Question about User Account Control & Standard user

Sorry if this seems like a stupid question or I just haven't been paying attention.
I have the UAC set to its default settings and when I'm under the Admin. account and I click on IE or Firefox I will get an alert but if I click on IE or Firefox under a standard account I don't get any alert, the programs automatically open.

Is this the way UAC works? Or am I also supposed to get an alert while using a standard account also?

 

I'm not sure about Firefox, but you should not be getting any UAC alerts when starting IE in the administrator account.

 

correct.

i don't get an alert either, whether UAC is set at default or maximum.
i am using Windows 7.
i don't know if this is different under Vista...

anyway, i recommend using UAC at maximum for a little extra protection.

 

UAC notifies you any time that a program wants to elevate to Admin. If you are on an admin account all/most of your programs will try to run as Admin -- therefor you'll need to accept the UAC each time.

 

Firefox doesn't need or use admin rights by default either. On any account, there shouldn't be an UAC alert, unless the shortcut (properties > shortcut > advanced > run as administrator) and/or program (properties > compatibility > run this program as an administrator) has been modified.

An UAC alert on the standard account requires admin password to be entered.

 

JL is right. Both Firefox and IE don't have UAC prompts when run. Check for the 2 modifications that run as admin and disable them if found. You would be more suceptible to attacks when running a browser as admin. Essentially you'd have XP like security using an admin account for surfing. (bad)

 

That's not entirely true. If we're talking about properly coded software, then it shouldn't ask for such permissions, unless we're dealing with software that, due to its nature, demands it so.

IE doesn't fit in such software category. Under an administrator account, if UAC is enabled, then IE will run with a medium integrity level. Adminstrator account, with UAC disabled, runs with a high integrity level.

So, for the user to be asked for administrator credentials by UAC, then either IE and Firefox shortcuts are set to ask for permissions or someone messed with their respective processes, by making them request for such permissions.

By their own nature, they won't request it. And, in Firefox's case, I believe only when the user would update the web browser permissions would be asked, considering it won't install to user space, unlike Google Chrome. The latter one would never request for such permissions, in the first place, because it installs to user space.