User Account Control is set to "Never notify me".

Still, Windows is throwing up permission requests and flat out denials (like
"cannot access that file") for EVERYTHING.

The permissions problems simply require pressing Enter. The MSI installation
problems with finding temporary folders require using the administrator
command prompt.

What's the switch? Or is it something ominous recently included in Windows?

Thanks.

On 7/1/2021 1:50 AM, John Doe wrote:
> User Account Control is set to "Never notify me".
>
> Still, Windows is throwing up permission requests and flat out denials (like
> "cannot access that file") for EVERYTHING.
>
> The permissions problems simply require pressing Enter. The MSI installation
> problems with finding temporary folders require using the administrator
> command prompt.
>
> What's the switch? Or is it something ominous recently included in Windows?
>
> Thanks.
>

Try seeing if you have the same problem with using an Administrators
account.You could examine the permissions associate with the folders
concerned, especially using an Administrators account--then you may be
able to change them--and you may also find it is too complex a problem,
as I sometimes have, and in this case it's easier to just run as an
Administrator.

John Doe wrote:
> User Account Control is set to "Never notify me".
>
> Still, Windows is throwing up permission requests and flat out denials (like
> "cannot access that file") for EVERYTHING.
>
> The permissions problems simply require pressing Enter. The MSI installation
> problems with finding temporary folders require using the administrator
> command prompt.
>
> What's the switch? Or is it something ominous recently included in Windows?
>
> Thanks.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3577-change-user-account-control-uac-settings-windows-10-a.html

" Windows 10, User Account Control has added some improvements.

Integration with the Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI). The AMSI
scans all UAC elevation requests for malware. If malware is detected,
the admin privilege is blocked.
"

*******

The Windows Defender logs are located at:

%SystemRoot%\System32\Winevt\Logs\Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender%4Operational.evtx

EventID 1117: The antimalware platform performed an action to protect your system from malware.

EventID 1006: The antimalware engine found malware or other potentially unwanted software.

In this article, they mention *Tamper Protection*, which is
a setting in the Security Settings window.

https://support.home.sophos.com/hc/en-us/articles/360050322471-Turn-off-AMSI-logging-to-resolve-compatibility-issues

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/123792-turn-off-tamper-protection-microsoft-defender-antivirus.html

I don't think that should prevent the usage of %temp% though.

There is also a subsystem called Mandatory Integrity Control or MIC.
There is a third-party application called "micenum", for listing
the overlay being applied to C: . My attempts to modify the
MIC value, did not work (in the sense that "it didn't become Win98").

This provides (for C: ) a mechanism in addition to file/folder
permissions for "preventing stuff". Again, I don't think the MIC
level is very high on %temp%, whereas the MIC level would be
turned up on Program Files.

https://s33.postimg.cc/mumc2tc33/my_test_install.gif

( https://www.elevenpaths.com/downloads/MicEnum.exe?agree=on )

This was after I did something to set all the MIC to medium.

https://s22.postimg.cc/9ve92xmcx/micenum_to_read_ACE.gif

*******

Maybe your researches will find something, but I don't think
the ability to "return system permissions to normal" has existed
since Windows XP. On WinXP, there was something you could run
(sort of scripting in a sense), and the OS came with a list of
what the various structures should be set to. I think Apple has
some capability like that. But later Windows OSes were missing
that documentation. There's no list of what everything should
be set to.

Normally, you'd say "Oh, a Repair Install blah blah", but we
don't know exactly what a Repair Install will fix. It might
easily ignore issues and fix nothing of that nature. The only
thing a Repair Install can fix, is it constructs
a new C:\Windows, so the contents of C:\windows should
then be correct. Whereas C:\Program Files could still be
buggered.

One funny aspect of this, is this kind of "permission screwup"
frequently happens after a *clean install*. Which means
that in a lot of cases, it's the installer itself which
malfunctioned at some point, and did not establish the
correct settings. You would think the signature would
be "my two year old installation just tipped over", but no,
this seems to happen just as often or more often, with
a clean install. Windows 10 has also had menu malfunctions
on a clean install, so there are examples of race conditions
where things complete out of order and hilarity results.

*******

User Account Control is set to "Never notify me" <===

The problem with this, is you lose your last opportunity
to use your spider sense to detect something is wrong.
It doesn't happen often, but occasionally a UAC prompt
is coming from something that does not need elevation.
Say, for example, Notepad usage, presented a UAC prompt.
You'd be scared out of your socks if that happened,
and would be scanning Notepad.exe like crazy. Or, locating
where the "fake Notepad.exe" is stored. It's like
a canary in a coal mine - it's the last thing you see
before malware takes over. To turn that off, takes balls
and a Wile E Coyote "Tiny Umbrella For Rock Falls".

Summary: Something ominous ? Yes!

Paul

On 7/1/21 1:50 AM, this is what John Doe wrote:
> User Account Control is set to "Never notify me".
>
> Still, Windows is throwing up permission requests and flat out denials (like
> "cannot access that file") for EVERYTHING.
>
> The permissions problems simply require pressing Enter. The MSI installation
> problems with finding temporary folders require using the administrator
> command prompt.
>
> What's the switch? Or is it something ominous recently included in Windows?
>
> Thanks.
>
Once you did the install, how did you get all your old programs and data re-installed?

--
Linux Mint Cinnamon 20.1 64bit, Dell Inspiron 5570 laptop
Quad Core i7-8550U, 16G Memory, 512G SSD, 750G & 1TB HDDs
*I collect teddy bears.

Teddy-Bears <Bears@invalid.com> wrote:

> John Doe wrote:

>> User Account Control is set to "Never notify me".
>>
>> Still, Windows is throwing up permission requests and flat out denials
>> (like "cannot access that file") for EVERYTHING.
>>
>> The permissions problems simply require pressing Enter. The MSI
>> installation problems with finding temporary folders require using the
>> administrator command prompt.
>>
>> What's the switch? Or is it something ominous recently included in
>> Windows?

> Once you did the install, how did you get all your old programs and data
> re-installed?

That's what I'm talking about. If it's an EXE file, right-click > Run as
administrator works. But if it's an MSI file, the administrator command
prompt is needed to install it.

It's also requiring permission for everything that's copied, deleted, etc.
even on the secondary drive.

I might have broke the system while hacking away at stuff that looked
unnecessary. I'll check that by doing another installation.

I wrote:

> What's the switch? Or is it something ominous recently included in Windows?

Neither! I should avoid hacking and slashing until the installation is well-
developed (and of course backed up), and there is nothing better to do.

--

Thanks to the replies.