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[TheBoy]

macafee was the system that came with my present laptop. my subscription is due in april but already i am getting reminders. i dont know if this is a kind of scam or what but last week the machine wasnt responding to anything & out of the blue (just freezing all the time ) an email arrived from macafee offering me a service that would normally cost almost £50 for free if i rang a number & let them take control of the laptop. i ended up rebooting & for the last two days its been ok. plus macafee subscription charge has doubled this coming year.

That's a scam, as is any request to take control of your PC, usually via Teamviewer, but that will change to something else soon*

I'd potentially not renew McAfee, just uninstall, and revert to Windows Defender.


*The large ISPs - those with blocking capabilities - are all looking to block Teamviewer, because it is such a massive issue, despite the fact it is a useful and legitimate tool.

[TheBoy]

What are UAC presets ? And how would I know if Im logged on as an administrator ?

Do you ever get prompts, normally when installing shit, that asks "To you want to allow this program to make changes on your device", offering Yes or No?

That is UAC, and its setting is in "Change User Account Control settings" on Win10 (Start, click settings cog (then click settings on pop up if on very latest Win10), and in search box at top, type uac


If you don't get a prompt after pressing Yes, you are an admin, thus dropping your pants, putting you head between your knees, and inviting anyone on the internet to butt rape you.

[Auto Addict]

What are UAC presets ? And how would I know if Im logged on as an administrator ?

Do you ever get prompts, normally when installing shit, that asks "To you want to allow this program to make changes on your device", offering Yes or No?

That is UAC, and its setting is in "Change User Account Control settings" on Win10 (Start, click settings cog (then click settings on pop up if on very latest Win10), and in search box at top, type uac


If you don't get a prompt after pressing Yes, you are an admin, thus dropping your pants, putting you head between your knees, and inviting anyone on the internet to butt rape you.

Unless you log in as an admin, you cannot do certain software updates, so how do you get around that

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

I do indeed get prompts, so Im not an admin. Hope I don't need to be an admin in future, coz I don't know how to.

[Shackeng]

What are UAC presets ? And how would I know if Im logged on as an administrator ?

Do you ever get prompts, normally when installing shit, that asks "To you want to allow this program to make changes on your device", offering Yes or No?

That is UAC, and its setting is in "Change User Account Control settings" on Win10 (Start, click settings cog (then click settings on pop up if on very latest Win10), and in search box at top, type uac


If you don't get a prompt after pressing Yes, you are an admin, thus dropping your pants, putting you head between your knees, and inviting anyone on the internet to butt rape you.

So you should get a second prompt after pressing Yes? I don't only the first, so I must be Admin, will chase this up.

[TheBoy]

What are UAC presets ? And how would I know if Im logged on as an administrator ?

Do you ever get prompts, normally when installing shit, that asks "To you want to allow this program to make changes on your device", offering Yes or No?

That is UAC, and its setting is in "Change User Account Control settings" on Win10 (Start, click settings cog (then click settings on pop up if on very latest Win10), and in search box at top, type uac


If you don't get a prompt after pressing Yes, you are an admin, thus dropping your pants, putting you head between your knees, and inviting anyone on the internet to butt rape you.

Unless you log in as an admin, you cannot do certain software updates, so how do you get around that

Windows updates will still go ahead. 3rd party software may need admin rights, but only to do the update.  If you are logged on as a limited user, and your are doing such an update, you will be prompted for some admin credentials, which you can enter if you are absolutely 100% sure the software being deployed is pukka and not laden with nasties.

So, day to day, you should *ALWAYS* absolutely, categorically, 100% log on as a limited user. Without fail.

[TheBoy]

I do indeed get prompts, so Im not an admin. Hope I don't need to be an admin in future, coz I don't know how to.

Sorry, my earlier wording was incorrect.  If you get a Yes/No prompt, then you are running as an admin.  If you get asked for an admin username and password, then you are running as a limited user.

