
careful about which programs you
run, because they'll have the
same access to the computer as
you do. This includes reading
and making changes to protected
system areas, your personal
data, saved files, and anything
else stored on the computer.
Programs will also be able to
communicate and transfer
information to and from anything
your computer connects with,
including the Internet.
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Summary
Overall, the UAC experience is more improved in
Windows 7 than it was in Windows Vista, and most users will
keep it Turned ON this time with Windows 7 and keep the
default level, which provides a mix of protection
and ease-of-use.
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