Speedup Vista to the Max !

[Scorbing]

After being a lurker for a long time , here's my first post . I hope you all like it.

Had posted it at another forum I was active on, so why not post it here :)

SECTION 1 - SPEED UP

DISABLE USER ACCOUNT CONTROL

First of all lets start by disabling the most annoying 'feature' of Vista , UAC.

Right Click on Command Promt and click on Run As Administrator

and paste this command and hit enter

C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k %windir%\System32\reg.exe ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v EnableLUA /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

SPEEDUP BOOT

UAC DISABLED? SPEEDUP BOOT

If you choose to disable UAC then you might have noticed [ or not ] bit of slowdown in your boot time , this is because the UAC driver is still loaded during startup ,which is unnecessary and can be disable by doing this

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\luafv] 
"Start"=dword:00000004

SPEEDUP BOOT ON A MULTICORE PROCESSOR

Do you have a multi - core processor ? If so , you have another reason to smile about . Vista normally uses only 1 core at boot time which makes the boot slightly slower , so here is how to make use of all the cores and speedup boot

Start - Run - Type in msconfig - Boot - Advanced Options - Tick on Number of Processors - Select the maximum number [ that should be the number of processor cores ] - Click Ok - ok

Wait! Dont close MSCONFIG Yet

youll need it for the next tweak

SPEEDUP BOOT BY DISABLING BOOT SCREEN NO GUI BOOT

This will disable the usual vista boot screen and speed up boot by a few seconds , also this enables a better boot screen

Caution ; Your Scheduled boot time defrags and disk checks will be cancelled or they will run with a black screen - you cannot see the progress

Start - Run - Type in msconfig - Boot

Check No GUI Boot

Check on Make All Boot Settings Permanent

REMOVE THE BLACK SCREEN BEFORE LOGON AND SAVE 2 SECONDS BOOT - TIME

Do you get a 2 -3 second blank screen before logon ?

Transient Multimon Manager (TMM) is a Microsoft Windows Vista operating system feature targeted at improving the user experience of connecting and disconnecting displays, particularly for the mobile user. This is the 2-3 second delay followed by a blank black screen as Vista searches for monitor changes when you startup Vista. For more information on TMM, see: Microsoft: Transient Multimon Manager (TMM)

TMM is enabled by default in Vista. Disabling TMM will get rid of that 2-3 second delay at startup.

Heres how ,

Open the Start Menu.

A) Click All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Task Schedular.

In the left pane, expand Task Scheduler, Task Scheduler Library, Microsoft, Windows, and click on MobilePC.

4. In the middle pane, right click on TMM.

Disable TMM

SPEEDUP STORAGE DEVICES

ENABLE ADVANCED HARD DISK PERFORMANCE

This setting increases hard disk performance further , however you need to have backup power supply for the hard drive to prevent data loss

Here are the steps to enable the tweak

-Right Click On My Computer

-Properties

-Advanced System Settings

-Hardware

-Device Manager

-Expand 'Disk Drives'

-Double Click your hard drive to enter into its properties

-Policies

-Check Mark the following settings

ENABLE WRITE CACHING ON THE DISK

ENABLE ADVANCED PERFORMANCE

This tweak also works for removable drives , but instead, you' ll find this option

OPTIMIZE FOR PERFORMANCE , which can be enabled

SPEEDUP NTFS FILE SYSTEM

> DISABLE LAST ACCESS TIME

By default, each file and folder on an NTFS volume has an attribute called Last Access Time, which records the last time the file or folder was opened, read, or changed. This means even when you read a file on an NTFS volume, a write action occurs on that volume too. Normally this isn't a problem, but if you have an application that tends to frequently access files for short periods of time, this feature of NTFS can really slow performance. Fortunately, you can use fsutil to disable writing to the Last Access Time attribute

WARNING : DO NOT use this tweak if you use superfetch

Type this in the Command Prompt

fsutil behavior set disablelastaccess 1

> DISABLE SHORT FILENAMES

By default, NTFS creates an 8.3 filename every time it creates a long filename, which adds a bit of time to the file creation process. To speed things up, you can disable short filenames using the fsutil command:

fsutil behavior set disable8dot3 1

> SPEEDUP NTFS FILE ACCESS BY ALLOCATING MORE RAM FOR NTFS

This is one of the undocumented tweaks whic actually work , that have spread on the internet

