Asked By
philmartink
0 points
N/A
Posted on - 08/04/2011
What software Protects user accounts in Windows 7?Â
I have been using Windows 7 for some time now and I am perplexed by its features. In case you haven't noticed, It has an advanced security system software such that it protects all the user accounts from being infected by viruses and spyware. I have also noticed that once one account is infected, the other are free from the infections!. I mean how could this be possible, I am using the same machine and for heavens sake the same operating system.
Where can I find a similar software to use in Windows XP and protect my User Accounts?
Answered By
cgenius
0 points
N/A
#98762
What security software does Windows 7 use to protect its user accounts?
I suppose I’ll answer your question starting at the end, more or less the reason why user accounts in Windows 7 are a bit more secure than their predecessors is actually quite simple, and that is the user privileges or simply (UAC) User Account Control.
Back in the bad old days window's operating systems didn’t make much of different users using the same system and as such it didn't have much provisions for administrators and or regular users, that being said all users were in most cases given the same amount of privileges on the system which is the root cause of the problem, with a all users being members of the administrator group changes made by that account affects the entire system, this includes viruses because they being run with administrative privileges giving them access to almost every aspect of your system.
With Microsoft’s "invention" of user accounts this challenge was limited somewhat but most individuals with Windows XP inadvertently set up their account as an administrator, this of course is why it would seem as if windows XP is more prone to virus's jumping all over the place, the truth is if you were to use a limited or restricted user account it would accomplish near similar results in protecting your system (it’s not the great wall of China, mind you), but at least it gives you a sense of what is taking place. Windows 7 circumvents this because even if you are a member of the administrative group applications won't just run because of that fact, there are very few programs that will run without user intervention or edits to the UAC notifications and as such mass migration of virus's from user account to user account is inhibited because each user account functions within its own space, thus eliminating wide spread catastrophe when one of them is compromised.
What security software does Windows 7 use to protect its user accounts?
Thanks C for your comment, though after doing some research I realized that there is a malicious software removal tool that was integrated in Windows XP. Just the other day and still doesn't function as the One in Windows 7. As for UAC in Windows 7, this feature functioned the same way as to when you are using a limited account in Windows XP. There is more than UAC in Windows 7. Or am I Wrong?
Answered By
cgenius
0 points
N/A
#98764
What security software does Windows 7 use to protect its user accounts?
Yes, there is more to security for Windows 7 than just UAC alone, I'll try not to be too cryptic. Probably two of the main security features that one could mention outside of UAC would be ASLR and DEP. ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) and DEP (Data Execution Prevention)
The idea behind ASLR is that it randomly loads DLL's in memory every time you boot as opposed to having set memory addresses, which would normally be targeted by Malware, viruses or other unwanted software. DEP on the other hand for the most part prevents buffer overflow attacks.
Both features combined actually offer a fairly good method of slowing down / preventing your computer from being affected by Malware programs.
