Windows 7 – How to configure UAC (User Account Control)

The new User Account Control (UAC) in Windows 7 now allows you to completely control what kind of pop-ups and notifications you see as compared to Windows Vista where you had no choice.

You can get the the User Account Control Settings dialog by click on the Start button and typing uac into the search box. Then click the link to to change the UAC settings.

Here you can now move the slider to four different settings:

• Always Notify
• Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer
• Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer (do not dim my desktop)
• Never Notify

This is where you can turn off or disable UAC in Windows 7. However, I would recommend not turning it off completely since they now give you a selection of choices so that you don’t have a pop-up message every time you make some small change to your computer.

The Always Notify setting will always pop up a message any time you install a program or when a program tries to make a change to the computer. Also, any change it Windows settings will bring up a UAC box.

The second setting in my bullet list will notify you only when programs try to make changes, not when you install a program or when you make changes to your Windows settings.

The third setting is the same as the second, but your desktop will not be dimmed! The dimming is called secure desktop. You can also disable secure desktop using a registry hack so that it does not affect which UAC setting you decide to go with. I would recommend this setting for most people.

The last setting, Never Notify, will never warn you about anything, including changes to your Windows settings. Not good if you end up getting malware or something like that. Enjoy!