Disabling UAC on Windows 7 and Vista

User Account Control (or UAC) is included in Windows to help prevent unauthorized changes to your computer. UAC notifies you when changes are going to be made to your computer that require administrator-level permission. These types of changes can affect the security of your computer or can affect settings for other people that use the computer.

Windows 7

In Windows 7, UAC settings has a slider to change the level of the notifications and allows you to choose one between the following four options:

Always notify

With this option, you'll be notified before programs make changes to your computer or to Windows settings that require the permissions of an administrator. When you're notified, your desktop will be dimmed, and you must either approve or deny the request in the UAC dialog box before you can do anything else on your computer. The dimming of your desktop is referred to as the secure desktop because other programs can't run while it's dimmed. This is the most secure setting, and is similar to what the Windows Vista UAC looked like.

Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer

You will be notified before programs make changes to your computer that require the permissions of an administrator. You will not be notified if you try to make changes to Windows settings that require the permissions of an administrator. Also, you will be notified if a program outside of Windows tries to make changes to a Windows setting. This is the default setting.

Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer (do not dim my desktop)

You will be notified before programs make changes to your computer that require the permissions of an administrator, and you will be notified if a program outside of Windows tries to make changes to a Windows setting.. However, you will not be notified if you try to make changes to Windows settings that require the permissions of an administrator. This setting is the same as Notify only when programs try to make changes to my computer, but you are not notified on the secure desktop.

Never notify

You will not be notified before any changes are made to your computer. If you are logged on as an administrator, programs can make changes to your computer without you knowing about it. If you are logged on as a standard user, any changes that require the permissions of an administrator will automatically be denied. This is actually somewhat similar to using Windows 7 in the permission model of Windows XP. This is the least secure setting.

Method #1 - Control Panel

1. Go to User Account Control Settings.
2. Type in UAC or go to the System and Security applet.
3. Click on the Change User Account Control Settings link.
   
   
4. To turn off UAC, move the slider to the Never notify position, and then click OK.
   If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
   You will need to restart your computer for UAC to be turned off.
   
   
5. To turn UAC back on, move the slider to choose when you want to be notified, and then click OK.
   If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Method #2 - MSCONFIG

1. Start > Run > MSCONFIG
2. Click on the Tools tab. Scroll down till you find Disable UAC . Click on that line.
3. Press the Launch button.
4. A CMD window will open. When the command is done, you can close the window.
5. Close MSCONFIG. You need to reboot the computer for changes to apply.

You can re-enable UAC by selecting the Enable UAC line and then clicking on the Launch button.

Method #3 - REGEDIT

1. Start > Run > REGEDIT
   If prompted to enter your credentials by UAC, do so and/or press Yes to continue.
2. Navigate to the following registry subkey:
   

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
   

3. In the details pane, locate the EnableLUA key (REG_DWORD type).
4. On the Edit menu, click Modify. In the Value data box, type 0 (zero), and then click OK.
5. Exit Registry Editor, and then reboot the computer.

   

Method #3 - Group Policy

This is the method that should be used by administrators wanting to disable UAC across several computers at once.

This can be done via Local Group Policy or via Active Directory-based GPO, which is much more suited for large networks where one would like to disable UAC for many computers at once.

1. If using Local Group Policy you'll need to open the Group Policy Editor (Start > Run > gpedit.msc).
   If using in AD-based GPO, open Group Policy Management Console (Start > Run > gpmc.msc) from a Windows Vista/7/2008 computer that is a member of the domain. In the GPMC window, browse to the required GPO that is linked to the OU or domain where the computers are located, then edit it, or, if needed, create a new GPO.
   
   
   
2. In the Group Policy Editor window, browse to Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options.
3. Make the following changes:
   • User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode
     set its value to Elevate without prompting.
   • User Account Control: Detect application installations and prompt for elevation
     set its value to Disabled.
   • User Account Control: Only elevate UIAccess applications that are installed in secure locations
     set its value to Disabled.
   • User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode
     set its value to Disabled.
     Restart the computer when done.
     

Windows Vista

You can disable UAC by using one of the following methods:

Method #1 - Control Panel

1. Open Control Panel.
2. Under User Account and Family settings click on the Add or remove user account
3. Click on one of the user accounts, for example you can use the Guest account.
4. Under the user account click on the Go to the main User Account page link.
5. Under Make changes to your user account click on the Change security settings link.
6. In the Turn on User Account Control (UAC) to make your computer more secure click to unselect the Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer. Click on the Ok button.
7. You will be prompted to reboot your computer. Do so when ready.

In order to re-enable UAC just select the above checkbox and reboot.

Method #2 - MSCONFIG

1. Start > Run > MSCONFIG
2. Click on the Tools tab. Scroll down till you find Disable UAC . Click on that line.
3. Press the Launch button.
4. A CMD window will open. When the command is done, you can close the window.
5. Close MSCONFIG. You need to reboot the computer for changes to apply.

You can re-enable UAC by selecting the Enable UAC line and then clicking on the Launch button.

Method #3 - REGEDIT

1. Start > Run > REGEDIT
   If prompted to enter your credentials by UAC, do so and/or press Yes to continue.
2. In Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry key:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
   

3. Locate the following value (DWORD): EnableLUA and give it a value of 0.
4. Close Registry Editor. You need to reboot the computer for changes to apply.

In order to re-enable UAC just change the above value to 1.

Method #4 - Group Policy

This can be done via Local Group Policy or via Active Directory-based GPO, which is much more suited for large networks where one would like to disable UAC for many computers at once.

If using Local Group Policy you'll need to open the Group Policy Editor (Start > Run > gpedit.msc) from your Vista computer.

If using in AD-based GPO, open Group Policy Management Console (Start > Run > gpmc.msc) from a Vista computer that is a member of the domain. In the GPMC window, browse to the required GPO that is linked to the OU or domain where the Vista computers are located, then edit it.

1. In the Group Policy Editor window, browse to Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options.
2. In the right pane scroll to find the User Access Control policies (they're down at the bottom of the window). You need to configure the following policies: Group Policy - Disable UAC
3. You'll need to reboot your computers.