You might try running the file manager as administrator. Click the Start button, type “explorer.exe,” right-click on the file, and select “run as administrator.” This way, you’ll only deal with one UAC prompt, right when you launch the program.

Any more questions?

I have a more average question about Windows7 UAC and it’s utterly irritating pop-ups though.I recently attached a second hard-drive inside my PC, and guess what. Every friggin’ time I try to move one or more files from one harddrive to the other. Windows7 nags me about “you’ll have to give administrative permission to move these files”. Because I;m moving not a huge load of files at a time but a mere one or few files. this nagging pop-up gets on my nerves. And I ask myself Microsoft Microsoft, why Microsoft why?

I’ve some articles til my eyes turned sore about this issue. Right-clicking the drive and giving full permission to my main admin-account i;m using, doesn’t help. Right-clicking the sub-folder and telling windows that all sub-folders can be shared with full rights, doesn;t help. Using the options provided in secpol.msc. doesn’t help.

So.. do you perhaps have any solution for this?

Just in case it means anything, Vista came out 4-1/2 years ago, and I’ve still yet to see so much as ONE drive-by download in the wild that affects it or Windows 7. XP is the only OS that is getting pummeled mercilessly, despite the fact that most of its vulnerabilities affect its successors as well. The difference? Vista and 7 have Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), making it 256 times more difficult to reliably exploit a known bug. The only people who have managed to do it are security researchers (white hats), who have access to MS’ source code.

Furthermore, most of the XP users who are affected by drive-by downloads are in China, using bootlegged copies and not updating them. And even they have the option of locking it down per the instructions at Invincible Windows, and having the best of both worlds. Still another option is to pay out the nose for a Mac, which enjoys the same obscurity advantage that Linux has, while being a bit more polished, quite a bit more streamlined, and MUCH more user-friendly than Linux will ever be. Still not my preference, but it beats the heck out of yours.

P.S.: You don’t know Utopia, because I live there, and your kind are nowhere to be seen.

“‘particular program you use to convert video files and author DVDs,’ Can’t really say, as I’m generally not doing that conversion stuff, I just watch things directly off a DVD, call it my laziness.”
>>>>In other words, the answer is #1: you are nowhere near as prolific as you think you are. And going back over your above statement, I wouldn’t expect you to be doing conversion at all, as it looks like you don’t even know the difference between DVDs with and without copy protection. Hint: most store-bought DVDs in America are copy-protected.

“‘And if there is a scanner for which Linux drivers are readily available’ My HP PSC 1315 All In One works fine, because HP has drivers for them.”
>>>>Does your scanner actually work, or just your printer? I see no mention of scanners on the HPLIP page. If it actually does, then I’m glad to hear it. Last time I tried with Ubuntu 8.04 LTS, the scanner unit of my PSC 1410 AIO didn’t work at all. And you’ve likely seen the 1410 somewhere, as it was one of the very most widely used models of its day.

“I won’t be sure of it, let me put it in another way ‘There are things which my computer can do better than yours’ as there are things that are impossible with Windows (though I’m sorry, they’re nothing related to video/audio stuff).”
>>>>I’d be interested to know what is “impossible with Windows.” And I’m sure there are SOME things an app for your platform can do better than the counterpart I use, and vice versa. Every platform and its respective universe of apps have their strengths and weaknesses. What’s your point?

“Perfectly correct, and that is one of the prime reasons I don’t use Windows, there is only freeware, which I can’t be sure about, which I don’t know what its doing. Its like having someone get into your house, do the job for free, but with the catch that you don’t know what he does, its all secret. This is not a philosophy btw, its a security issue. (and as you know freeware != free software)”
>>>>That is a poor argument, and it’s not even correct. What do you thing Firefox is? It’s OPEN SOURCE!!! In case you didn’t realize, most people who have the time on their hands to write open source software for Linux have written Windows versions as well; in fact, they usually write it for Windows FIRST, and then PORT it over to Linux.

