Limited user account

[CeeCee]

Is the limited user account a real pain to use? I was thinking of setting my user account to limited and so adding another layer of security. But is it really worth it? I know, that you will then need Admin rights to install (and even launch?) programs. It can be done via program right click menu; "Run as". What are your thoughts about the limited account?

 

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1683498,00.asp

[YoKenny]

A limited user account has its advantages especially if you share the system with multiple users.

 

If you are the only user then having two or more accounts usually results in situations where some applications have to be installed for each user account and CCleaner comes to mind as it can only clean the current User ID account I believe.

 

If you install the recommended security applications in your Administrator ID then the system will be safe from all but the very latest of malware that tries to exploit some newly un-patched exposure in your system.

[hazelnut]

I would give it a try CeeCee and see if it's useful or a bother to you.

 

I use Online Armor which has a 'run safer' feature which means you can choose which things you want to run with limited rights. I usually do this for my browsers etc.

[Andavari]

I tried having a limited user account, but didn't like it on bit.

 

However for just surfing the web, it's much safer to use a limited user account.

[doppelganger101]

There's a very useful utility that was written for Windows XP in order to provide a balance of security and usability so that it is not necessary to log in to a limited user account in order to provide extra security. It's called StripMyRights; it's basically an improvement on MSDN's DropMyRights. The purpose of the program is to allow a person logged in under an administrative account to run processes with limited user privileges. However, DropMyRights had some flaws. The worst flaw was that it did not allow command-line switches to be passed to the process in question. It also flashed a command prompt on the screen for a split second. This was merely an aesthetic bug, but it clearly bothered someone enough to make them write StripMyRights. StripMyRights basically does the same thing as DropMyRights, but it allows command-line switches to be passed to processes and it does away with the command prompt. It's completely transparent to the user once it's set up and allows vulnerable processes such as Internet Explorer and other Internet-facing processes to be run with limited user privileges while logged in as an administrator.

 

Documentation for StripMyRights can be found here:

http://www.sysint.no/nedlasting/StripMyRights.htm

 

StripMyRights can be downloaded here:

http://www.download.com/StripMyRights/3000...4-10486002.html

 

Enjoy!

[Corona]

Your post is excellent and it sounds like you know those programs very well but I just can't help laughing every time I read the names of those products. I'm thinking of several alternatives right now.

[doppelganger101]

Most of the time, even running programs with StripMyRights or from within a limited user account isn't even necessary. As long as you practice good Internet security practices, you'll likely never get a virus.

[CeeCee]

Well, guess i don't bother to try that limited account, or that StripMyRights thing. Even though they add some security, using Windows might come somewhat uncomfortable.

[doppelganger101]

That's completely your choice. Personally, I love StripMyRights because it's completely transparent. If you didn't tell someone that it was on their computer, they probably wouldn't notice it was there. I find it provides usable security when I'm logged in as an administrator.