Hello and Happy Holidays to Everyone.

I have a question for all Vue users who work with Vista. I have been reading some of the threads about using Vue with Vista and pretty much everyone agrees that the UAC is a real pain. It seems that turning it off is the advice that most people give. Now that I have Vista I was just about to do just that when I came across this article:

www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/06/dont_shut_off_v.html

So now I am wondering if it is better to turn Vista UAC off completely or to do as is suggested in the article and just stop it from popping up all of the time. What do you Vue/Vista users think?

Thank you for any replies.

nabob21

Personally, I turned mine off completely.  It caused me too many headaches with lots of stuff.

Hello Gill,

Thanks for your response. Since you shut it down, have you experienced problems with other Windows Vista functions as the article stated this may be the case with a complete shut down?

nabob21

I have uac off, and always follw pcstat's 99 vista tweaks (google it).. I go through the entire list, turning off or adjusting the things that make sense for my use, and on 3 systems now its never failed me.

I also turned mine off. But I don't run "suspicious" things in that PC nor do I visit "strange" sites (in fact, that PC is my "Vue machine" and it's disconnected from internet). If I would use that computer in a normal way (downloading stuff, installing, uninstalling, installing again, going to all kinds of sites, etc) I wouldn't have turned UAC off.
The concept of UAC is a good one, IMO, and, like the article says, it's mainly annoying when you are still in the process of installing everything you need in a new PC (which in my case takes months... :-)). Once that is done, the warnings from UAC become less frequent.

So, in short, if your PC is a pure "Vue machine", disconnected from the internet (or almost), it's safe to turn UAC off. But if you use your PC in a "normal" way, browsing through all kinds of sites, copying and downloading stuff constantly, than you should keep UAC on, just like the article says.
Just my two cents... :-)

Quote - Hello Gill,

Thanks for your response. Since you shut it down, have you experienced problems with other Windows Vista functions as the article stated this may be the case with a complete shut down?

nabob21

It's entirely a personal choice I'm afraid.  As Artur says, if you visit lots of sites it may be wise to keep it turned on.  I AM connected to the internet but I'm very careful which sites I visit.  I only download things I've bought.

I have AVG and Zone Alarm and I ALWAYS check mail in Mailwasher before downloading anything - in fact I rarely download emais as I can read most of them in MW anyway.

I do get a message on my laptop which I've also turned of UAC each time I boot up and it tells me to check my UAC settings - which of course, I ignore, but I don't get that on the desktop pc.

I usually leave it off; however, I have a couple of programs I need that use Visual Basic and for that UAC needs to be on to run correctly.  At least for the database functions.

Mine is also off completely, no problems and I do use my pc for surfing as well as 3D work!
As long as you still have your firewall, AV and Defender working you shouldn't have any problems by switching the UAC off.

I personally have never had the UAC turned on from day one. First thing I learned about Vista in fact(; If your paranoid about it just get a nice free suite like Comodo or such(; Beats running everything as admin really.

Thank you everyone who has responded so far. I appreciate your input and it has given me much to think about.

Happy Holidays everyone.

nabob21

Off here too, permanently, and I surf the web all the time. Have Norton antivirus and firewall always on.