And as far as security issues go, I’d call that an opinion, rather than a fact. On the one hand, black hats (criminal hackers) do not have access to MS’ source code. Most exploits come out after a patch has been released (unless obtained from a careless grey hat, or a black hat in disguise); hackers use system monitors to track which files and registry keys are added, deleted, and altered by the patch, and then compare side-by-side with the original code (if any) to pinpoint the loophole. On the other hand, everyone has access to open source, and the bad guys would have more motivation than the good guys to find zero-day holes if the market were large enough. There is a big difference between inherent security and relative obscurity. Just FYI, it is the latter that has kept you safe, while vigilance and Google Chrome have done it for me. BTW, I don’t use antivirus, not even in XP.

“Again, kindly read my point, its not a Linux deficiency, if I make a xyz device and never tell Microsoft how they work, even they won’t be able to write a driver for it. So, its the *manufacturer* that decides what drivers it will make, *not* the OS.”
>>>>I read your point the first time, and of course I don’t expect YOU to come right out and say it’s a Linux deficiency, because it’s your subjective agenda to conceal all of Linux’s faults as you make your pitch for it. The manufacturer decides what is commercially viable. Because there are so many different distros, and because they’re harder to use than their commercial competitors, no one is interested in them. So you don’t see very many units with Linux preinstalled. And yes, lack of third-party support IS a Linux deficiency, because it is a deal breaker for Linux (not to mention that it is traceable back to inherent Linux deficiencies). Argue this until you’re blue in the face if you like, but you’ll still be wrong.

“Personally, I use Linux because I can’t afford to wait for a service guy to come to fix things up, and then charge me a lot for just some clicks he did. I’d rather fix it myself in a better way, because I know my system better than any service guy. If people start using GNU/Linux and learn to do things themselves, service men will lose their jobs, better that not happen, better let the people be unaware of things, while let learn the ones who want to learn.”
>>>>Good luck campaigning for that. I fix my own systems and many of others, and don’t have to be a command-line guru to do it. And whether or not I know someone’s computer as intimately as they do, I can usually make it run smoother than they ever can. BTW, there are Linux technicians as well, just FYI. It looks like you’re conjuring arguments up off the top of your head. If you start posting lies, chances are that I’ll catch you as you try to expound on them. I HAVE used Linux, and know fact from fiction.

“Now you’ll actually realize some stuff I’ve been saying, I’ve been talking about geeks, who are always ready to learn and to experiment. I *never* said Linux is for the average Joe, who is scared to even boot into Safe Mode if something goes wrong, for example.”
>>>>Just for the sake of semantics, you were not talking about geeks; you were talking about nerds. Geeks are fairly smart, and have some computer skills, but they also have lives; they learn to use preexisting software, rather than program their own (or jump through hoops to make it run). Nerds are especially smart, and spend more time programming and tinkering with their computer and/or gaming platform.

Geeks prefer shortcuts; geeks like to get things done. And I’m sure you’re going to say you can get things done quicker on your Linux box, because your whole deal here is promoting Linux. But I know otherwise, and so will everyone else who tries it. I think you yourself know it deep down, but are trying to convince yourself otherwise because you had a problem with Windows in the distant past, and have this bizarre need to believe that Windows has no advantages over Linux in order to justify your decision to emigrate and stay satisfied with a less capable machine. I don’t need to defend my position; 92 percent of the world agrees with me. Especially in China, where they would rather bootleg Windows than acquire your platform for free! http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/hiner/?p=525

“1. …But, you’ll never get any problems, and its very easy to use.”
>>>>Nonsense on both points. First, everyone knows Linux is NOT very easy to use; there is no ambiguity about this point, and you’re wasting your time flogging that dead horse. That out of the way, what’s wrong with Windows 7, and since when does Linux NOT have problems? Most Windows problems are caused by constantly installing and uninstalling third-party software, especially because so many developers feel the need to make their software auto-start with Windows (one of the biggest trouble-makers is antimalware, which I don’t use). Most people who come to see me either have a virus, or 25 icons in the system tray. Others don’t have any problems at all, and are simply inquiring how to use a specific function (Outlook’s obscure send-receive button brings quite a few people in).

