All editions of Windows Vista include a configuration option in the "User Accounts" control panel that may be used to enable or disable User Account Control.
Additional security settings are available by configuring Group Policy settings, though this is only available for the Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions. All configuration items are prefixed with “User Account Control”.
* 'Behaviour of the elevation prompt for administrators in admin approval mode'. Can be set to:
o 'Turn off UAC' (no prompt).
o 'Prompt for consent' (default).
o 'Prompt for credentials'.
* 'Behaviour of the elevation prompt for standard users'. This setting determines what happens if you run as a standard user and start a program that needs administrator rights (for the cases UAC can determine admin rights are required e.g. does not work for MMC snapins). Can be set to:
o 'No prompt: fail and do not start the program if it required admin rights'.
o 'Prompt for credentials' (default).
* 'Admin approval mode for the built-in administrator account'. This setting can be used to disable UAC for the built-in Administrator account. Can be set to 'Enable' or 'Disable'. The built-in administrator account is disabled by default in Windows Vista. The default value of this setting depends on the configuration and on how the system was installed - see
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb756883.aspx for discussion.
* 'Detect application installations and prompt for elevation'. Windows by default uses some heuristics to determine if an EXE is an installer (which most likely requires elevation). Can be set to 'Enable' (the default) or 'Disable'.
* 'Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation'. Fades the desktop when the elevation prompt appears. Can be set to 'Enable' (the default) or 'Disable'.
* 'Only execute executables that are signed and validated'. If enabled an additional check is done after the elevation prompt. If the EXE is not signed the EXE will not be started. Can be set to 'Enable' or 'Disable' (the default).
* 'Virtualize file and registry write failures to per-user locations'. Can be set to 'Enable' (the default) or 'Disable'.
* 'Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode'. To switch off UAC set this setting to disabled and reboot. All UAC behavior will be disabled, including file and registry virtualization. Can be set to 'Enable' (the default) or 'Disable'.
An alternate method to configure UAC and switch it off:
* Create a new text file in notepad
* enter the following:
C:WindowsSystem32cmd.exe /k %windir%System32reg.exe ADD HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystem /v EnableLUA /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
pause
* Save the text file as
o Save as type: All Files
o Name: UAC_Off.bat
* Right click on the new file and run as administrator
* Restart.
To switch UAC back on using this method, repeat the above steps, but save the file as UAC_On.bat and enter the following instead:
C:WindowsSystem32cmd.exe /k %windir%System32reg.exe ADD HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystem /v EnableLUA /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
pause
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