IT Resource

Windows Vista has a nice built-in security feature called User Access Control, or UAC. The UAC basically forces users that are part of the local administrators group to run like they were regular users with no administrative privileges.

Whenever a user that is a member of the local administrators group tries to perform a task that requires administrative privileges (add/remove programs for example), the operating system halts the operation and prompts the user to acknowledge it prior to running the task.

This is a great security feature, not only for beginners but also for advanced users, as it lets you know when something is requiring administrative privileges, and gives you the option to run it or not.

Although I don’t recommend it, a lot of people have asked how they turn this feature off, so here’s how:

Method 1

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Under User Account and Family settings click on Add or remove user account.
3. Click on one of the user accounts. You can use the Guest account if you want.
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. Untick the box that says 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.

Method 2

1. Click on the Windows button (start button) and type in MSCONFIG and then press Enter.
2. Click on the Tools tab and scroll down till you find “Disable UAC” and click on that line once.
3. Press the Launch button.
4. A command window will open. When the command is completed, you can close the window.
5. Close MSCONFIG. You need to reboot your computer for changes to take effect.