User Account Control (UAC) is a new security component in Windows Vista. If you've used Windows Vista for more than 3 minutes, you know what UAC (User Account Control) is. Ever tried to install a software at Windows Vista but it prompts the following:
If you started this action, continue
or
User Account Control stops unauthorized changes to your computer, If you started this program then continue
You can disable annoying need your permission to continue prompts in windows vista. Seriously it has nothing to do with the security. Its just annoying. I mean there should be a prompt for any dangerous action of program but usually Windows Vista tend to alert before any installation of programs with these kind of messages. We can get rid of this message easily. There are number of way to do that including disabling via control panel, group policy editor, registry editor, msconfig and more...
Enable or Disable UAC via Command Line
Disable UAC
C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k %windir%\System32\reg.exe ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v EnableLUA /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
Enable UAC
C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k %windir%\System32\reg.exe ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v EnableLUA /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
You will have to reboot for changes to take effect.
Easy Way to Disable User Account Control (UAC) on Windows Vista
- Open up Control Panel
- Type "UAC" into the search box
- You'll see a link for "Turn User Account Control (UAC) on or off" Click that
- Uncheck the box for "Use User Account Control (UAC)"
- click OK
Reboot
Customize/configure UAC
If you do not want to turn whole UAC thing off then there is another way for configuration choice that gives you some of the benefits of UAC without any of the prompting. You'll need to edit the local security policy to control this, as follows:
- From the Start search bar, type "Local Security Policy"
- Accept the elevation prompt
- From the snap-in, select Security Settings -> Local Policy -> Security Options
- Scroll down to the bottom, where you'll find nine different group policy settings for UAC configuration.
- Change the setting:
User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode from Prompt for consent to Elevate without prompting. - or change those according to your need.
- Restart
It might now change the annoying style though. Every time you boot your system, you might get a really annoying toast telling you "you've turned it off". That is really funny thing about Windows Vista. Looks like they did a great job in informing user about whatever they could.
Disable UAC by using MSCONFIG
- Launch MSCONFIG by from the Run menu.
- Click on the Tools tab. Scroll down till you find "Disable UAC" . Click on that.
- Press the Launch button.
- A CMD window will open. When the command is done, you can close the window.
- Close MSCONFIG. Reboot the computer.
- You can re-enable UAC by selecting the "Enable UAC" line and then clicking on the Launch button.
Disable UAC by Registry Editor
- Open Registry Editor (if your Windows Vista have one).
- In Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Policies > System - Locate the following value (DWORD): EnableLUA and give it a value of 0.
- Restart
Security Center Alert Settings
In Control Panel, go to the Security Center. On the left hand side, click the "Change the way Security Center alerts me" and choose
"Don't notify me and don't display the icon (not recommended)".
Note: Turning off UAC is a security risk for naive windows user though, Only do this if:
- you are sure of what you are doing with your computer
- you are the only user of your computer
- you are computer expert enough to understand what you are installing and what changes will be done to system after software installation
