Thread: What's the point of User Account Control?

In a workshop of Computer active, you say not to switch off the User Account Control in Windows Vista. Can you explain why? Myself and a number of my friends find it very annoying.

User Account Control can be quite valuable when it comes to protecting your computer. For those who aren't familiar with the name, this is the part of Windows Vista that causes it to pop up a message asking for approval whenever any change is made to the computer. It's designed to prevent any dodgy programs from installing themselves without your knowing, as is possible under Windows XP. When using Vista, any time a program wants to make a change to itself or to Windows, or when you try to install something, you'll see a message asking you to click OK to continue.

The idea is that if you don't recognise the name of the program in the message, or you're not installing anything at that point, you can refuse permission, and the rogue program doesn't gain access to your computer. It's annoying to have to click the messages, certainly, but it's less hassle than having to clean up after a spyware attack, we can assure you.

Turning it off won't, in itself, give you any problems. But it does make it easier for viruses and spyware to install themselves. If you're an advanced user, and you're confident that you won't run into any of these programs, User Account Control. We have it running on our Vista PCs, though, and we'd advise the same to everyone else.