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Administrator
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Last Login: 11/9/2009 11:29:53 AM
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| Stop User Account Control (UAC) screen flicker / flash http://www.tweakvista.com/Article39105.aspx Every time I get one of those UAC prompts asking me to authorize an administrative action my LCD screen flashes when the box pops up. This is caused by the switch to the secure desktop, similar towhathappens when you hit CTRL + ALT + DELETE. The only difference is that the background is a snapshot of your desktop that gives it the effect that it is just a pop up window.Although if you look carefully you will notice it is static since the clock does not change and anything else that was animated is now static.The secure desktopprovides an extra level of security to UAC by making it immuneto any application that may try to automate the click on the allow buttonbypassingthe purpose of UAC. This sounds like a great thing but it is really annoying to me. I hate that screen flicker. Rather than disable UAC, there is a better alternative. Instead, I can just disable the secure desktop switch that causes the flicker. I know this is not as secure but it is better than disabling UAC completely. Follow the steps below to disable UAC secure desktop: - Click on the Start Button and key in secpol.msc and hit Enter.
- Navigate through Local Policies and Security Options.
- Scroll to the bottom and right click on "User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation" and select Properties.
- Set the option to Disabled and hit OK.
[Update] It has been revealed that this does more than just stop the desktop from turning dark; instead, it turns off the Secure Desktop feature. Doing that exposes the PC to security risks as indicated below:
Normally, all processes running on Windows can talk to one another and interact with each other's interface. That's the basis of a lot of security exploits, which convince you to approve one action that in turn interacts with another process at your current level of privilege.
When you use UAC, the dimmed screen indicates that the consent prompt is running in an isolated process. No other software on the machine can interact with it. The only way you can give consent is to physically click the OK box, at which point control of the machine is returned to you.
When you turn off Secure Desktop, you enable scenarios where a program on your PC can in turn programmatically interact with UAC prompts without your knowledge. At that point, you're pwned.
So, be advised that you're exposing your machine to increased likelyhood of "shatter attacks" when you do this.
AMD64 X2 5200+ 2.60GHz | 3GB DDR 667 | RAID 0 SATA3.0 WD Caviars 320GB total | Foxconn MCP61VM2MA-RS2H Geforce 6100 nforce400 chipset | Vista Ultimate x86
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Vista Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 11/10/2007 10:45:57 AM
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| type it in the search bar?
"Mess with the bull, and you get the horns!"
A-Rod |
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| | | | Vista Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 3/23/2007 2:13:14 AM
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| | What screen flicker? I never get any. |
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Administrator
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| PurelyBarbed (3/22/2007)
type it in the search bar?
When you hit the start menu, there is a search bar at the bottom.
AMD64 X2 5200+ 2.60GHz | 3GB DDR 667 | RAID 0 SATA3.0 WD Caviars 320GB total | Foxconn MCP61VM2MA-RS2H Geforce 6100 nforce400 chipset | Vista Ultimate x86
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Vista Newbie
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Last Login: 11/10/2007 10:45:57 AM
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| yeah i typed it in, and it can't find anything for secpol.msc what gives?
"Mess with the bull, and you get the horns!"
A-Rod |
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Administrator
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| PurelyBarbed (3/24/2007)
yeah i typed it in, and it can't find anything for secpol.msc what gives?
Are you running Ultimate? I just tried it again on my system and it works.
i.e The screen flicker it is referring to is the darkened background which flashes when the UAC prompt comes up.
AMD64 X2 5200+ 2.60GHz | 3GB DDR 667 | RAID 0 SATA3.0 WD Caviars 320GB total | Foxconn MCP61VM2MA-RS2H Geforce 6100 nforce400 chipset | Vista Ultimate x86
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Vista Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 11/10/2007 10:45:57 AM
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| no, im running home premium, its annoying as all get out!!
"Mess with the bull, and you get the horns!"
A-Rod |
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Vista Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 11/10/2007 10:45:57 AM
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| nm, its under user accounts in the control pannle, i just turned it off, yay for me
"Mess with the bull, and you get the horns!"
A-Rod |
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| | | | Vista Newbie
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Last Login: 2/25/2008 1:32:57 PM
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| | Still confused. This flicker thing. When I switch users the monitor goes black long enough to where it wants to go into sleep mode, then switches to the other user sign-in. Why is this so slow? Is this what you guys are talking about? Can you fix this? Thanks |
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Lead Forum Moderator
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| No. This has to do with the screen darkening when the UAC popup appears. It has nothing to do with switching users.
Please post that as a new topic -- and don't post it here. This area is for people PROVIDING tips, not for technical questions. Please post that in the Technical Support forum.
thanks
ASUS A832nSLI-Deluxe, AMD 64X2 4400 OC 2.4GHz, 2GB OCZ,
Running: Windows 7, Vista 32-bit, Ubuntu 9.04
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