Windows 7 and Vista come with User Account Control, or UAC, which is a security feature that helps protect your computer from unauthorized access. UAC can be annoying at first, but there are ways to make it less so.

  1. Set up UAC to notify you only when something is wrong. If you’re just starting out with UAC, it’s probably best to leave it set to notify you every time something happens. But if you’re not using UAC all that much and don’t mind getting notifications for only the most important things, you can change the setting to “only when an administrator is logged on.”
  2. Use shortcuts instead of menus. If you’re using a mouse, try using shortcuts instead of menus whenever possible. This will save time and keep your hands free.
  3. Disable AutoPlay features when they’re not needed. AutoPlay allows programs on your computer to start automatically when you plug in your USB drive or open a file from the Internet. Unless you need those features, disable them by going to “Control Panel” and clicking on “AutoPlay.”
  4. Use Windows 7’s built-in security features instead of relying on third-party software like antivirus programs or firewall software ..

There are at least 4 different ways that we can tweak UAC to be less annoying, most of which I’ve written about before.

Note: Disabling or modifying UAC is a security risk. If you want to be as secure as possible, you should likely leave things alone.

  1. Disable UAC Entirely

The first thing that you can always do is completely disable UAC… the only problem with this is that you’ll end up making the system less secure if you are also the type of person that downloads and tests a lot of software. I can’t recommend that you do this, but at least you know that you have the option to.

Disable UAC the Easy Way Disable UAC from the Command Line

 

  1. Auto-Accept UAC Prompts for Administrators Only

If you want to leave UAC enabled, but disable the prompts from showing up under your administrator account, you  can tweak a setting that will “Elevate without prompting”, so you never see the prompt show up. This is more secure than disabling UAC entirely, because an application started as a regular user can’t perform an action that is meant for administrators. For instance, Internet Explorer can still run in protected mode this way.

Disable UAC Prompts for Administrators Only

 

  1. Disable the Blackout Screen (Secure Desktop)

The most annoying part of UAC for me is the screen that blacks out everything other than the UAC prompt… because it usually takes forever to show up, and depending on your video card it can do weird things with your desktop. You can disable the secure desktop feature but leave the UAC prompts the way they are… of course this is potentially a security hole as well, since an application could fraudulently “click” the prompt for you. (Secure desktop prevents applications from doing this)

Make UAC Stop Blacking Out the Screen in Windows Vista

 

  1. Create Administrator Mode Shortcuts Without UAC Prompts

Instead of disabling UAC in any way, what we can do is setup a few shortcuts that bypass UAC entirely. This is especially useful if you open a particular administrator-mode application a dozen times per day. The trick to this is using task scheduler to launch the applications, and then telling task scheduler to run the task. This is more secure than the other options, since only our special shortcut will bypass UAC.

Create Administrator Mode Shortcuts Without UAC Prompts

 

Extra: Make sure to Install (at least) Vista Service Pack 1

If you haven’t already installed Service Pack 1 or later, you should make sure that you install it… one of the fixes included will limit the number of UAC prompts you have to click through to modify system files.

I’m curious what percentage of our readers have actually disabled UAC. I personally am using method #4, since it’s the best in terms of security, but also eliminating the annoyance for the couple of applications I launch a dozen times per day.