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DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A
March 25, 2007
db note:
This will be my first column answering
questions about Vista. I have been receiving
questions about it but have put it off until
now. Since Vista is still a future operating
system for the majority of readers, these
are pretty generic questions that do not
deal specifically with the operating system
and may be of interest even if you do not
yet have Vista. Sorry for the length.
Q.
Should I be thinking about upgrading to
Vista any time soon?
A.
I would definitely not recommend upgrading a
current computer to Vista unless it was
purchased very recently, like in 2007. Even
then, not unless you are sure your computer
can run Vista. Vista has some pretty stiff
requirements compared to XP.
Primarily
because of the new security, some software
that works well on XP may not work on Vista
without some updates from the manufacturer.
Also, a lot of hardware manufacturers have
not yet released or perfected drivers for
their hardware.
However,
if you are just curious to see if your XP
computer could run Vista, Microsoft has a
Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor that you can
run on a XP with SP2 computer to see if it
may be able to run Vista. It will check your
hardware and software, and produce a "Yes,
No, Maybe" report on your computer. You can
download it by clicking
HERE.
If you
are thinking about buying a new computer,
unless it is a leftover from last year, it
will probably come with Vista preinstalled.
This is the best way to get Vista. Most
computers sold to the home user will have
either Vista Home Basic or Vista Home
Premium. Although it will cost more, I
highly the premium package s it includes
many of the things that one will want Vista
for. You can click
HERE to see
all the different versions and what they
contain.
Q.
What can you tell me about Vista's User
Access Control?
A.
Well, to most people, very soon after their
first use of Vista, it will be considered a
royal pain in the .... neck. I see it as
Microsoft's way of covering all the bases
and assuring that if your computer ever
becomes infected with a virus or any other
form of malware, it is all your fault since
you specifically allowed it.
Just
about anything that can be done from as
advanced as installing software or hardware,
to as lowly as changing the clock settings
requires approval from the user before it
will proceed. This becomes so aggravating,
that almost everyone will just automatically
allow whatever to take place. It is almost
self defeating.
As an
example, suppose you notice the clock is
incorrect and want to set it right. If you
try while signed on as an administrator, you
are presented with a User Access Control (UAC)
dialog that states, "Windows needs your
permission to continue". Whenever a UAC
dialog is displayed, the computer is totally
locked up, and absolutely nothing else can
be done until you click on either Continue
or Cancel.
If signed
on as a "Standard" user, what Microsoft
recommends that most users should be, you
are presented with a slightly different UAC
dialog. It also states, "Windows needs
you permission to continue" but this
time it needs the password of an
administrator to continue. That's right, for
just about any change a Standard user wants
to make to the computer, the administrator's
password is required. So, why not just make
all users administrators?
Without
going into more detail, you can see how this
will quickly become so routine that it will
become automatically for the user to just
"accept" whatever it is that is asking
permission. BUT.... no one can blame
Microsoft for making an unsafe operating
system, since you were warned, and yet you,
the user gave permission for whatever it was
that happened to happen.
Can this
UAC be de-activated? Sure, but then the
shield in the tray turns red and Windows
displays a critical security warning with
frequent reminders that it is turned off.
However, I suspect that most users will turn
it off IF they learn it can be deactivated,
and then IF they can figure out how to do
it.
For the
record, here is Microsoft's explanation of
the User Access Control (UAC) "feature?"
directly from the help file in Vista:
User Account Control (UAC) is a feature in
Windows that can help prevent unauthorized
changes to your computer. UAC does this by
asking you for permission or an
administrator password before performing
actions that could potentially affect your
computer's operation or that change settings
that affect other users. When you see a UAC
message, read it carefully, and then make
sure the name of the action or program
that's about to start is one that you
intended to start.
By verifying these actions before they
start, UAC can help prevent malicious
software (malware) and spyware from
installing or making changes to your
computer without permission.
When your permission or password is needed
to complete a task, UAC will alert you with
one of the following messages:
Windows needs your permission to
continue
A Windows function or program that
can affect other users of this computer
needs your permission to start. Check the
name of the action to ensure that it's a
function or program you want to run.
A program needs your permission to
continue
A program that's not part of Windows
needs your permission to start. It has a
valid digital signature indicating its name
and its publisher, which helps to ensure
that the program is what it claims to be.
Make sure that this is a program that you
intended to run.
An unidentified program wants access
to your computer
An unidentified program is one that
doesn't have a valid digital signature from
its publisher to ensure that the program is
what it claims to be. This doesn't
necessarily indicate danger, as many older,
legitimate programs lack signatures.
However, you should use extra caution and
only allow this program to run if you
obtained it from a trusted source, such as
the original CD or a publisher's website.
This program has been blocked
This is a program that your
administrator has specifically blocked from
running on your computer. To run this
program, you must contact your administrator
and ask to have the program unblocked.
We (Microsoft) recommend that you log on to
your computer with a standard user account
most of the time. You can surf the Internet,
send e-mail, and use a word processor, all
without an administrator account. When you
want to perform an administrative task, such
as installing a new program or changing a
setting that will affect other users, you
don't have to switch to an administrator
account. Windows will prompt you for
permission or an administrator password
before performing the task.
To help protect your computer, you can
create standard user accounts for all the
users who share the computer. When someone
who has a standard account tries to install
software, Windows will ask for an
administrator account's password so that
software can't be installed without your
knowledge and permission. |
