User's Manual

Security
User Account Control
Windows Vista and Windows 7:
The User Account Control feature ensures that no unauthorized changes are made to the computer. It does this
by asking whether a user has administrator rights to allow any changes to be made to the system. If User
Account Control is enabled, a standard user will always be asked to enter an administrator password to make
such changes.
You can specify here how a user logged on as an administrator is to be informed of potential changes to the
computer and prompted for confirmation.
This is how Windows differentiates between changes that the user makes himself (e.g. security-related settings)
and the startup of programs that can carry out changes. You can set here in detail, which changes must require
confirmation first and whether a password must be entered beforehand.
Because this is a security-relevant setting, it is advisable to leave the user account control activated and select at
least Prompt to confirm without entering password (for Windows Vista) or For changes by programs, with-
out password (for Windows 7).
One aim of User Account Control is to ensure that no programs start in the background without the user being
aware of it. At every program startup, Windows determines whether this program will make changes to the com-
puter. If this is the case and User Account Control is enabled, the user will be prompted to have an administrator
confirm the program startup. This feature is a key security step in case an unknown (and potentially harmful) pro-
gram starts up without the user having initiated it himself.
Security Center (Windows Vista) / Maintenance Center (Windows 7)
The Security Center or Maintenance Center, as it is called in Windows 7, regularly runs in the background to
check the security status of your computer and displays warnings if a possible security problem is determined.
If these warnings are displayed on your computer in error or you do not want to be shown warnings from the
Security/Maintenance Center, you can switch the warnings off here.
Advanced
Under Screensaver password prompt, you can specify how long the screensaver has to be running before the
password protection is activated (if this option is enabled). The default value is 5 seconds.
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