Dungeon Master Forum

Anyone been using Windows 7? I just started using it for the first time on my new PC and it's driving me nuts....!

I've set myself up as the default user, an Administrator, but I still get way too many prompts asking me to run this or that with elevated permissions or "do I want to allow this program to make changes to my computer". I've been reading up on the UAC and everywhere says that you can disable it entirely to stop all these prompts, but that it's not recommend because this compromises system security.

Does anyone have any tips on how I can keep my system secure, yet get rid of all these bloody annoying yes/no dialogs that come up when I run my programs?

Yopu can right click on individual programmes to tell them to always run as administrator (and also to always run in compatibility modes of Win XP, etc)

That should let you not go insane using your normal programmes, while still being secure

It doesn't work though. For example, I've set Media Monkey's default properties to Run as Administrator, yet when I fire it up (either from a shortcut or its EXE) I still get a "do I want to allow this program to make changes to my computer" prompt.

I also get stupid warnings about providing Administrator rights to do certain things like copy or delete a file -- with a Continue button right there on the dialogue that goes ahead and grants the rights! What the hell is the point of all that!?

I only got Win7 so I could have >3GB RAM recognises, but I'm not entirely sure all this other crap they've done has made it worthwhile!

Maybe you should just do the global disable then or a version of it. I get questions if I want to let a programme update, but general use and file deletion has nothing but the usual prompts.

Like all windows OS, you need to tame it - I haven't had many issues since it's been installed, just like jumping to Win Xp and Office 2008 they've gone and placed all the options in different places again

It took me 2 years to 'tame' XP into a system that was totally customised and did what I wanted. Not looking forward to doing all the same again

I think I might bite the bullet and switch all this crap off

Win 7 didn't take me that long that I recall, much much less time than Win Xp certainly!

I guess I'm old school I've switched off all the aero crap and gone back to the nice hard fonts provided by the Win Classic theme. Couldn't stand all that font smoothing either!

Indeed, I've got a boring grey border and I can't see through any of the windows when I move them

Yay! That's the way it should be.

Oh, and I can't stand the new Windows Explorer either. Just a few small changes have made it really annoying to use... I don't like that lack of dotted lines showing the tree structure and the way the tree arrows disappear when you move to the other pane is very unnerving! And it has a very weird habit of scrolling the whole tree when you click on a folder; the old XP version just expanded from that folder downwards, so you never lost your place.

Slowly getting the new kit setup and configured. I forget what a massive job it can be! I was supposed to be doing client work today, ooops!

i felt the same way at first gambit. i was having troubles even installing the drivers for my motherboard. once it was all installed, the trouble seemed to dissipate.
one of my problems was my motherbaord bios needed updating. the update program needed to be updated, hehehehe, so i was getting errors on all my updates. damn never even thought of it until a few days later, after reading forever and ever and finally found a message from a user who went through the same troubles as i. when i bought a new mouse, it made a big difference. i was using the same mouse for 6 years. it's a ball mouse, i find them easier for me to be precise, but the new mouse makes getting around a bit easier, so i have both. W7 is more controlling for sure. i'm not sure that all this auto crap is good. it might be a good idea to back up your new OS with all the settings completed on your external drive. good luck gambit

Oh my goodness, I found that there is a windows version of the classic Amiga file management tool, Directory Opus! I've been using the evaluation version for a couple of days and it's totally awesome, it gives me a much more control and a much improved workflow than using Windows Explorer. It's not cheap (around £50) but I think it will be worth the purchase in the long run as it much more suits my way of working than the half-finished Fisher Price tool that Microsoft shipped...

Hey. Did you get your UAC problem sorted out? Control Panel -> User Accounts -> Change User Account Control Settings. This feature exists primarily so you know when malevolent software is trying to screw with your system; it gives you a chance to stop it. (Vista has basically the same thing.) If you don't care, you can turn it off.

Also remember that being a member of the Administrators group does not make you the Adminstrator. There's a separate account for that, and it's disabled by default.

I've been using Windows 7 at home and work for the better part of a year, since the beta was released. Personally, I love it compared to other versions of Windows, but I'm still switching to OSX as my desktop environment so I can virtualize like I'd always planned. Yay VMWare Fusion.

Hi Tom, good to hear from you. I switched off UAC completely, it was too damned annoying, kept getting in the way of actually doing anything.

Also remember that being a member of the Administrators group does not make you the Adminstrator. There's a separate account for that, and it's disabled by default.

Oh, I didn't know this! It makes sense from a security perspective I guess.