If you’re using Windows 7, there’s a good chance that you’re using the User Account Control (UAC) feature. UAC is a security feature that helps protect your computer from unauthorized access. To disable UAC in Windows 7, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Start menu and type “cmd.” (or press “alt” + “cmd.”)
  2. Type “netstat -an” to see how many connections are open on your computer. If there are too many connections, UAC may be enabled by default. To see if UAC is enabled, type “netstat -a” and then press “enter.”
  3. Type “user32.dll” into the command prompt and press “enter.” This will show you the user32 DLL file’s path and contents. If UAC is enabled, it will be at the top of this list. If not, you’ll need to change this path to point to an executable that doesn’t contain UAC code: type “user32.dll -nocompat” into the command prompt and press “enter.”
  4. Type “setpwent -g noui” into the command prompt and press “enter.” This will disable user input logging for all users on your computer except for those who have been explicitly granted access to do so by UAC or another security feature of Windows 7. You can now enable user input logging by typing “setpwent -g yesui” into the command prompt and pressing enter.]

The purpose of UAC is to inform you when a program makes changes that require administrator permissions.  It is a security feature that will block malicious software from making key system changes without your permission. 

To manage UAC notification settings go to Start \ Getting Started \ Change UAC settings.

By default it is set to notify you when programs try to make changes to the computer, which already is a less annoying setting that Vista was.  You can adjust the level to what your most comfortable with and to completely turn it off slide it down to Never notify.

A reasonable setting if you’re hesitant to turn it off is having it notify you without dimming the desktop and stopping everything you’re doing just to address it.

If you turn it off and are logged in as Administrator you will no longer be bothered with it at all.  Standard users will not be able to make any changes that require Administrator privileges.

If you’re a power user and make a lot of tweaks to your system then you will definitely like the fact you can adjust UAC settings easier in Windows 7 than Vista.  If you’re still running Vista make sure and check out The Geek’s guide to 4 Ways to Make UAC Less Annoying on Vista.