User Account Control (UAC) extremly annoying

I recently migrated to Vista and those UAC pop-ups are already driving me nuts!!

I used annoying firewalls before that constantly bother me with allow/block pop-ups (hello Comodo...) but Vista's UAC is just ridiculous. Who is this gonna protect anyways? experienced users will only get annoyed by those trivial pop-ups and newbies will click "continue" even if it's trojan/virus/malware software asking for permission.

Now my question is: Can I disable UAC just like that or are there any disadvantages I might encounter when I do that?

What do you do against UAC, do you just put with it or is there some clever solution to get rid of it?

 

Start/Click the picture/Turn UAC off/Restart

 

User account --> Change security settings --> Turn on User Account Control (UAC) to make your computer more secure

 

Thanks guys but I already figured that out.

Here's what I found on Wikipedia:

So it seems it isn't just as easy as turning off UAC.

 

(For Control Panel in Classic Mode)

Start>Control Panel>Security Center>Change the way Security Center alerts me (in the Task Pane)>Don't notify me and don't display the icon (not recommended)

LOL =^)

 

The settings as set here:

 

Thanks for all the help guys but I already figured out how to turn off UAC. The thing that bothers me is this Wikipedia quote:

 

The bottom line is that there is only the very basic and rudimentary separation of system and user data in Windows, although Vista is beginning to show some signs of recognizing that there is a difference.

As for IE7, well, suffice it to say that if this were 2002, IE7 would be an adequate browser. However, the last time I looked at a calendar it was in fact 2007.

 

That was very well put!

 

Thanks! Is there snow over there in Wallowa-land yet?

 

I don't get it but i think i get your point.

 

so what are the consequences when I turn off UAC?

and yes, I prefer Firefox over IE7 but on rare occasions I have to use it and I want it to work properly.

 

No bad consequences. IE7 will work just fine if you have it on or off.

 

but what about the crap written on wikipedia?

 

Don't bother, use IE Tab instead.

The only thing of concern is the possible incorrect location of config files but considering the design of Windows, I wouldn't care less. The other possible consequences should not affect most users.

 

I don't know if you should be worrying much about what's said in Wikipedia, unless if it's backed up from more solid sources.

 

IE7 loads faster than firefox..... but crashes also much faster ...u can't restore session like in firefox

 

UAC protects you in case a malware program tries to install itself on your computer without your permission. If that happens UAC will alert you and you can cancel that process.
I recommend you to leave it ON. It's more secure that way. What kind of programs are you running on your PC that cause UAC to annoy you so much? I have enabled and it only appears when I open a system program like windows registry or system restore.

 

It depends on WHEN you turn it off. If you initially use your machine with it turned on, any application that tries to save any data to the "C:\programs\whateverapplication" directory will be automatically rerouted to an application data\whateverapplication directory instead. There is one of these for every user on the machine. This is especially nice if multiple folks use your machine to play games for example. Each person will have their own set of "saved games". But that is just one example. Other apps might save preferences or configuration info. Again each user can have their own set. Very nice.

Now let's assume after a month or so of use, even by a single user, and you turn of UAC. You go to bring up your favorite game's saved game and "WHAT It's gone!". With UAC off, this automatic redirection is gone and the applications are free to write data to the C:\programs\whateverapplication directory again (not a good thing).

That's what the "crap" in Wikipedia is talking about, and despite the apparent suspicions of its veracity by others in this thread the phenomena is WELL documented elsewhere.

Gary

 

here's an interesting tool that disables the annoying prompts but keeps UAC running: http://www.tweak-uac.com/download/

Anyone tried it yet?

 

That looks interesting. I'm going to give it a try.


EDIT: I installed it and put the setting as the same on the picture below. I'll see how this works out over the next few days.

 

To late for me, first thing I did was kill the UAC when I installed Vista. Next time I'll do a clean install if and only if the UAC has been improved after SP1 goes gold, until that time UAC will always be off.

 

The idea behind TweakUAC is good

 

What would be even better would be to allow the warnings to occur like they do without TweakUAC but have an option for "Don't show this warning for this application again" or something similar. That way new requests for escalation would appear, but ones we know we want to allow would be passed through without a prompt.

Gary

 

You're right...because actually, UAC warnings appear all the time in the control panel...if someone wants to configure the sound, he/she doesn't want to be warned 15 times a day about the sound

 

Maybe that will happen in a Service Pack.

 

Back when I had UAC enabled, it got in my face if I simply tried to move a file or install a program, and I move files and install programs all day long.

 

For those complaining about IE7 (I personally don't see what so bad about it) I suggest you download the IE7Pro plugin. It works on both IE7 and IE6... if your still running it for some reason. Check it it is a great addition to IE.

 

Guitaroomasta, why pay for IE7 pro when i can use Firefox for free as much as i want? Just a question...

 

The IE7Pro plugin is free.

The problem is you are modifying IE7 to bring it up to the operating standards of Firefox. When you modify Firefox you are seeking improvements to your web experience. Modifying Firefox is like replacing your factory wheels with chrome wheels on your car. It's an improvement. Modifying IE is like bolting on wheels so you can move it out of the driveway

UAC is a great idea that is poorly implemented. It really needs a function to remember previous decisions. If that were included in the first place we wouldn't be having this discussion.

 

I would modify that ever so slightly:

... function to selectively remember previous decisions ...

I don't want it to remember EVERY decision. I want to tell it which ones I want it to remember.

Gary

 

forget uac for me. way to annoying and imo i know what i want to do and what i want to run on my system i dont need windows telling me what i should or should not do