You need to have lots of ram [ more than 2 GB is recommended ] for this tweak to really speed things up , if not it will decrease performance drastically

fsutil behavior set memoryusage 2

NtfsMemoryUsage = 1 (Normal = 1, Increased = 2; Default = 1)

Change it back to 1 if you have problems

MAKE THE VISTA GUI MORE SNAPPIER/RESPONSIVE

> ADJUSTING VISUAL STYLE SETTINGS

Type this in your Search box in ur start menu and hit enter

SystemPropertiesPerformance

Experiment with different settings that suit your needs

This screenshot shows the best set of options for max speed and appearance

> DISABLING TASKBAR THUMBNAILS

This feature might take up some amount of RAM n CPU , if you dont find this feature that useful , you can squeeze some speed

Right Click on the Taskbar

Propeties

Taskbar Tab

Untick Show window previews [Thumbnails]

> DISABLE AERO TRANSPERANCY

If your GUI feels slow even now , consider disabling the Transpency effects and also disabling Aero

SPEEDUP SHUTDOWN AND AUTOMATICALLY CLOSE NON RESPONDING PROGRAMS

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] 
"AutoEndTasks"="1" 
"HungAppTimeout"="1000" 
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="2000" 
"LowLevelHooksTimeout"="1000" 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control] 
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="2000"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DISABLE PAGING OF KERNEL

This will force the kernel to your memory to speed things up

Windows will use more RAM to give better performance

So , Use this tweak if you have 1.5 GB ram or more

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management] 
"DisablePagingExecutive"=dword:00000001

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OPTIMIZE POWER PROFILES

Vista's power saving profiles probably do not allow your processor to use power saving features like SpeedStep etc. Vista sets a minimum 5% CPU usage, my guess is , it wont allow the processor to step down its frequency when idle. So here's how to fix this.

Go to Control Panel --> Hardware and Sound--> Power Options

Click Change Plan Settings and Change Advanced Power Settings

[+]Processor Power Management

[+]Minimum Processor State

Set the value for Plugged In to 0 %. Click ok to save the changes.

What I observed was my processor was running at full frequency , even on idle [ not gaming or encoding ] . After this change, it ran at about 60% of the frequency at idle. reducing power and temperatures, and increased it to full throttle in load conditions

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SPEEDUP FOLDER BROWSING

> DISABLE AUTOMATIC NETWORK PRINTER SEARCH

When browsing through shared folders and network computers Explorer can slow down when it is searching the local network for printers. This sounds like a great feature and may be useful for some but I would rather disable it to get maximum performance when browsing through folders.

1. Hit Alt to bring up the menubar if it is not already on the screen.

2. Click on Tools and select Folder Options.

3. On the View Tab, uncheck Automatically search for network printers.

If you dont find that option , you can use this registry tweak

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer]

Both have the same affect though

> REDUCING DETAIL IN MY COMPUTER WINDOW FOR SPEED

This tweak gives the maximum speed while browsing through folders , but might not give much info on the selected file

Go to My Computer

Organise

Layout

Experiment with the 4 options that suit your needs.

DISABLE UN- NEEDED SERVICES

This is one of the most significant tweaks of em all .

Vista has loads of services running in background eating your precious RAM doing nothing useful.

It difficult to suggest a perfect services configuration as our feature choices may be different

So here is a good guide that will help you choose what services you can disable safely

http://tweakhound.com/vista/tweakguide/page_7.htm 
http://www.blackviper.com/WinVista/servicecfg.htm

I recommend using ServiceTweaker, to enable/disable services easily

http://www.ajuaonline.com/downloads/

SECTION 2 - INTERNET & NETWORKING

Use these commands in the command prompt

DISABLE VISTA AUTO TUNING FEATURE

This feature is known to cause problems with downloading etc. I recommend you disable it.

netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled

ENABLE COMPOUND TCP TO IMPROVE NETWORK THROUGHPUT

netsh int tcp set global congestionprovider=ctcp

DISABLE ECN CAPABILITY

netsh int tcp set global ecncapability=disabled

REDUCE CPU LOAD

Apply these tweaks to reduce cpu load while networking.

