User Account Control - Security feature in Windows 7

user Account Control in Windows 7

The User Account Control (UAC) is a security feature in Windows 7 operating system. This technology was introduced in Windows Vista but is improved in Window 7 operating system.

The User Account Control improves the security of Windows 7 by limiting the software to standard user privileges unless the administrator gives permission to increase the privilege level. We can say that even though a user account may have administrative privileges assigned to it, the applications that the user runs do not also have these privileges unless approved by administrator.

Even though UAC is not a perfect solution, it definitely helps to prevent unnecessary softwares installing to your PC. This UAC feature is definitely very useful for a home user.

User Access Control - UAC in Windows 7

Now let us see more details about UAC. Whenever your password is needed to complete a task, the User Access Control (UAC) will notify you with one out of four different types of dialog boxes.

Let us see an example:

User Account Control screen in Windows 7

User Account Control screen in Windows 7

If you see the above screen shot. you are trying to download a legitimate program called Silverlight from Microsoft. As soon as it tries to install, the User Account Control comes into action with a warning!

What is happening here is that after downloading a legitimate program called Silverlight from Microsoft as soon as it tries to install - the UAC comes into action with a warning!

In the above example, since Silverlight is a legitimate program and we are interested to install it, so we can go ahead with installation process by clicking YES button since we trust the application.

We can see four scenarios where the User Account Control activates. Each of these four UAC windows has its own ICON for denoting the severity of the warning. The four types of UAC are listed below:

User Account Control Icon-1 in Windows 7

A User Account control window with an ICON shown to the left is an indication that the program or a feature to be installed is a part of Windows 7.

User Account Control Icon-2 in Windows 7

A User Account control window with an ICON shown to the left is an indication that the program or a feature to be installed is not a part of Windows 7 but has a valid digital signature which is trusted by Windows 7.

User Account Control Icon-3 in Windows 7

A User Account control window with an ICON shown to the left is an indication that the program or a feature to be installed is not a program from an un known publisher. That means the application does not have a valid digital signature and it is not harmful. But if this UAC warning suddenly appears on the screen without yourself aware that you are installing an application, then it is a program that you probably do not want to install.

User Account Control Icon-4 in Windows 7

A User Account control window with an ICON shown to the left is an indication that the program or a feature to be installed has been blocked. When this kind of UAC warning appears, you can simply click on the NO button and perform a complete scan of your system with anti virus or anti spyware program. This warning is an indication that your computer is infected with some kind of viru.

User Account Control - Security feature in Windows 7

user Account Control in Windows 7

User Access Control - UAC in Windows 7

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