0
I have always used an admin account for my Windows installations, but I've started to see the usefulness of separating admin and standard user accounts for everyday usage.
I plan to reinstall Windows 7 on my current machine with all of the software I need, then lock it down by creating a standard account that I will use on a daily basis. However, I foresee annoyances with installing common applications or changing settings that I would normally not think twice about as an admin (but maybe that's the point?).
For one, I've always found the User Account Control prompt very annoying for doing minor things on my computer, so I've always turned it off immediately after installation. Is this a good idea, and should it be done for the standard user account I will create?
Any tips or, even better, links to online guides describing the standard account best practices would be greatly appreciated.
How would I set UAC to prompt for only 3rd party changes as you mentioned? This might be the best route to go for my purposes. – NoCatharsis – 2010-07-22T20:31:38.300
In Vista you only get an on/off option. In Windows 7 though you can configure the level of security for UAC. If you just type "UAC" into the start menu it should be the first result ("change user account control settings"), or you can find it in the control panel. You will get a slider control which lets you set the level. http://grab.by/5ygJ Keep in mind that non-admin users will always see a password protected prompt for any action regardless of the security level, unless UAC is completely turned off.
– nhinkle – 2010-07-23T05:48:39.303