ENABLE TCPIP CHIMNEY

netsh int tcp set global chimney=enabled

ENABLE RECIEVE SIDE SCALING

netsh interface tcp set global rss=enable

ENABLE NETDMA

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters] 
"EnableTCPA"=dword:00000001

For more information and documentation about these tweaks, check these links

http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/vistaTCPtweaks.htm 
http://www.speedguide.net/read_articles.php?id=2574

SPEEDUP NETWORKING WHILE RUNNING MULTIMEDIA APPLICATIONS

Windows Vista throttles your network bandwidth when you are playing any multimedia file such as an MP3 or a video. This was designed to ensure the CPU has enough free cycles available to play your media without skipping. The down side is that when you are playing a multimedia file you will notice that your network speed of file transfers will decrease on high speed network connections. By default when you are playing a multimedia file your network transfers are limited to 10 packets per millisecond.

In Windows Vista SP1 Microsoft introduces a registry key that allows you to customize this setting.

http://tweakvista.com/article39258.aspx

Apply this tweak only if you have a reasonably powerful processor.

DISABLE IP6 SUPPORT

Most of the internet today is based on IP4 , so you wont be needing IP6 support on vista , and hence can save some resources, but before applying this tweak please check your connection type

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters] 
"DisabledComponents"=dword:000000ff

This turns off IP6 support completely !

SECTION 3 - CUSTOMIZE

Master Control Panel - All Windows Options in ONE WINDOW

Create a shortcut with this filename

C:\Windows\explorer.exe shell:::{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

REMOVE UNNECESSARY VISTA FEATURES

Do this :

Control Panel - Programs & Features - Turn Windows Features On or Off

http://i39.tinypic.com/168g10i.png

QUICK ACCESS TO ADD REMOVE PROGRAMS AND DEVICE MANAGER

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell] 
@="none" 

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Control Panel] 

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Control Panel\command] 
@=hex(2):72,00,75,00,6e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,\ 
00,20,00,73,00,68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,\ 
2c,00,43,00,6f,00,6e,00,74,00,72,00,6f,00,6c,00,5f,00,52,00,75,00,6e,00,44,\ 
00,4c,00,4c,00,00,00 

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\DevMgr] 
@=hex(2):40,00,25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,\ 
00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,64,00,65,00,76,00,6d,00,67,00,\ 
72,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,2d,00,34,00,00,00 
"SuppressionPolicy"=dword:4000003c 

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\DevMgr\command] 
@=hex(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,\ 
00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,00,6d,00,63,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,\ 
65,00,20,00,2f,00,73,00,20,00,25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,\ 
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,64,00,65,00,\ 
76,00,6d,00,67,00,6d,00,74,00,2e,00,6d,00,73,00,63,00,00,00 

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Software] 

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Software\command] 
@=hex(2):63,00,6f,00,6e,00,74,00,72,00,6f,00,6c,00,20,00,61,00,70,00,70,00,77,\ 
00,69,00,7a,00,2e,00,63,00,70,00,6c,00,00,00

SHOW HIDDEN DEVICES IN DEVICE MANAGER

This option enables you to see hidden / disconnected devices in device manager, useful when you cant find which driver is causing the problem

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DISABLE AUTOMATIC FOLDER TYPE DISCOVERY

Vista automatically sets the template to a folder and doesnt let you change it properly and even if you change it , vista changes it back , that ****ed me off , so I used this tweak

So here is a tweak to disable it

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

; Reset and delete all saved folder customizations and settings. 
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU] 
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags] 

; Turn off Vista auto folder type template discovery. 
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell] 
"FolderType"="NotSpecified"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

QUICK ACCESS TO VISTA NETWORK CONNECTION STATUS

Accessing network connection options in vista isnt as easy in XP , youll have to dig through several screens etc

Heres a better and faster way to access it

type in the search box

ncpa.cpl

Viola!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SLOW MOTION AERO - Eye Candy at its best

If you are using Aero interface with all the animations , youll love this tweak

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM] 
"AnimationsShiftKey"=dword:00000001

