Security :: Windows 8.1 - UAC Control For Known Good Programs?
Oct 22, 2013
Is there any way to "tell" Windows (8.1) which programs are OK to run and modify the system? I get tired of saying OK every time I run one of many utilities like True Image 2013, Auslogics, CoreTemp, CPUz and the list goes on and on. I have UAC set to the lowest level short of Off. I really don't want to turn UAC Off since I keep thinking it might actually catch a bad guy sometime! I have my W7 systems UAC set the same way as Windows 8 but don't get all the annoying popups!
I was wrong - W7 UAC acts the same way as Windows 8. I had it Turned Off in W7 and turned it on to the lowest level to check but the change does not take effect until the system is rebooted. So...I'll run Windows 8 with UAC Off too unless there is a better way.
On Windows 8.1, when I open Programs and Features in Control Panel, it does not show all of my installed programs. I am trying to remove some programs and they are not listed.
See in the picture below , the program and features in control panel does not show all of my programs. It worked good in last week.i have about 30 programs but it show 16!!
I'd like to add a file extension to the list given in Control Panel/Default Programs. In WinXP it was really easy but I hardly needed to use it as there seemed to be a lot more extensions available anyway back then. Unbelievably, (well, to me anyway), MS seem to have omitted '.flac'. How do I go about it?
In my Win 8.1 system, I disabled UAC and I'm an Admin. Still, I'm prompted to confirm certain actions, such as writes to Program File (x86). Sometimes, it seems that the prompt appears when I want to copy a file from a network share to a protected location. Is there a way to prevent this? How about a way to permanently elevate my account to System?
My issue first originates with going through the windows 8.1 store app to upgrade windows 8 -> to windows 8.1.
"turn off bitlocker because it isn't supported in the edition of windows you want to install"
I am not sure whether i encrypted the drives after installing windows 8 or in windows 7, nevertheless i do know the encryption passwords to the drives. The biggest problem is therefore trying to remove/disable the encryption to upgrade.
The Applet in the control panel is missing for some reason. I have seen some guides which rely on this applet which is usually situated between auto play and colour management.
I would like to remove/disable the encryption for the upgrade, or confirm the idea that if i disconnect the two drives that are encrypted i could upgrade the OS to 8.1 and wouldn't need to worry about the encryption. The concern is that the 8.1 OS would not read the drives hence the upgrading message.
My specs are this , related to Bitlocker:
Windows 8 64bit - standard (non-enterprise, pro)Hard drives:1 X 128GB SSD - C:/ windows installed here ** NOT ENCRYPTED **1 X 2TB HDD - D:/ + E:/ **ENCRYPTED**1 X 3TB HDD - F:/ **ENCRYPTED**
I'm only running Windows Defender plus Windows Firewall Control on my Win 8 Pro x64. Are these enough for my security? Anyny security setup that won't slow down my system?
when I started my laptop this morning it told me that both my antivirus programs (windows defender and avast free) were both turned off and so I opened the action center to turn them on and than it does nothing. i'll tell it to turn them on but all it does is think for a moment than still says they are off. I don't know what I should do.
I had to get rid of realtemp because of BSOD issues. What are some good monitors that will track the temperature and give me warnings when it goes over?
how to rebuilt user with broken system settings and keep directory structure (for scripts and non -windows friendly software) and hopefully user name.
Problem: Main user profile is broken, flat out broken. After login the screen starts flashing and it gets worse from there. I can run everything and not duplicate the error message. I always create a pristine user when I do an OS install. Administrator is OK, but it has saved me more than once to have the regular admin-type account. Since I have the nice, fluffy, running profile now I would like to learn just where is it reading these files that tell it bad things.
Another is a broken video driver (sounds were Windows Default on the working one, I told it no sounds in light of what I read) Both profiles are running the exact desktop wallpaper changer, it is working fine on the one account. I couldn't turn it off anyway on the bad account, I can't get to any of the settings windows, regedit, control panel items (that I want) are not running. Same errors as above.
I assume the calls are in the .appdata directory or perhaps the registry. I used to know how to open another user's registry in regedit but can't figure it out in Windows 8. Is there a way to tell it only to run particular services for a certain user, I can't see the services module when in the broken profile, again, same type of errors as before. Not sure which info you want on the machine or how you get it.
Computer: Operating System Windows 8.1 Pro Professional OS Service Pack - DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)[code]....
Recently my mom visited a website that tricked her. She downloaded and installed some stuff she didn't need. I removed the stuff but noticed some other problems. I'm not sure if these are new problems caused by the useless stuff she installed.
Control Panel -> Programs -> Programs and Features is not showing all installed programs. Oddly, the only listed installed programs have names that start with the letter M. 14 programs are listed. See picture. Start Menu -> All Programs -> I suspect some programs are missing. I have a Win 7 style Start menu because I am using IObit's Start Menu 8 program. Control Panel -> System and Security -> Administrative Tools was empty. I fixed that by using SFC /SCANNOW.
I tried using System Restore to go back to an earlier date, but that didn't work. In the process of trying to do that I discovered that BitDefender Internet Security 2014 doesn't get along with Windows 8.1's System Restore feature. I uninstalled BitDefender and successfully went back to an earlier date but still had the same problems with missing programs. I undid the restore. I created a new Windows user account. The new account had the same issues: missing programs in the Start menu and Programs and Features menu.
o.k. long story short before installing 8.1.1 in my real environment i tested it out extensively in vm. i found out that if you get past a certain point with the windows updates bitdefender will not install, if you install bd prior to a certain point it installs and works great even after you do the rest of the windows updates. How to get it installed and working correctly in a fully updated 8.1.1? i have eset smart security in, but i'd rather have my bitdefender.
