of ephemeral value...

It would seem that with the current build (5270) of Windows Vista just about every operation you do (think basic things like starting the Task Manager) result in a Permit / Deny dialog asking you if you want to preceed. As a local administrator on the machine these prompts are just a pain in the behind. The solution is to change a setting in the Local Security Policy.
More details are here: http://www.zacknet.co.uk/vistabase/welcome.php which is an annoying frames based site so you have to follow the Security link on the left hand side and then the "What is User Account Protection" link. This is a direct link, which looses you the frame based navigation.