CS4-64bit in Vista – Keep getting "User Account Control" popup whenever I open a file! Ar

T
Posted By
Trizzay
Oct 21, 2008
Views
550
Replies
19
Status
Closed
Anyone know how to turn off the lame User Account Control switch for Photoshop? Whenever I try to open a PSD file (even from Bridge), I get the annoying Vista warning window asking me if I really want to open the file.

Anyone know?

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LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Oct 21, 2008
Go to Control Panel>User Accounts>Turn User Account Control On or Off. Uncheck UAC checkbox.
CF
chris_farrell
Oct 21, 2008
Sorry,…keep the UAC as that shouldn’t affect opening an image file. It sounds like you need to allow admin privileges to the drive / folder that contains your images.

You’ll have to google it – maybe ask on the vistax64.com forum as they’ll have tutorials on this issue.
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Oct 22, 2008
Try the UAC first. I test software with Vista and it’s not only annoying, it interferes with certain automated tasks and has to be turned off.
RB
Robert_Barnett
Oct 22, 2008
Welcome to Vista. Instead of fixing security holes Microsoft spackled over them with UAC instead. Turn it off. For Windows Vista 32-bit you can download Tweak UAC (google it) for free and turn it off easier than looking through Windows for a way. I don’t know if it will work with 64-bit Vista or if there is one for it. Google it.

Robert
T
Trizzay
Oct 22, 2008
So lame. Thanks for your help. Or rather, thanks for the re-clarification of what I already knew: that Microsoft is suxx0rz.
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Oct 22, 2008
Yeah, it works with 64 bit Vista.

I would have a an of worms instead of a bona fide test if I couldn’t!
RH
Robert_H_Jones
Oct 22, 2008
You are getting that UAC popup because 1) your Vista login id has administrator rights, and 2) you are trying to access a file to which you don’t have access except through the administor rights.

The real question is why you don’t have non-administrator access to those files. With proper permissions set, you won’t get the popup. You are much better off establishing the proper file permissions than turning off UAC. Since you are running as an administrator, turning off UAC will allow malware to pretty much do as it pleases with no warning to you. Lame? Hardly!
T
Trizzay
Oct 22, 2008
Robert – good point. But I’m a little confused. I’m the only one who uses this computer so I naturally log in as administrator. In order to not get the popup when I open it with PS, are you saying I should turn OFF administrator settings for Photoshop.exe? Or should I create a new user (for myself) without Administrator rights?

Thanks
Ed
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Oct 22, 2008
Why not simply turn off UAC?
T
Trizzay
Oct 22, 2008
Well the risk of turning UAC completely off is if you accidentally click on the wrong link or a bad .rar file, you’re pretty much toast.
DM
dave_milbut
Oct 22, 2008
Well the risk of turning UAC completely off is if you accidentally click on the wrong link or a bad .rar file, you’re pretty much toast.

like the doctor famously said to the guy with the pain in the shoulder when he reached back behind his head:

"don’t do that." 🙂
RB
Robert_Barnett
Oct 23, 2008
Well, since Windows created my user account for me with me just providing my name, password and choosing one of the pictures I am going… Forget it. The fact remains UAC is spackle over all of the holes in the OS. A cheaper way of dealing with it if not tacky.

Robert
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Oct 23, 2008
Don’ need no stinkin’ rar cop!
DM
dave_milbut
Oct 23, 2008
this is old news, but…

Microsoft: Vista feature designed to ‘annoy users’
< http://news.cnet.com/Microsoft-Vista-feature-designed-to-ann oy-users/2100-1016_3-6237191.html?tag=cd.lede>

Cross claimed that annoying users had been part of a Microsoft strategy to force independent software vendors (ISVs) to make their code more secure, as insecure code would trigger a prompt, discouraging users from executing the code.
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Oct 23, 2008
Well then, experimental or developmental code must be a bonanza for Vista!
RH
Robert_H_Jones
Oct 23, 2008
"I’m the only one who uses this computer so I naturally log in as administrator. In order to not get the popup when I open it with PS, are you saying I should turn OFF administrator settings for Photoshop.exe? Or should I create a new user (for myself) without Administrator rights?"

Neither. If you create a new user without Administrator rights, you won’t get the popup, but you may not be able to access the file because of the file permissions. The thing to do is find out what’s denying you access to the files and correct the problem.

To start, use Windows Explorer to locate one of the PSD files you get the popup with. Right click on the file name and select "properties". The properties dialog box will have a "security" tab. Select it. At the top, there is a box labeled "Group or user names". That contains a list that normally would contain 4 entries. "System", the creator of the file, "Administrators", and "Users". You could have more or less entries than that. Click on each entry in turn and the permissions for that group will be shown in the permisions box at the bottom. Normally, the default is to allow "Read & execute" for "Users" and full control for the owner, system and administrators. Look for any that are marked "Deny". If the "Users" group is missing and your id is not listed as the creator, that could also be cause of the UAC prompt.

Do you see anything obvious? It’s really unusually for this, I’d be curious to hear what you found.

At the bottom of the security tab there is an Advanced button. Click it and under the permission tab, it will show you where the file inherited its properties. Permission are inherited, depending on what needs to be changed, if you make the correction at the right level, you may be able to correct the access problems with one change. Click the owner tab and you can see or change the file owner. Some people just name themselves as owner. There is quite a bit of information on how to assign and manage permissions in the help file. Click on "managing permission entries" at the bottom to access it. It’s much to involved to go into detail here. Microsoft could definitely have done a better job with the security documentation and the user interface. Let’s hope they do a better job with the next version of Windows.

Turning off UAC is an easy out and you will not need to learn how to establish permissions to stop the popup, but it will also allow a malware process to make changes using your administrator rights without your knowledge.

FYI, the first user defined after a clean install is assigned to the administrator group by default. Subsequent users are not and are ordinary users. If you are paranoid or just super careful you could create a second ordinary user name for yourself as your normal account and reserve the administrator id for maintenance and cleanup. I doubt many will do that.
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Oct 23, 2008
Then you get to do it all over again for .tiff, jpeg, wav, etc.

The major AV providers do an excellent job keeping malware out. But if I were as paranoid as to use multiple user names, instead I would simply pull that computer off the internet. The sole reason to have it connected is activation. All other uses can be accomplished with a second computer and a flash drive. It’s the most secure file transfer method I know.

Besides, the quickest way to speed up your computer is to disable AV, which you would no longer need.
BC
Bart_Cross
Oct 23, 2008
Larry: UAC only asks the question, it doesn’t stop you from saying yes and installing anyways. Still need AV.
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Oct 23, 2008
Yes, I know but it is a rel pain and excessive need for interaction.

And if you are running automated process, itmay be a deal breaker.

I’ll still use UAC.

……simply pull that computer off the internet

Then you don’t need AV. I ran an Epson 9600 for years w/o internet and w/o AV. It really ran fast, on startup, especially!

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Learn how to rescue details, remove flyaways, add volume, and enhance the definition of hair in any photo. We break down every tool and technique in Photoshop to get picture-perfect hair, every time.

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