Tips to disable UAC settings in Windows Vista

User Account Control (UAC) is a new security feature in Windows Vista that requires all users to log on and run in standard user privileges mode instead of as administrator with full administrative rights. It helps in preventing unauthorized, malicious or accidental changes that could affect your computer.

Though UAC clearly enhances the security on Windows Vista, under some scenarios you might want to disable it. For example when giving demos in front of an audience or while installing or updating programs that may need typical system-level tasks etc. At times, some home users might be tempted to disable UAC because of the additional mouse clicking it brings into their system!

If you want to disable UAC settings or tweak the appropriate settings in this configuration tool, you can follow any of the methods below:

Method 1: Using Regedit

1. Open Registry Editor.
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.

Note: As always, before making changes to your registry you should always make sure you have a valid backup. In cases where you’re supposed to delete or modify keys or values from the registry it is possible to first export that key or value(s) to a .REG file before performing the changes.

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 2: Using MSCONFIG

1. Launch MSCONFIG by from the Run menu.
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: Using 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. You will be prompted to reboot your computer. Do so when ready.

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

Method 4: Using Group Policy

To disable UAC, both Local Group Policy or Active Directory GPO can be used.

1. Click Start -> Run.
2. Type gpedit.msc and click OK to open the Group Policy Editor.Note: If you’re using Active Directory Domain GPO which controls many computers, open Group Policy Management Console by click on Start -> Run, then type gpmc.msc and click OK from a Windows Vista computer that is a member of the AD domain. In the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) window, browse to the respective GPO which is linked and enabled to the OU (organization unit) or domain where the Vista computers are located, then edit it.
3. Navigate and browse to Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Security Options.
4. In the right details pane, locate the User Access Control policies.
5. Right click each of the following policies and configure or change the value as indicated below after the dash (-):* User Account Control: Detect application installations and prompt for elevation – Disabled
   * User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for standard users – No prompt
   * User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode – Disabled
6. Restart the computer.

Method 5: Using MsConfig System Configuration

1. Run MsConfig from Run option.
2. In System Configuration window, click on the Tools tab.
3. Scroll down and locate “Disable UAP” or “Disable UAC” option item. Click on that line.
4. Click the Launch button.
5. A command prompt window will open and automatically execute and run certain process to disable UAC.
6. Close CMD window when done.
7. Close Msconfig.
8. Restart computer for changes to apply and effective.
9. To re-enable UAC, simply select “Enable UAP” or “Enable UAC” instead of “Disable UAP” or “Disable UAC”, and then click on Launch button.

Yet, if you face other issues with your Vista operating system such as booting errors, blue screens or problems in installing your operating system, e-mail client issues etc, you can refer a PC specialist who can solve or re-configure your PC system again with appropriate settings.

Tags: installing your operating system, remote PC specialist, security on Windows Vista, Windows Vista Support