POLL: Do you have Vista UAC enabled or disabled?

Not really. I'm over any security solution. I can work without one. There are people that can do that.

 

computer geeks like all of us don't easily bump into viruses, cause we know all the stuff going on in our computers,
but I think MS wants UAC to protect general users which has less computer knowledge.

 

I'm not a computer geek. I just know what to execute/download and what not to.

 

Yup... True cowboys have no need to be bothered with security.

While computer geeks (or anyone who's careful about what programs to run) are less susceptible to malware than general users, they are still just as susceptible to exploits (buffer overflow attacks, etc.) which could gain control over your entire system if you don't run programs with limited privileges.

 

I tend to agree but that can be a double edged sword. You have to be damn careful as to which things you give permanent permission. As I said in the Compatibility tool messages, you want to be sure that anything you give these permissions is not a potential vector for intrusions.

Gary

 

I have to say, this reminds me of the old car racing adage: there are two types of drivers... those that have hit the wall and those that will.

Enough said.

Gary

 

No offense but, you are dreamin if you and FadeToBlack REALLY believe this. I owned the first computer store in Cincinnati in 1976. I have been dealing with microcomputers since they were literally sold as a bag of parts that you had to solder together yourself. I have been a programmer since 1968, written compilers, interpreters, parts of operating systems, all manner of business applications etc. I know "all the stuff going on in our computers" and I know that running without an antivirus/antispyware app is the equivalent of wearing a "kick me hard" sign on my back. The reason I know this is because I do know all the stuff going on in my computer. I know there are many ways that my machine can become compromised even if I am EXTREMELY careful.

Gary

 

Guys,

I was wonder if MS will put UAC 2 in Window 7 ??? shall we wait see about that.

Dg

 

They most likely will.

 

sorry, but I don't get your point....
how is your great experience in IT related to this UAC topic?

 

It was in response to the messages from FadeToBlack and you quoted above. I was trying to counter the ridiculous notion that folks can avoid the need for antivirus antispyware apps by being "careful". I am suggesting the more computer knowledge you have the more you SHOULD realize that there is no way to be careful enough.

I am not trying to be a jerk about this, but if you think it is possible to just be careful, then you may not have as much REAL computer knowledge as you think. As someone else pointed out, you can't avoid buffer overflow exploits by "being careful". And that is just one of the possible intrusion vectors being exploited today, vectors that you can't protect yourself from by "being careful". There are literally armies of programmers just looking for folks with the thought that they just need to be careful to avoid exploits. They want nothing more than to enlist the machines of folks who think this way into their botnets.

You and FadeToBlack may have been and may continue to be lucky, and I HONESTLY hope you are. But I felt it important to bring this out in then open, so that other folks who read what the two of you said and think that they might be able to just be careful too. I want to disuade THEM of this notion. I am not trying to disuade your or FadeToBlack.

Gary

 

Don't need it, don't want it, it's outta there! Disabled after a clean install and vista and I have been getting along just fine ever since.

 

The reason I have UAC enabled.

 

did this really happened to you?
or is it a photoshop edited pic?

 

LOL.





////////////////////

 

That's a cool image. I can live without an AV. I used to have them before, but right now I don't feel the purpose as I never had any warnings before, when I had one installed.

 

i always used NOD32 and AVG. Not in the same time though.
But man, UAC pissed the hell out of me too many times so I disabled it, and sticked to windows defender and kaspersky firewall...

 

And so that means you will never have any need for one in the future? <shakes head>

Like I said before there are two kinds of race car drivers... those that have hit the wall and those that will. You can of course, do whatever you want with your machine, but please do us all a favor and do not suggest in any way that this is a suggested plan for others to follow.

Gary

 

This may seem like a silly question to the more experienced users, but I am going to ask anyway. Pardon me if this has already been addressed and I just missed it. If you have adequate anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-malware, etc., then why would having UAC disabled be a bad thing? This is a genuine question and not me being a smart@ss.

 

Because no antivirus, antispyware or antimalware is 100% perfect. UAC will alert you when any application attempts to do somethin that requires admin privledges which any thing that gets past your defenses would be attempting to do. It is your last line of defense. It also performs some other functions for you too. If you have multiple user accounts on your machine it virtualizes the registry and program files directory so that each user can have theire own preferences for applications that normally do not support separate preferneces for each user and things like stored games in process for each user.

Gary

 

I'm presuming you have UAC enabled Gary.
:]

 

Gee, how did you ever guess? I have used the Compatability toolkit to enable a couple of utilitiy apps I use so that they do not trigger UAC at boot time. But I don't have any problem with the popups it generates. I like what it does and don't see it as any sort of inconveinence at all.

Gary

 

You can just use Task Scheduler to enable apps to run at startup without having UAC block it or ask for permission.

 

Thank you. That's the answer I thought I would get. I guess I was just looking for reassurance since I never turned my UAC off. Thanks, ScunderiaConchiglia.

 

ScuderiaConchiglia, why would all people need security software installed?

 

Because all people who have a machine connected to the internet or share files with someone who does, are subject to intrusions. Let me ask you, why would you suggest that they don't need security software installed?

Gary

 

My 2 cents on this question:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=230296

 

So if I'm connected to the Internet I'm a potential target for any hacker? If so how would an antivirus help me? Or how would a firewall? Any extra piece of security software adds security risks (as would any extra line of code). Care to shed some light into the need for security software? Many people are willing to prove that you can live without them.
I really appreciate UAC for novice computer users, but for someone with more advanced knowledge it is almost useless.

 

Can't speak for the UAC, but port attacks would have me concerned without some sort of firewall in place..........

 

Windows Firewall is more than enough for basic attacks. From what I can understand (the file it uses) it works as a NAT firewall, therefore making a lot of attacks harmless.

