For daily use, do you prefer to run as Administrator or Standard user?

I've been running 2 Win 10 machines on SUA and UAC maxed out lately with excellent results in terms of usability. All programs work perfectly (unlike what I experienced with XP and Vista), and switching from SUA to Admin is very fast indeed if needed. I'm not a gamer nor I install programs on a regular basis therefore I feel as others pointed out, I have enabled a very important security layer built into the OS...

 

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Same here

 

Well, since my first post a lot has changed and now I use Standard User Account
I don't install software much (I also prefer to use VMs for that) so using SUA is not too inconvenient to me.

 

SUA, of course. I must admit that I don't understand how more than 70% of the members participating here - in a forum which is focused on security - use an admin account. Granted, on Windows XP this had been a problem. I don't know about Vista as I had never used that - but since Windows 7 running a SUA for daily use has not been a problem at all for me. I cannot imagine that more 70% of the members here are always running software that requires admin rights (and if so - do they really have to start it multiple times a day? ) . And if someone in another thread here writes that he's getting a UAC prompt every time he starts the Task Manager or the Process Explorer - the only explanation for me is that some intrusive 3rd-party tool must have changed some settings as this doesn't happen to me.

Running your computer as admin and putting your trust on more or less questionable 3rd party tools is one of the biggest security threat for Windows users.

 

Since I started using Windows 7 I have been using as default the Admin account and not once have I ever been infected or compromised. Sure, I can see the potential risk but for me it is so small as being negligible, but each to their own.

 

So is the inconvenience of using a SUA

 

Yep, and as I said, "each to their own".

 

In my case, I do run software than needs Admin rights, multiple times a day. As well as that, I regularly install (and uninstall) a lot of software. In the past month I've installed or updated forty programs, and that's not counting software that I have tried and then uninstalled.

I know that my computer would be more secure if used both SUA and Admin accounts. But, I'm certainly not prepared to secure my system at the expense of usability. I don't feel I need to use SUA to keep my computer secure. I'm not click happy and I keep Windows and vulnerable software updated. I know from many years of experience, that just by doing this, it is highly unlikely my system will be infected. If it ever does get infected, I've got backups to restore from.

In my opinion the biggest threats are being click happy and opening random files (e.g. opening a questionable email attachment, which turns to be ransomware) and not keeping your system updated. I don't put my trust in any security software. I rely on my judgement and keeping my system updated to keep my computer safe. The antivirus software is just a backup measure.

 

You already know my point of view. Of course SUA is recommended and sounds good in theory, but for some of us it's not that great in practice. For some of us, it would make life harder while gaining only a limited amount of extra security. BTW, the latest WannaCry attack is a perfect example of how security tools would have tackled this, while SUA would not have helped. Also, I thought I had already explained that tools like Process Explorer and System Explorer need admin rights in order to fully function, and yes I do run PE at least 3 to 5 times a day.

 

I run as local admin but for the others in my house, I have them setup as SUA.

 

I think a LUA with a password would have helped with Wanna Cry from what I've read about the infection mechanism. Especially if execution was disabled in the Users folder. A LUA is standard security and has been since the days Unix was the main business OS. It is only sloppily coded Windows software that made it difficult to use and that has changed lately with most software not doing things like putting the configuration files in the Progam Files folder. When you look at security that actually works in any system, it almost always uses some form of ACL and controlling privilege. Otherwise, you have to use bloated security products that can both degrade performance and have security issues in themselves.

 

Administrator! I'm the sole user requiring instant access to various Windows functions. Elimination of networking, sharing, remote access, limiting software traffic on machine all make running with elevated Administrator privileges justifiable--to me at least. Plus, it's convenient for a solo user.

 

ADMIN here too. sole user.