Linux problems, on the other hand, seem to be unavoidable, and start to occur right out of the box. As little as I use it, I have always experienced problems within days of a fresh installation, and sometimes immediately. Ubuntu 8.04 LTS scrambled the panel icons after the VERY FIRST update, and I hadn’t even installed anything yet! I’ve also left flash drives plugged into my desktop overnight while it was running Ubuntu, Mandriva, or MEPIS; only to find later that they had been sporadically dismounted, and could not be recognized again until I rebooted. In the case of Mandriva, my data was once zapped after the reboot (and no, it wasn’t a hard shutdown, and it shouldn’t matter anyway). And after the first time this happens, it will increase in frequency until the OS is reinstalled.

And then we have the infamous sleep bug. I quite often have multiple applications open on one or more of my machines when I put them in standby. With Linux, if I leave something open and try to put the unit to sleep, it wakes right back up (again, right after a clean install). I will close every application I had running, and the problem persists; I have to log out for sleep mode to work. I finally reloaded XP, and all my problems were gone. My flash drives worked just fine, no matter how long I left them plugged in and the machine running. Windows slept like a baby until I woke it up myself. And my icons stayed where I put them.

“1. You choose whichever is good for you.”
>>>>Precisely. That’s why 92% of the world’s population chooses Windows.

“2. I said geeks should use GNU/Linux, not the Average Joe”
>>>>Linux isn’t for geeks, either. It’s for nerds.

“3. Its just personal taste.”
>>>>And it’s best kept personal. Again, try as you might (and even if I hadn’t said anything), you’re unlikely to score any converts. Anyone who has the necessary skill set to be productive with Linux knows about it already. Anyone who didn’t previously know about Linux, and tries it per your recommendation, is almost guaranteed to drop it in disgust and return to what works…Windows.

“I just realised that people turned my comment into a debate.”
>>>>If that’s what you call it. I call it making corrections, as very little of what you’ve posted is credible. Sorry to bust your bubble, but I will not stand for deceit.

So, “how long did it take for you to figure out how to get DVDs to play on your box”, sorry but for me VLC played them fine.

“particular program you use to convert video files and author DVDs”, Can’t really say, as I’m generally not doing that conversion stuff, I just watch things directly off a DVD, call it my laziness

“And if there is a scanner for which Linux drivers are readily available” My HP PSC 1315 All In One works fine, because HP has drivers for them.

“Your computer cannot do as much as mine can do, and that’s a guarantee.”, I won’t be sure of it, let me put it in another way “There are things which my computer can do better than yours” as there are things that are impossible with Windows (though I’m sorry, they’re nothing related to video/audio stuff).
“that there is more freeware for Windows” Perfectly correct, and that is one of the prime reasons I don’t use Windows, there is only freeware, which I can’t be sure about, which I don’t know what its doing. Its like having someone get into your house, do the job for free, but with the catch that you don’t know what he does, its all secret. This is not a philosophy btw, its a security issue. (and as you know freeware != free software)

“Is absolving Linux of any fault for its deficiencies” Again, kindly read my point, its not a Linux deficiency, if I make a xyz device and never tell Microsoft how they work, even they won’t be able to write a driver for it. So, its the *manufacturer* that decides what drivers it will make, *not* the OS.

“I service PCs and Macs for a living” Yes, this is an important point. Personally, I use Linux because I can’t afford to wait for a service guy to come to fix things up, and then charge me a lot for just some clicks he did. I’d rather fix it myself in a better way, because I know my system better than any service guy. If people start using GNU/Linux and learn to do things themselves, service men will lose their jobs, better that not happen, better let the people be unaware of things, while let learn the ones who want to learn.

“Most people do not want to learn how to install an operating system…” Now you’ll actually realize some stuff I’ve been saying, I’ve been talking about geeks, who are always ready to learn and to experiment. I *never* said Linux is for the average Joe, who is scared to even boot into Safe Mode if something goes wrong, for example.