 

Ah, I understand. I wrongly assumed you had disabled it...........

 

Yeah, I use it because it's there and because it works without bugging me. And I also use it because it offers some inbound protection (which I don't usually need), which is the most important to me, as I don't have a router or hardware firewall (like many of you do).
I also use a hosts file, No Script and AdBlock Plus. Besides these things I'm free. The hosts file is very important from my point of view as it also helps blocking adds and stuff like that for all the programs that need Internet access.

 

Disabled it Fired up my newly aquired lappy, and the first thing it did, was popping that beast up. Didnt take me 5 minutes before I had it disabled

Got plenty of buggering with Kaspersky Internet Security

 

I'm not going to get into a pissing match with you, as it would appear you want to do. If you want to live in a delusional state that you can protect yourself without any internet security software or firewall, so be it. But don't expect those of us who understand the severity of such actions to quitely stand by when you make such statements in an open forum like this which is frequented by a significant number of inexperienced folks who might see such "advice" and act on it.

Doesn't this violate your "Any extra piece of security software adds security risks (as would any extra line of code). " edict??? I see just a touch of duplicity here. We're done. I wash my hands of this NONSENSE.

Gary

 

It comes with Windows, so I don't see the extra security risks there. Installing 3rd party software is a different story.
Obviously you are not capable of understanding how I can deal without an AV and a proper firewall, so you're quitting. And no, I will not get infected, nor have I ever got any virus or piece of malware until now. And I don't think it's luck.

 

I have it enabled.
It rarely pops up anyway unless I'm installing something, or if a program needs Admin rights.

 

I remember a girlfriend of mine telling me that she keeps it enabled just so she woun't accidentally **** something up.

 

Neither of those come with Windows. http://noscript.net/ and https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865 (The firewall and hosts file do come with Windows.) But you proudly boasted you had no need for ANY Internet security software.

The only thing I am incapable of understanding is how someone could advocate that folks can be safe without ANY Internet security software. (Especially when that someone latter admits to actually having SOME, albeit clearly insufficient, third party protections.) What I CAN understand is that you are convinced you can. This is a case of that 1% in your signature line.

Go ahead run what ever you want or don't want. But as I said before don't expect folks to sit by while you advocate such actions in a forum full of inexperienced users. Bye.

Gary

 

I'm gonna have to go get some popcorn for this thread! lol

 

I'm not sure if this directly supports or contradicts the point you were making... but it's kind of related... I would say that you CAN be reasonably safe with only the things that come with Windows -- if you actually use them, that is. I'm not saying you can't do better... but you'd be ok with just Windows Firewall, Defender, and UAC. Personally, I also use an antivirus, but I don't consider it really critical as long as you've got a firewall and UAC, and you use good sense about what you download and run.

Using neither the stuff bundled with Windows nor appropriate third-party tools is seriously foolhardy though. (And as I said in previous posts, I consider UAC a necessity even with 3rd-party tools.)

 

The only way to solve this debate is to have a random sampling of hackers try to hack into Scuderia's and Fade to Black's laptops. Whoever gets hacked into the most loses!

 

And if you enable the outbound protection on the firewall, I agree. Too bad that is not enabled by default. But that is clearly not what FadeToBlack was originally saying.

Gary

 

Ummm... errr... I tried to enable it, but I couldn't get it working right... so I'm just using the inbound now... oh well.

I made some rules but it just blocked all outbound traffic no matter what I told it to allow. So I had to shut it off...

I guess I agree with you in theory though.

 

Neither. XP Pro!

 

It appears I am in the minority that has UAC enabled. Before buying my laptop I had read about vista, particularly about the "annoyingness" of UAC so I was prepared for it. Atleast for me it turned out to be nowhere nearly as annoying as it sounded from what I'd read about it. It honestly doesn't bother me if a couple times of day a dialog box pops up asking me if I was the one that opened a program etc.
Combine that with the fact that today's viruses, and other malware are beyond my understanding, and I sometimes find my way into some shady websites, there is no good reason to disable it.

It honestly isn't that annoying, the dialog boxes for confirmation only show up when you are opening apps, all you have to do is click yes, it takes all of half a second. It has actually helped me out a couple of times when I installed software that tried to install a 3rd party add-ware or something of that sort.

In my book it only needs to help once to make it worthwhile.

 

ScuderiaConchiglia, Firefox plug-ins can be hardly called security software. A hosts file...same thing. What are you trying to prove? That I'm wrong? I'm currently running safe and relaxed. How about you? Aren't you tired of daily updates and scans and whatever people like you do?
I'm not saying all people can do it or should do it, all I'm saying is that it's possible. Yes, you can blame me for Windows Firewall being enabled, so be it...My main concern is not attacks, but rather annoying adds (which I solve with a hosts file and AdBlock Plus) and stupid sites loading Java, flash and other plug-ins when I don't need them.
Activating the Windows Firewall's outbound protection is totally useless, as you have to manually enter every rule for every program, as there are no pop-ups (like the ones you get for inbound traffic). The end result would be a disabled outbound protection (as it's now).

 

How do you enable outbound protection?

 

Well if you are patient enough to manually enter every rule for your every program that needs outbound Internet access (which is like almost everything from your PC) you can activate it from the Local Security Policy.
However, unless you want to do that and you're an expert, don't.

 

Hi,
I was wondering if it is possible to disable UAC for one particular program? Every time I boot up I need to give permission for my backup software to run and I was wondering if there was some way to disable it for this particular program.

 

See the discussion of that on page 4 of this thread (starting with post #33).

If you want to run something as administrator at startup or login, you can create a task using Task Scheduler, as explained here: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=616