Hold SHIFT while minimizing or maximizing windows to see the animation in slow motion

SECTION 4 SAVE HARD DISK SPACE

DISABLE HIBERNATION

If you dont use Hibernation for your computer , you better disable it as it takes up loads of space on hdd

powercfg.exe ?H off

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DISC CLEANUP EXTRA CLEANING OPTIONS b>

You might have noticed that the normal Disk Cleanup utility doesnt have much options for cleanup , so here is a command to enable further cleaning options

%SystemRoot%\System32\Cmd.exe /c Cleanmgr /sageset:65535 & Cleanmgr /sagerun:65535

REMOVE PRE - SP1 BACKUP FILES b>

Installed Vista SP1 using that stand alone installer ? If you are happy with SP1 and are not uninstalling it , you can save some space by removing the backup files pre -sp1 installtion vsp1cln.exeb>

Note - You cannot uninstall SP1 after running the above command!i>

Unlike a lot of ungrateful people on this forum, I do appreciate your post, HOWEVER...

Your tweaks are pretty useless. Vista is the way it is by design and I have yet to find a tweak that will make it "faster". Windows Vista will be replaced by Windows 7 soon so if you find Vista "slow", go back to XP and wait for 7 to come out. I will say this: Vista does run better on Intel-based machines than on AMD-based.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

you know, i used to care about this stuff back in the day of Windows 98 and XP. anymore, i just dont care. i have an overclocked dual core machine that can easily handle anything XP, Vista, or 7 can dish out. these little tweaks usually do nothing, at least perceptibly. "save 2 seconds on boot by disabling blah blah" yeah, not really important. i can wait 2 seconds to get to my email. and, it seems, after doing a lot of these tweaks at the same time... you'll start to experience odd problems or "coincidences." just not worth it to me anymore.

[Geranium_Z__NL]

hmmm i tried tweaking it... didnt got any speed difference.. so yeah.. im using all the options now :)

[solardog]

Unlike a lot of ungrateful people on this forum, I do appreciate your post, HOWEVER...

Your tweaks are pretty useless. Vista is the way it is by design and I have yet to find a tweak that will make it "faster". Windows Vista will be replaced by Windows 7 soon so if you find Vista "slow", go back to XP and wait for 7 to come out. I will say this: Vista does run better on Intel-based machines than on AMD-based.

I pretty much agree with this and I really noticed when I did a format and reinstall of Vista the other day, I pretty much left it alone afterward. Nothing even close to that ever happened with any other Windows OS Ive used. The key to Vista is current technology, not notepad and the registry.

[Thirtythree]

There is absolutely nothing "great" about this guide. Using this guide will cause more problems that it "solves". I put solves in quotes because there are no problems in the first place. The only magical speed up for Windows (not just Vista) is to have everything up-to-date, which includes Windows, third-party software and drivers. The other way is to update your hardware.

It's pretty simple. Fight against Vista and you will have problems. Leave Vista with its default settings, and you will have a great experience with the OS.

I agree entirely. If you want it faster then buy more RAM and a faster (more core) CPU. Doing what this thread suggests can do a lot more harm than good.

[Neo Razgriz]

The last few posts have made me think.

I've done most of the tweaks, but I don't see that great of a performance increase. This much tweaking may have worked on XP, but with Vista...maybe not!

[LiquidSolstice]

The fact that your first point is dablign UAC, shows how little you actually understand Vista.

Lolwut.

I've been using Vista and 7 ever since it came out and that's the first thing I disable. why? Because I understand Vista, and I don't need a popup telling me about making a system change when I know damn well I'm about to make a system change.

[phot0nic]

Lolwut.

I've been using Vista and 7 ever since it came out and that's the first thing I disable. why? Because I understand Vista, and I don't need a popup telling me about making a system change when I know damn well I'm about to make a system change.

... You DO know that UAC is quite a bit more than just a popup, right? I mean, if the occasional popup bothers you, put it in silent mode. Disabling it is never a good idea, no matter how "knowledgeable" you think you are.

[LiquidSolstice]

... You DO know that UAC is quite a bit more than just a popup, right? I mean, if the occasional popup bothers you, put it in silent mode. Disabling it is never a good idea, no matter how "knowledgeable" you think you are.