Which registry settings should I change to set the top two default Windows rules back to 'Unrestricted' ?
I set up some rules in the local security policy some time ago when there was fuss in the news about the cryptolocker virus. They looked a lot like the rules above (I found that screenshot online as I can't take one myself, read on..)
Today I was installing some software that wanted access to the areas I restricted. I temporarily disabled the rules, then re-enabled them. Being a dumbass I also set the top two rules (which are Windows default rules) to Disallowed!
Over the following 10 minutes various aspects of my PC stopped working, telling me that the local security policy prevented access. I couldn't even get into the Control Panel or the Local Security Policy screen to change it back, once I realised what I had done. I rebooted the machine - it won't come back up
I've tried a system restore by booting from the installer on USB (which did not work, it grumbled that it could not restore due a file locked by anti-virus) so I think I've got two options:
Refresh my system using the Windows 8 tools - but I suspect that might leave the LSP rules in place, as it retains my settings & preferences.Hand edit the registry to correct the settings.
Option 2 is looking best, I can get into RegEdit from the recovery console, but I'm not sure what to edit and what to set it to? This is on Windows 8.1 Pro...
I came to some trouble installing CorelDraw software which apparently uses for it's setup launcher web active container performed by IE core. If I launch setup, the setup windows is evidently noninitialized showing the top warning band about active content being blocked for security reasons. Even allowing active content by selecting from the top bar menu doesn't make the setup continue. So now I'd need to temporarily bypass all IE's security checks, ie. allow everything. What I already did was browsing the security tab in IE options and allowing most of the choices in branches ActiveX controls and plugin modules + Scripting (Local Intranet). On Advanced tab I have checked in Security branch Allow execution of active content from CD discs on this computer + Allow execution of active content from files on this computer. Nothing of these affecting the installer to run (ie. I still see then active content blocking bar).
I am running 8.1, and firefox 25. I can't download or run Avast, or download any executables, suddenly. I lowered my security settings to Medium and added Avast to the firewall permissions, but to no avail. My download settings were already at "prompt" anyway, so there's something deeper I can't figure out. I'm a reasonably competent generalist but not super computer smart.
A McAfee technician had to remote control my laptop to get rid of a 'Trial period' of McAfee. She asked me if she could remove 'Malwarebytes' which I had downloaded. She said it contravenes with McAfee's security. Is this a fact? Or maybe they don't like competition!
I using window 8.1, I can recall the Window Control Panel was on the desktop at one time, do not know if I did sometime to delete it or not, What I am asking is how do I get it back on the desktop, instead of going to the start button and right clicking to get it too open up..
I want to control my phone over bluetooth in windows 8 to listen music. any option to control the device? I have successfully paired the device. It was easily done in windows 7 but i cannot find such option in windows 8.
What I want is actually the opposite of what most people are looking for. I want to install windows 8 on my kids computer but want the volume level to be set at a certain level so the sound is not to high no matter what they do.
I am able to achieve this right now as the desktop is on XP and i have the wave bar set to a certain level so no matter how high they put the volume bar it just stays at a certain level.I have hidden the wave bar so they cannot even get at it by mistake.
The main thing is that I am using a sidewinder X4 keyboard which has the vol+/- so they can easily increase the volume even if I hide the volume tab from the desktop in windows 8, while in XP it remained a certain lvel even if they put it upto 100%.
I have been searching for win 8 mixers where I could maybe have the same type of control as the XP but so far have found nothing.
I want to launch the Windows Store Control Panel in Windows 8 from Desktop command line, i know the EXE file is "C:WindowsImmersiveControlPanelSystemSettings.exe".
I have had no trouble with windows 8 until the most recent update. Now everytime i start up my laptop it will not let me use any icons on the desktop, start menu, bar at the bottom of screen and wont even let me use windows explorer (i.e. I went into control panel to reset things to before the update but it just says not responding). The first thing i realised was windows defender was taking up a lot of space in the disk and was preventing other things from being loaded successfully so i managed to disable it, downloaded AVG and found no viruses.
Since I have upgraded to 8.1 my remote control no longer works it is detected in device manager and driver is installed but when I click skip,play, stop etc nothing happens. I use it mainly for my music.
Is there a way to get it working again. I use the default music app to play music which I preferred the old version to be honest.
I have an HP Envy Dv7 with windows 8, running an Intel i7 processor with an NVIDIA graphics card. I have had this laptop for about 1 year. Recently I have had an extreme case of lag with anything that i do, whether it be turning it on, signing in, or browsing the internet. I also occasionally get a popup that tells me that my catalyst control center has stopped working and that windows will close the program until it can find a solution. I haven't run a virus scan because it would take days to get that far on the internet to run it. Should I factory reset? Most of my files are on a cloud so if it would work, I can do that. What should I do?
I recently installed Windows 8 Pro x64 on my Dell inspiron 3520. Just a few weeks down the line i noticed i was not able to access the control panel or any of the system properties.
When I upgraded to win 8.1 my screen brightness went up and i can't control it. i tried re-installing the graphic drivers but it's not working. Also my battery backup has decreased from 3.5 hrs to 2 hrs only. What do i Do?