Greater risk running PC as administrator?

A

alanack

I just read somewhere today you should not routinely log in as administrator, due to increased security risks from programs, hackers, whatever... Any truth to this? My only concerns are from the web, not from anyone gaining access to the PC itself. I run Windows 7. Thanks!
 
You don't have to lock, or even shut, the windows and doors of your home, but if you do, it will be more secure, no doubt. Now locking everything up doesn't mean it's impossible for somebody to break in, but it does plug obvious security holes to prevent the most basic of intrusions from happening (like from animals, birds, etc.).

Likewise, when you run your computer as the Administrator or root user, you are exposing your machine to many security holes that would easily be avoided if you simply ran it as a user with less privileges.
 
I agree with Baron that running as admin is less secure. That said, I have been running Win7 Home Premium (64-bit) as admin since 2/2010 and have not had problems. There is almost always a tradeoff between security and productivity.
 
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