Special Notes for Windows Vista

Microsoft's new Vista operating system brings a lot of changes that are designed to increase your computer's security. Unfortunately, these changes can sometimes get in the way of your daily work. The following section provides some hints and tips for taming Vista.

Privileges and the Elevation Prompt

Windows Vista runs most programs with "reduced privileges". This restricts what they can do, to help keep your computer safe.

Some programs have to run without these restrictions in order to do their job. When you run one of these programs, Windows Vista asks your permission via the so-called "Elevation Prompt":


 

The first thing to say about this screen is that Microsoft have gone to great lengths to stop other programs from pressing its buttons. That includes PTFB Pro. So for the time being at least, PTFB Pro cannot dismiss this prompt for you.

If you find the prompt really irksome, then you have a few of choices:

1) Turn off UAC (User Account Control), the system component that is responsible for the prompt. This might provide blissful relief, but it disables a huge chunk of the operating system that is designed to protect your computer. In short, turning off UAC is NOT recommended.

2) Tweak UAC settings to reduce the the level of annoyance, while retaining some measure of security. Possible tweaks are suggested in the section "Steps for an easier life in Vista", but be aware that these steps may reduce the security of your computer. The choice, and the associated risks, are yours.

3) Have a beer, and try to put up with it. However, be aware that this solution could lead to a long-term dependency on alcohol. It wouldn't be the first time that Windows has driven someone to drink.

If you do change the UAC settings, you might see a balloon popping up from the Windows Security Alerts icon in the system tray. The Windows Security Center (in the control panel) allows you to change this - "Change the way security center alerts me". Alternatively, you can use a Single-Press to get rid of this whenever it appears - click here for more details.

Steps for an easier life in Vista

The following suggestions are intended only for computer-savvy people who run under a local administrator account, frequently use programs with higher privileges and don't mind lowering the UAC settings a little. Please be aware that this means reduced security on your computer - if you choose to follow these steps, you assume complete responsibility for any problems that may result.

So with the warnings over, here's how to keep Vista's interference to a minimum, while retaining a fair chunk of the security improvements:

  1. Launch the local security policy editor by typing"secpol.msc" into the search box off the Start Menu, and drill down to Local Policies->Security Options. Scroll down until you see all the User Account Control settings.
  2. In the local security policy, change "User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode" to "elevate without prompting". This gets rid of the elevation prompt, but retains the separation between programs running with different privilege levels.
  3. Also in the local security policy, consider changing "User Account Control: Only elevate executables that are signed and validated" to "Enabled". This is actually an increase over the default settings, and may cause problems with some older software, but it helps to compensate for the loss of the elevation prompt since it's not often that malware is digitally signed.