On a more explanatory note, just consider buying a car, I give you two options-
1. You get the car you choose, pay for it, but under the conditions that It will remain my car, and I give you the license to drive it. You’re not supposed to open the hood and make modifications to the components, that will make you a criminal. But, you’ll never get any problems, and its very easy to use.
2. You get to buy the car, and its yours. You do whatever you want to do with it, but we are not responsible for anything that happens. You tweak it, you run it, but it might not work because you modified it.

So, choice 2 has no guarantee but it has flexibility, and choice 1 is guaranteed to work with everything properly (that is Windows).

So
1. You choose whichever is good for you.
2. I said geeks should use GNU/Linux, not the Average Joe
3. Its just personal taste, for more info http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

(P.S. Unless the author of the article okays it, I will not post further replies, I just realised that people turned my comment into a debate, sorry on behalf of them for that on a security article)

My machines are the community Swiss Army knives. I am the one who converts back and forth for Mac and PC users (including helping an uncle convert MOV files to AVIs for presentation at church services two time zones away), converts LIT to TXT and vice versa, converts multiple audio files of various formats and sampling rates into uniform MP3s for burning to disc, mixes, overdubs, crops videos, compiles CDs and DVDs, and prerecords PowerPoint slideshows whose transitions are synchronized to the music. Aside from the locally installed apps on my internal drive (SSD), I have 168 portable programs, not including the PStart menu launcher. And more are being added all the time. Am I an average user? Certainly not. But unless your system is already completely flushed with Kool-Aid, you know as well as I do that there is more freeware for Windows than there is total for Linux. And if you think you can challenge me, and make a claim as bold as “emphasis on anything,” then best you be prepared to name off your list; I do NOT take empty assertions.

“And about drivers, if companies don’t make drivers for GNU/Linux whose fault is it?”
>>>>No one’s, really. But what difference is that supposed to make? Is absolving Linux of any fault for its deficiencies supposed to cover up the deficiency and declare Linux suitable for all-purpose use? Sorry, I think not. We need something that works, not excuses and passing of the ball. When one of your converts (if you ever score any) comes up with some need for which a suitable application doesn’t exist, “we haven’t gotten to that yet, but it’s getting better” is not a good answer. And finger pointing is the very sin for which mankind fell; you just made Linux look worse by going there.

I service PCs and Macs for a living. Do not make the mistake of assuming that you know what people want better than I do, because you don’t. Most people do not want to become hackers; they do not want to learn all the intricacies of the machine and the software running on it. There are only a handful of machines out there with some flavor of Linux pre-installed, and most of them are hidden deep in the OEMs’ Web sites. Most people do not want to learn how to install an operating system, much less how to identify, locate, and install drivers for a processor on which a particular distro will not boot, much less open up a terminal and type in a bunch of Swahili to install a Windows driver for an unsupported WiFi device using NDISWrapper, much less write their own scanner drivers for SANE.

If Linux facilitates all of your needs such that you have not once had any need for Windows in years, then there are three possibilities: 1) you are nowhere near as prolific as you think you are. 2) you are a programmer. 3) you know a programmer. Whatever the case may be, one thing is clear: you are an exception, not the rule. And you recommended Linux indiscriminately, as if it is suitable for everyone. If someone buys a Linux-powered unit because of your recommendation, is dissatisfied with it, and has to pay a restocking fee in order to return it, then they have you to thank for it.

Most people want something they can grow into, and are willing to learn a LITTLE (mouse clicks only, no commands) if it helps them save some money. In this case, Windows is best. If somebody wants to avoid a learning curve as much as possible, wants all their programs and devices (e.g. iTunes, iPod, etc.) to sync automatically, and is willing to pay extra and let others choose in order to see it happen; then Apple is best. In all reality, anyone who is better off with Linux probably already knows about it and how to get it. Average Joe and Jane would not be better off with Linux, and you do them a disservice by telling them that they would. That’s outright misinformation, and I won’t stand for it.

It’s not a bona fide “vulnerability,” per se. It’s the default setting for UAC in Windows 7, which is Microsoft’s response to customer complaints. There is a fix for anyone who wants it; all you have to do is turn it back up to “always notify.”