Admin Account Aking for Admin permissions.

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  1. Posts : 2,076
    Windows 10 Pro 22H2
       #11

    Try3 said:
    There are no differences.

    Whilst a member of the Administrators group, the built-in Administrator always runs as elevated under UAC, unlike other members of the Administrators group which require UAC confirmation when elevation is needed. This inherent privilege of the Administrator marks the difference.

    (Also, the built-in Administrator SID never changes, again unlike other members of the Administrators group... but this is not a functional difference.)
      My Computers


  2. Posts : 17,086
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4894
       #12

    RickC said:
    Whilst a member of the Administrators group, the built-in Administrator always runs as elevated under UAC, unlike other members of the Administrators group which require UAC confirmation when elevation is needed. This inherent privilege of the Administrator marks the difference.
    That's what I said.
    Try3 said:
    The Built-In Admin [that you both refer to as "the Administrator"] has no more capabilities than any Admin account with UAC turned off.
    ...
    The Built-In Admin is just an Admin account that happens to be created for you & that happens to bypass UAC by default.
    Denis
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 2,076
    Windows 10 Pro 22H2
       #13

    Try3 said:
    But your statements were false.
    I tried to simplify a complex subject. However, when the dialog says 'Run as administrator...', are you confident that users really understand that this just means 're-apply administrative privileges and tokens as a member of the Administrators group'? I'm not. Sorry that you apparently took exception to this.

    Try3 said:
    That's what I said.
    Sorry but that's not what you said. You said that there were 'no differences' and that the built-in Administrator account 'happens to bypass UAC by default'.

    1. There is no apparent UAC hurdle for the Administrator account to bypass due to its inherent higher privilege that Sysinternals/TechNet's Process Monitor (ProcMon) can see.
    2. By default, other members of the Administrators group run as standard users until an administrative task is attempted. At that point the UAC 'consent' prompt appears (if UAC has not been turned off) to potentially elevate that process/app and only that process/app. By contrast, the built-in Administrator always runs all processes as elevated across the board. This is a difference.
    3. The built-in Administrator cannot have its inherent privilege changed or removed (thank goodness) [due, I believe, to its never-changing SID]. This is a difference.
    4. The built-in Administrator's inherent privilege persists, e.g. after a reboot or 'sign out/sign in' - unlike other members of the Administrators group which need re-elevation if an administrative task is attempted. This is a difference.

    It may be nuanced and they may appear to function similarly... but IMO they are different.

    For example, take these 3 scenarios - 1) built-in Administrator; 2) member of the Administrators group with UAC enabled and; 3) member of the Administrators group with UAC disabled.

    Use Sysinternals/TechNet's Process Monitor (ProcMon) - as I have - to watch as the Registry Editor is opened. There is very little similarity in processing and, if I'm honest, I'm very surprised by the results of the third scenario (UAC disabled)... although it backs up the contention to never, ever run with UAC disabled.

    I have a ProcMon configuration file, filter file and saved PML files available if you would like to compare and verify results of each scenario.

    Hope this helps...
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  4. Posts : 17,086
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4894
       #14

    Rick,

    You are using lots of words to repeat the same thing, that the Built-In Admin account has, by default, UAC turned off. And that is all that I have said as well.

    Your scenarios do not seem complete to me. I think a complete comparison would include the Built-In Admin with UAC turned on.
    Enable or Disable User Account Control (UAC) prompt for Built-in Administrator - TenForumsTutorials
    But it's up to you what you choose to include in your experiment.

    You can also use
    Code:
    whoami /user /priv
    to compare the privileges of various types of account in various scenarios.
    WhoAmI - SS64

    Denis
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 2,076
    Windows 10 Pro 22H2
       #15

    Try3 said:
    You are using lots of words to repeat the same thing, that the Built-In Admin account has, by default, UAC turned off. And that is all that I have said as well.
    No... I'm not saying that at all... but apparently it doesn't fit your narrative. UAC isn't just turned off for the built-in Administrator account... it's just never apparently applied according to ProcMon. You would see that if you checked.

    Try3 said:
    Your scenarios do not seem complete to me.
    Did you check them? No? So, just a guess...

    Your reply was very condescending. Sorry but I'm not replying any further.

    Perhaps agree to disagree?
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 17,086
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4894
       #16

    RickC said:
    UAC isn't just turned off for the built-in Administrator account... it's just never apparently applied
    The result, in terms of their usage, is the same even though you are using different words.
    Try3 said:
    The Built-In Admin [that you both refer to as "the Administrator"] has no more capabilities than any Admin account with UAC turned off.
    The Built-In Admin is not in any sense 'above' Admin accounts that you create.
    The Built-In Admin is just an Admin account that happens to be created for you & that happens to bypass UAC by default.
    There is nothing you can do using the Built-in administrator that you cannot do with any other Admin account.


    RickC said:
    Did you check them?
    I checked your list of scenarios and I spotted your omission.
    I checked all your scenarios, the additional one I pointed out to you & some others.
    I used the WhoAmI command for my checks.


    RickC said:
    ... but apparently it doesn't fit your narrative.
    RickC said:
    You would see that if you checked.
    RickC said:
    So, just a guess...
    RickC said:
    Your reply was very condescending.

    Denis
    Last edited by Try3; 14 Feb 2021 at 02:17.
      My Computer


 

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