....Or I could just disable it, seeing as I never needed it in XP, and I got by just fine in XP without any sort of control system for years. If I want my computer to warn me every time an important system change is happening, I'll just grab Comodo's Firewall and put it on Paranoid Mode, kthx. Comodo is a lot more extensive and powerful, in that aspect.

For the average Vista/7 user, he/she is the sole user of the computer. Or at least, that's the niche I fall into. Therefore, UAC is just another "Are you sure?" dialog that pops up every time I want to install or change a system setting. I'm quite sure, thanks, otherwise I wouldn't have clicked on it.

Sheesh. No offense, I'm sure UAC has other uses, but I get annoyed by people who place such a high importance on it when for advanced users all it really does is make us look like we run around the insides of our computer with a blindfold, and we're banging into stuff, and UAC needs to come to our rescue. For the population of us computer users who know what we are doing, it is simply uneeded.

[abysal]

I only do two main things; 1) disable windows search; instant speed up, and no hard drive thrashing. my searches are all based on file names, not contents, and I have no problems waiting a few extra seconds for searches to finish without an index. 2) disable UAC; I don't need it and don't want it in it's current state. looking forward to windows 7 as I'll probably leave it on if it's not nagging me.

[soonerproud]

Silent mode requires 3rd party apps and makes it useless. I've tried it and it just annoys me, hopefully it will be better in 7 but for now I don't need a message coming up asking me if I'm sure every time I try and do something. If your somewhat careful, have anti virus and a firewall then you don't need it. nothing has happened to my pc that UAC could have prevented since I disabled it about a year ago.

As for people who do use it, well after a while they tend to click ok without looking, also making it useless.

There is so much wrong with this post I had to reply, yet I am speechless. UAC is a collection of features that includes virtualized registry, protected mode on IE and a number of security enhancements that make it simple to lock down your PC effectively. Anti-virus applications, even the best only have a detection rate in the high 70's percentage wise and they are only useful once you are infected and do little to keep you from infection. Unless that firewall is hardware based, it is of little resistance to a good hacker.

Don't listen to people like this. UAC is a condom and helps prevent infection from Internet STD's. Anti-virus is akin to a penicillin shot that may or may not work and being careful is as good as saying he/she looks clean and disease free before unprotected sex.

Edited April 12, 2009 by soonerproud

[soonerproud]

....Or I could just disable it, seeing as I never needed it in XP, and I got by just fine in XP without any sort of control system for years. If I want my computer to warn me every time an important system change is happening, I'll just grab Comodo's Firewall and put it on Paranoid Mode, kthx. Comodo is a lot more extensive and powerful, in that aspect.

For the average Vista/7 user, he/she is the sole user of the computer. Or at least, that's the niche I fall into. Therefore, UAC is just another "Are you sure?" dialog that pops up every time I want to install or change a system setting. I'm quite sure, thanks, otherwise I wouldn't have clicked on it.

Sheesh. No offense, I'm sure UAC has other uses, but I get annoyed by people who place such a high importance on it when for advanced users all it really does is make us look like we run around the insides of our computer with a blindfold, and we're banging into stuff, and UAC needs to come to our rescue. For the population of us computer users who know what we are doing, it is simply uneeded.

UAC is NOT A FIREWALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is not intended to replace a firewall. A firewall is not there to warn users of changes to the system, but is only there to block ports and warn of programs that want network access. They have two entirely different functions and the fact is with UAC on and running as a standard user, Windows firewall does a superb job without the bloat in today's software firewalls.

[LiquidSolstice]

UAC is NOT A FIREWALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is not intended to replace a firewall. A firewall is not there to warn users of changes to the system, but is only there to block ports and warn of programs that want network access. They have two entirely different functions and the fact is with UAC on and running as a standard user, Windows firewall does a superb job without the bloat in today's software firewalls.

I find it odd that everyone keeps defending UAC but no one seems to want to tell me what exactly it is?

And no, if you've used Comodo before, it tells you a LOT more than just blocking ports and warnings of network access programs. You should use it before you decide what it is.