Limited user = good
Admin user = bad (or you ego exceeds your competence, for those that think they are clever enough to run in such a way)

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Oh dear. Looks like I need to address that then.

[Shackeng]

Pardon my ignorance, but I don't follow the logic of this. The implication is that if you don't get a prompt, asking if you want to allow 'whatever' to change your computer, then you presumably can allow it to do so without a prompt. Yet as I understand your instructions, under such circumstances, ie allowed to change computer without a prompt, you are not Admin.
I am sure that when I was running Win 7, and certainly since running 10, I always have had a prompt, so I must have always unknowingly been running as Admin.
NB I had serious troubles trying to instal 10 being asked to have an MS account and finishing up with several usernames trying to avoid opening such an account, and I keep getting reminders that there is a problem with the MS account which, I hope, I don't have anyway.

[Auto Addict]

You need two accounts, one as an admin, one as a limited user.

You log in as a limited user - when you try to update certain software you will be prompted for your admin credentials.

Windows update does not require admin credentials.

[Shackeng]

You need two accounts, one as an admin, one as a limited user.

You log in as a limited user - when you try to update certain software you will be prompted for your admin credentials.

Windows update does not require admin credentials.

Now I'm even more confused. The prompts I was referring to ask something like "Do you wish to allow this (?) to make changes to your computer?" The options are 'yes' or 'no'. I do not recall ever being asked for admin credentials, either in 7 or 10, and wouldn't know what they were if it did.

 I've just checked 'My Account' in Settings, which is described as described as Local Account Administrator. So how do I open a 'Limited Account' to avoid the pitfalls described by Jaime?

[Shackeng]

Having googled it, I've discovered this:

Windows 10 Home now forces you to sign in with a Microsoft account—unless you disconnect from the internet first. Microsoft has always wanted you to sign in with a Microsoft account, but now it’s going even further.

The option to sign in with a classic local Windows account was always rather hidden behind an “Offline Account” option. Now, we’ve confirmed that it’s vanished entirely from Windows 10’s setup process.

So unless I open a MS account, I can only login Win 10 with my admin account, even with internet disconnected.
Its enough to turn me into a Mac buyer.

[aaronjb]

For now, you can still skip the iCloud account step of setting up a new Mac - I expect that to change, in time, and for it to be mandatory for home users, just like Microsoft is/are making their Microsoft account step.
Linux or BSD will be your only options at that point...

Increasingly MS/Apple are giving the OS away "for free" and you know what they say - if you aren't paying for the service then you are the service.

[TheBoy]

Home does allow local accounts.  Ignore the crap written by journalists. IT journalists are particularly piss poor.

The key is to disconnect it during the OOBE phase of the install.


The fact you are getting asked Yes/No for something to do something potentially dangerous means you are running as admin.  That means a rogue process (opening infected emails, installing something, visiting hijacked websites and so on) can a) disable the prompts, b) install anything, stealthily.  This is far less likely if you log on as a limited user, as you have to specifically give admin details should you need to do/install/remove anything that needs admin rights.

Running as a non privileged user is top 3 in security tips anywhere.

[Shackeng]

 

Home does allow local accounts.  Ignore the crap written by journalists. IT journalists are particularly piss poor.

The key is to disconnect it during the OOBE phase of the install.


The fact you are getting asked Yes/No for something to do something potentially dangerous means you are running as admin.  That means a rogue process (opening infected emails, installing something, visiting hijacked websites and so on) can a) disable the prompts, b) install anything, stealthily.  This is far less likely if you log on as a limited user, as you have to specifically give admin details should you need to do/install/remove anything that needs admin rights.

Running as a non privileged user is top 3 in security tips anywhere.

Thanks for confirming that. I have therefore been running as admin both on Win7 and Win10, and as explained above I am unable to use a local account (unless I set up a MS account). Although various help sites, including MS, give instructions to ...”Sign in to local account instead”.
This link does not appear on my system, presumably because I do not have the MS account.
I am not the only person to have this problem, but it seems, as you imply, that I either give in and sign up or reinstall Win 10.