Vista - (try) making it more enjoyable

now that vista gets more & more attention, i would like to start (panhandling) a home.brewed list that would make using vista a bit less painful, w/o bastardising its core functionalities

i still learn digging about it, so inputs r great,

. nagging prompt asking for "permission" to go on (my case - cCleaner, Firefox, 3rd party apps)
work around:
- control panel -> system & maintenance -> administrative tool -> local security policies - > local policies -> security options -> user account control: behaviour of the elevation prompt for administrator in Admin approval Mode
---> click on properties, change it to "elevate without prompting"

One keeps UAC intact, only the nagging prompt asking for permission to run an app that one already wants to do

the next one?

cheers ...

 

Er, how does that keep UAC intact? The entire point is that it doesn't let apps do anything that require admin privileges without user approval. And when you change that, it no longer requests approval, so it might as well be disabled, as far as I can see. Am I missing something here?

(Good idea with this thread though)

 

Nice idea!

Mine would be to go into the same folder,

control panel -> system & maintenance -> administrative tool -> local security policies - > local policies -> security options

and make sure the administrator account is Enabled. It should be by default but my Enterprise edition shipped with it disabled. Causes problems with account access and privileges.

 

So far it sounds like the "improvements" amount to dismantling Vista security, which is foolish.

Instead of getting upset because Vista has finally locked the OS down properly what needs to happen is more pressure on software vendors to write their applications properly (let's be honest, why do any of the apps need admin rights?).

 

totally correct!

the above setting disables only the "prompt for elevation" but not the other uac settings such as detect application installation, run all administrator etc ..

there is a general flag that would disable the WHOLE UAC from control panel itself, THIS, i would not recommend since it would really disable the whole UAC caboodle

cheers ...

 

One of the only decent features the OS has and you're already disabling it? Joelist is exactly right, only things like AV programs should need admin priviliges to run, everything else should just need it to install.

 

Actually Vista has a great many excellent features, one of which is UAC.

 

Why don't I see this? I'm running Home Premium - is that the reason?

 

No, UAC is on in all Vista versions.

You can check this by checking your security settings.

 

It's pretty badly implemented though, and asks for permission much more often than it should, and without providing decent information about what it is asking for permission to *do*.
It's also so inflexible you may have no choice but to disable it entirely. (I know I had to)

 

Actually it is not badly implemented at all. It tells you which application is asking for the elevated rights. In fact it tells you exactly which file at what location is doing so. It really is not necessary to know what it is trying to do, as anything in the purview of admin rights is not something an application needs to do. Knowing the file one can usually find out and correct the issue.

For example, I installed Findex QuickVerse 2005. When it launched it triggered UAC because it kept trying to launch UNWISE.EXE. A quick net search showed that it is the uninstaller for Wise Software (not needed to run the program). I remapped the shortcut and now all is well.

 

Actually it is badly implemented. Try looking at how other OS'es like Linux or Mac implements it. And then weep.

 

I also run OSX and have run Linux (before getting rid of it in disgust). This implementation is pretty much the same. The only reason you are seeing the screen more often is that many Windows apps are poorly written and ask for Admin rights to perform routine ops, whereas the *nix apps are already all written not to need admin rights.

 

is there any list or anything to allow certain apps to run without being asked for permission. like in norton internet security there is a list for apps for permission to access the internet. i turned mine off the day i got my laptop because it was an absolute headache. i couldnt click anything without being asked if i was sure i wanted to do it. it was worse than my parents. and now that its off everytime i reboot it tells me to check my security settings because UAC is turned off. i know windows needed security but i dont think this was the way to fix it.

 

The UAC doesn't really bother me much. But if the UAC is the biggest thing that MS could have implemented to keep Windows safe, then MS Windows is in big trouble in the future unless it does some huge drastic change to the Windows OS.

When it comes to Vista I'm really only concerned with what processes I need or not.

 

Nope, they will probably include that in a service pack though.

 

Yes. Thats the reason.

UAC is on all Vista machines. Managing local security policies with basic/premium is not.

ent/ult users can get there by typing "secpol.msc" in the search/run box on the start menu.

If you type "mmc" on your basic/premium version, it will pull up the console, go to file, add snap/in, local grouup/user manager, you will not be able to add it. You will get the prompt that its not available for your version.

you can disable UAC from the startup/reg by going to: administrative tools, system config, tools, disable UAC.

you can also create an account just for admin tasks and use fast user switching.

You can right click on programs and "run as administrator".

If you want to do this permanentlly, right click on a program, properties, advanced, run as administrator.

If someone knows how to add the snap in, that would be great.

ps. you can add administrative tools to the start menu, bypassing control panel if you want

you can add it to quick launch and then use the windows + "#" of the quick launch.

if flip 3d is slow for you(windows key + tab) try using a solid background for desktop or smaller image then included desktop images.

 

Here I go again, reviving a REALLY old thread. It's a bad habit of mine. I'm always late to the party.

This may be off topic, but I feel this is a good place to ask this legitimate question. I also think so because you seem to have good answers and know what you're doing with the MMC.

I am running Vista Home Premium, and I need to be able to "lock pages in memory", meaning to keep an application's memory out of the Virtual Memory and only in the RAM. I was able to do this on my XP machine by going to the local security policy. (I can't remember exactly how I did it, sorry). Is it then also true that in Vista HP, there is no option to "lock pages in memory", because that same ability to add the snap-ins to the MMC is not in the operating system?

I cannot find the option in Home Premium to lock the pages in (RAM) memory. Has this been taken out of all of the Vista versions except Enterprise, Business, and Ultimate? Thanks for any help in advance!

-jon

 

Please do not bring old threads back from the dead...make a new one.