Windows 8 In Depth

Preventing Elevation for All Standard Users

You saw earlier (in “Elevating Privileges”) that when a standard user attempts a task that requires elevation, he or she sees a UAC dialog box that requires an administrator password, and the screen switches to secure desktop mode.

There are two problems with this:

• Standard users almost never have the proper credentials to elevate an action.

• The combination of the sudden appearance of the User Account Control dialog box and the change into secure desktop mode is confusing for many users, particularly the inexperienced.

These two problems mean that in most cases it would be better if standard users didn’t get prompted to elevate their privileges. Instead, it would be better to display an Access Denied ...