Comodo is not bloat. At worst, it is annoying, but that is only if the threat level is set to Safe Mode or Paranoid.

Again, if you can't quite tell me what UAC does to my system, it is in no way justified to bug me in the way it does. Also, you really need to try Comodo out before you decide what it can and cannot do. Comodo's firewall has acted as my antivirus and anti-malware program for a long time now.

[Digitalx]

UAC like Linux is a protection barrier between user account and admin/root/elevated privileges to make changes at core system effecting level. It is not a firewall but it functions similarly between user account and core system function rather then over a network. it protects you from software that attempts to gain elevated privileges or make changes to core system functions, settings etc which you're not aware of. UAC is not a firewall because it doesn't monitor your network(ing) at all only the systems files functions and services. Windows built in firewall manages that.

[HawkMan]

UAC is also what powers the virtualization, protected mode and such in vista.

So if you turn it off you may run into compatibility problems since the virtual folders it creates don't exists anymore. Disabling it also disabled protected mode in IE8 and possibly other browsers who have decided to hook into protected mode.

Then there's the protection that UAC in itself brings and the main purpose of UAC, to properly elevate aps to their correct level. So when a coder writes and app or installer he can add var's to it that tell UAC what permissions it needs, and UAC will automatically give it the required authentication, and that's without bugging you about it. As opposed to everything running as admin, or crashing because they don't have the required priv's.

Disabling UAC basically turns of an invisible shield that doesn't affect you at all, and that will protect you and avoid compatibility problems. And that's in silent mode, running it in the default mode with the prompts will of course increase the security it provides by allowing you to see and disable threats before they occur, but even in silent mode it provides a dramatic increase in security

[hdood]

Anti-virus applications, even the best only have a detection rate in the high 70's percentage wise and they are only useful once you are infected and do little to keep you from infection. Unless that firewall is hardware based, it is of little resistance to a good hacker.

Don't listen to people like this. UAC is a condom and helps prevent infection from Internet STD's. Anti-virus is akin to a penicillin shot that may or may not work and being careful is as good as saying he/she looks clean and disease free before unprotected sex.

UAC's administrator approval mode's sole function is to prompt you before granting administrator privileges to software that is already running on your computer (in the context of your user). The last part is important, because if the software is already running, it already has a complete and unlimited access to pretty much everything you care about, including all your personal files and passwords. Malware can completely ruin your day without ever needing administrator access, and that is why antivirus and firewall software is important. Most antivirus software will even detect all known malware BEFORE it executes and block it before it has a chance to do any harm.

The benefit of UAC is that malware now can't infect the whole system, and that to fix the machine you just have to scan the resources said users has access to. If the malware had administrator privileges (which it would if your user is an administrator and UAC is disabled), the whole machine would be lost and the only safe course of action would be a complete reinstall from trusted media.

Of course, there is still always the possibility that malware can trick the user into granting it administrator privileges, which is why a user should not be an administrator at all unless he really needs to be. UAC is a compromise between user friendliness and security, and was created to force as much software as possible to support standard user mode so that some day that can be the default. An unfortunate side effect is that malware will also adapt to run as standard user, meaning that antivirus never becomes redundant.

Bottom line: Malware has access to everything you care about without ever needing to trigger a UAC prompt, and gaining administrator rights is only an optional bonus that will let it better avoid detection and infect other people more easily.

[lt8480]

As much as I understand what UAC does I had to disable it - I tried it for several days and I was still getting prompted 50 times a day with my "web developer tasks"... also I was getting fed up editing files in notepad then going to save and it not letting me. Of course I understand that most of the things it was preventing me from doing quickly most people would have no desire to do ever - so for the most part I do not understand why most people have a problem with it.

[Digitalx]

As much as I understand what UAC does I had to disable it - I tried it for several days and I was still getting prompted 50 times a day with my "web developer tasks"... also I was getting fed up editing files in notepad then going to save and it not letting me. Of course I understand that most of the things it was preventing me from doing quickly most people would have no desire to do ever - so for the most part I do not understand why most people have a problem with it.

Give 7 a hoon. UAC has been improved drastically and not willy nilly all over the place warning people like in vista.

