Ed Bott responded to a reader's question about UAC Account triggers with a quote from his recently published book, Windows Vista Inside Out.
The question came from Ed's earlier post, on why care is needed when reading Vista tips. So, while you're at it, read the articles and the
comments in both of Ed's articles, linked below. In the meantime, below is the list of events where you can expect a UAC trigger. UAC Triggers:The
types of actions that require elevation to administrator status (and
therefore display a UAC elevation prompt) include those that make
changes to system-wide settings or to files in %SystemRoot% or
%ProgramFiles%. Among the actions that require elevation:
- Installing and uninstalling applications
- Installing device drivers
- Installing ActiveX controls
- Installing Windows Updates
- Changing settings for Windows Firewall
- Changing UAC settings
- Configuring Windows Update
- Adding or removing user accounts
- Changing a user’s account type
- Configuring Parental Controls
- Running Task Scheduler
- Restoring backed-up system files
- Viewing or changing another user’s folders and files
Within
Windows Vista, you can identify in advance many actions that require
elevation. A shield icon next to a button or link indicates that a UAC
prompt will appear.
References:
Corrine
Security Garden
"The Mystical Rose" (a gif from a friend)
Microsoft MVP. Windows - Security