Vista Frustrations

Posted by oddbob on August 24, 2008 · Lovingly Filed Under Personal 
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I’ve been running Vista now for the best part of 12 months, and for the most part I’ve been incredibly happy with it. I know a lot of people don’t see the point, but up until the past week I’ve found it a step up in usability from XP - even despite Aero being unwilling to play ball with my 2900 card properly.

For some unknown reason, a recent update decided that I really wanted UAC back on, despite it being one of the first things I turned off. Sure, I know the security risks but not having to endure endless confirmations makes a massive difference in how comfortably and efficiently I can operate. And despite reading endless bullshit on forums from UAC zealots, it’s my fucking machine and I choose to have it off. And UAC.

Only, since I turned it back off this time, Vista has decided that I really should have it back on. How so? By opting to decide that I don’t have permission to do certain actions on the machine, presenting me with a confirmation box that includes the options “Retry” or “Cancel”, one of which does absolutely fuck diddly squit. Can you guess which one, dear readers?

Now, it wouldn’t be quite so bad if I was attempting obtuse things with the machine or trying to do something a little off the wall. I’m not though. I’m talking about things which you would imagine are pretty darn fucking basic. Copy and pasting, cut and pasting, renaming folders, deleting folders, moving fucking files about. The things which, by all means, are precisely what you should be able to do with a GUI operating system. The whole reason these fucking things exist.

In one fell swoop, Vista has managed to render itself near enough useless as an operating system by deciding that I, the administrator, cannot copy and paste, cannot cut and paste, cannot rename folders, cannot delete folders, move files into folders without some imaginary permission. Precisely whom do I need permission from to use my own computer now?

A quick gander around the internet turns up two solutions:

1. I turn UAC back on so I can request permission to do the actions.

2. I set all the file permissions individually as ownership doesn’t appear to be enough.

Well, that’s just fucking fantastic. I realise that encouraging UAC is a good thing if it keeps people from contracting fuck knows what from browsing shittycockwarez.com trying to download isuckgoats.avi despite a million warning signs, or even helping defend against the recent wave of web page exploits that have blighted blogs and forums but to render the operating system as good as useless for those who choose not to use UAC?

What madness is this and why now, after 12 months of absolute smooth running with UAC off does Vista now decide that I’m not capable of making sensible choices with regards to how I handle my own files?

If you’re lucky enough to have avoided the “You need permission to perform this action” message, thank your lucky stars. If, like me, it’s appeared and won’t fuck the fuck off back to where it came from, I’m sorry. Someone making decisions at MS needs to buy a clue because this verges on the completely intolerable.

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Speak your brains

One Response to “Vista Frustrations”

  1. Richard Phipps on August 26th, 2008 7:04 pm

    Hello Edge! :)

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