[HawkMan]

As much as I understand what UAC does I had to disable it - I tried it for several days and I was still getting prompted 50 times a day with my "web developer tasks"... also I was getting fed up editing files in notepad then going to save and it not letting me. Of course I understand that most of the things it was preventing me from doing quickly most people would have no desire to do ever - so for the most part I do not understand why most people have a problem with it.

You could have just set it to silent and still have had the protection and other tings it provides.

OR, you could have edited the security permissions of the folder you where saving those files in. as the only reason you'd get prompts for doing web coding is if you're saving files in folders you don't have permissions for (windows or program files folders usually).

[Guest xiphi]

As much as I understand what UAC does I had to disable it - I tried it for several days and I was still getting prompted 50 times a day with my "web developer tasks"... also I was getting fed up editing files in notepad then going to save and it not letting me. Of course I understand that most of the things it was preventing me from doing quickly most people would have no desire to do ever - so for the most part I do not understand why most people have a problem with it.

Why the hell are you saving your files into a protected directory in the first place? Common sense would tell you to save them in your user folder not in C:\Program Files\ or C:\.

[Robbie Khan Reviews]

Disabling UAC is not a speed tweak, it's annoyance remover for the experienced user.

We didn't need UAC with XP and survived and don't need it now asking us for permission for the most basic of changes being made.

[lt8480]

Why the hell are you saving your files into a protected directory in the first place? Common sense would tell you to save them in your user folder not in C:\Program Files\ or C:\.

It would be difficult to save files in other places one very simple example that some people would be familiar with is the hosts file.

[hdood]

What does "most basic of changes" mean? You can run as administrator all the time if you want, but UAC actually only prompts you when the code you are trying to run wants permission to make system-wide changes. If said code had less-than-noble motives, your system has to be considered compromised beyond repair from a security perspective. It's fine if that's what you want and understand the risk of running all code as administrator, but it's not great advice to be giving other people.

As much as I understand what UAC does I had to disable it - I tried it for several days and I was still getting prompted 50 times a day with my "web developer tasks"... also I was getting fed up editing files in notepad then going to save and it not letting me. Of course I understand that most of the things it was preventing me from doing quickly most people would have no desire to do ever - so for the most part I do not understand why most people have a problem with it.

This sounds like a permission issue. If you were using a Unix-like OS for your web stuff, would you always run as root or would you just set the permissions properly so your user has access to the resources in question?

It would be difficult to save files in other places one very simple example that some people would be familiar with is the hosts file.

If you have to edit the hosts file this frequently, it sounds like you need to rethink your whole strategy. But still, you could just give yourself write permission to the hosts file and the problem would be solved.

[LiquidSolstice]

If it's all about permissions, I don't mind right-clicking and running as an admin.

And I'm not sure what you mean about it automatically controlling elevated privileges, whenever I've disabled UAC, I've never had a permission issue or an elevation issue. When i did have an issue, it was almost never solved by running as administrator or whatnot.

[soldier1st]

Disabling UAC is not a speed tweak, it's annoyance remover for the experienced user.

We didn't need UAC with XP and survived and don't need it now asking us for permission for the most basic of changes being made.

I will agree that UAC is not a speed tweak but the annoyance it may bring way be what could save you,Windows XP has been criticized for its susceptibility to malware, viruses, trojan horses, and worms. Security issues are compounded by the fact that users, by default, receive an administrator account that provides unrestricted access to the underpinnings of the system. If the administrator's account is broken into, there is no limit to the control that can be asserted over the compromised PC.

Windows, with its large market share, has historically been a tempting target for virus creators. Security holes are often invisible until they are exploited, making preemptive action difficult. Microsoft has stated that the release of patches to fix security holes is often what causes the spread of exploits against those very same holes, as crackers figured out what problems the patches fixed, and then launch attacks against unpatched systems. Microsoft recommends that all systems have automatic updates turned on to prevent a system from being attacked by an unpatched bug, but some business IT departments need to test updates before deployment across systems to predict compatibility issues with custom software and infrastructure. This deployment turn-around time also lengthens the time that systems are left unsecure in the event of a released software exploit. asking for permission allows you to decide if you trust what is allowed to run.once you get used to UAC you will like it. malware is worse now than when xp was released.