Why do i need administrative privileges

A limited user cannot write files or entries in places where admins can. Ultimately this means that by removing admin rights , your PCs are cleaner and more stable, with a longer lifespan. Usually people tell me that they reinstall their Windows OS every 6 months or every year to keep the machine running effectively. Less reinstallations means less help-desk impact, and less cost.

An admin user can turn off your protective measures. They can disable your firewall, antivirus , encryption, Group Policy and more. And if the admin is running malware, the malware can do the same. Shockingly, all big zero-day attacks reported in the media from required admin rights! Malware could never affect the computer in the first place without admin rights. There is no way of controlling administrators with Group Policy.

They can do what they want, full stop. Removing admin rights and running with standard users removes this risk immediately. Your network is only as secure as its weakest link. One computer on the domain running admin rights is a hole that compromises the entire network. I demonstrate how admins can inject bait into a PC using a security gap, run with the highest privileges and bypass UAC to gain access to the whole network.

Sami has been working with and teaching OS troubleshooting, management, and security since He is the 11th most followed person in his field in Finland. Best of Techopedia weekly. News and Special Offers occasional. Administrative Privileges. Techopedia Explains Administrative Privileges. What Does Administrative Privileges Mean? Techopedia Explains Administrative Privileges Modern operating systems need to protect themselves against damage to important configuration files and unauthorized changes.

Share this Term. User Account Control Supervisor Mode. Tech moves fast! Stay ahead of the curve with Techopedia! The reason why the CFRS installation process requires that a user have administrative privileges is because the installation accesses the Windows registry and Windows System folders. If you are trying to install software on a computer in a corporate or networked environment, using Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 10, and do not have the necessary privileges, you will need to contact your system administrator to install the software for you.

These rights are not required to run the software, once it is properly installed. If you are running your installation on a Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 10, you will need to confirm that you are the administrator of your computer. Note: If a user running the software does not have sufficient User Rights or Privileges, they may get repeated "Installing…… " messages and possibly an error message indicating that the "msi source cannot be found" or "Unexpected Error, Quitting".

Note: The software must be installed by an administrator or a user with administrator rights. Any user running the software must have read permissions to the database directory, the installation directory and all subdirectories and files beneath it.

The database directory can be changed during installation, but will default to:. In addition, read and write permission to create new files must be given for the following subdirectories:. The installation directory can be changed during installation, but will default to:.