How To: Tweak User Account Control (UAC) Options in Windows Vista Ulimate and Business Editions
User Account Control (UAC) is a new security component in Microsoft Windows Vista. UAC enables users to perform common tasks as non-administrators, called standard users in Windows Vista, and as administrators without having to switch users, log off, or use Run As. A standard user account is synonymous with a user account in Windows XP. User accounts that are members of the local Administrators group will run most applications as a standard user. By separating user and administrator functions while enabling productivity, UAC is an important enhancement for Windows Vista.It is possible to edit the configuration or Disable Windows Vista User Account Control (UAC) using Group Policy for systems in a network domain, or by using the Local Security Policy settings for standalone systems. However, Microsoft does not include the ability to access these settings from Windows Vista Home or Windows Vista Home Premium. Users of the Windows Vista Home operating systems have to manually edit the Registry to change the UAC settings.
Although its a good feature but sometimes it becomes annoying to experienced users who know what they are doing with their system. You can Disable User Account Control (UAC) in Windows Vista completely from Control Panel -> User Accounts. But it is better that you can tweak it to decrease the no. of annoying prompts.You can tweak UAC in Windows Vista Ultimate and Business editions using “Local Security Policy“.
Following is a step by step guide with all customizable settings:
- Type “secpol.msc” in Windows Vista Run dialog box and press Enter. It’ll open Local Security Policy.
- Now goto “Local Policies -> Security Options“. In right-side pane, scroll down to last and you’ll see following options related to UAC:
User Account Control: Admin Approval Mode for the Built-in Administrator account
Enabled
Disabled
User Account Control: Allow UIAccess applications to prompt for elevation without using the secure desktop.
Enabled
Disabled
User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode
Elevate without prompting
Prompt for credentials
Prompt for consent
User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for standard users
Automatically deny elevation requests
Prompt for credentials
User Account Control: Detect application installations and prompt for elevation
Enabled
Disabled
User Account Control: Only elevate executables that are signed and validated
Enabled
Disabled
User Account Control: Only elevate UIAccess applications that are installed in secure locations
Enabled
Disabled
User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode
Enabled
Disabled
User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation
Enabled
Disabled
User Account Control: Virtualize file registry write failures to per-user locations
Enabled
Disabled
You can change all the above string values according to your requirements. Like you can enable “Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode” to remove those annoying prompts if you are using administrator account. You can disable “User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation” to disable the screen fluctuation when the UAC prompts appear in Windows Vista.
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Written by Tony on November 13th, 2008 with
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