User Account Control (UAC) in Windows 7, 8, 10 and Server 2012: how to disable

If you want to know everything about UAC in Windows, then this article contains all the relevant information. After reading it, it will become clear what this function is for, how to turn it off, whether it is worth doing and how to turn it on again after all.

What is UAC

This function can be considered informational. It notifies the user when performing an action for which the rights of the System Administrator are required. In this case, a message appears on the screen: “Do you want to allow the following program to make changes on this computer? You can confirm or deny this manipulation.

What is it used for

User Account Control was implemented to protect the OS from running malicious code. Thanks to him, the user is aware of important events in relation to programs: installation, removal, modification. The flip side of the coin: not everyone can figure out what exactly UAC is asking for. For newbies, this is confusing.

Why disable UAC?

It is worth disconnecting if you are tired of constant requests for changes in the system. This applies to inexperienced users who still find it difficult to evaluate the adequacy of a request every time, they will not figure it out anyway, a routine action will be performed or a virus “breaks” the OS.

In exceptional cases, User Account Control is deactivated to get rid of crashes of a specific program. Under these circumstances, after troubleshooting the problematic application, UAC is reactivated.

Ways to disable UAC

UAC Windows 10 can be disabled in many ways, as in the seventh or eighth version. Let’s analyze them separately from simple to more complex ones.

Using the control panel

On the example of the tenth version of Windows, everything is done like this:

• right-click on Start, select the “Control Panel” line in the context menu;
• in the upper part of the window that appears in the “View” block, set “Icons” and “Categories”;
• in the main part of the window, find and go to “User Accounts”;
• click on the line “Change control parameters” – it is located at the bottom of the window;
• in the new window, move the slider to the lowest position and save the changes by clicking on “OK”;
• the system will ask if you need to record the new settings – confirm the action.

There is a quick way to get to the required Control Panel menu. For this:

• hold down the Win + R combination;
• copy the UserAccountControlSettings command;
• confirm the launch by pressing Enter.

Bottom line – the “Account Management Settings…” window will open.

How to disable a service using the command line

To disable UAC Windows 7, proceed as follows:

• hold down the Win + R combination, copy the cmd command into the window, start it by pressing Enter;
• in a new window copy the request: C: Windows System32 cmd.exe / k C: Windows System32 reg.exe ADD HKLM SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Policies System / v EnableLUA
  / t REG_DWORD / d 0 / f;
• start it by pressing Enter;
• restart your computer for the settings to take effect.

To enable the UAC service, follow the previously indicated algorithm, but run a slightly different command: C: Windows System32 cmd.exe / k C: Windows System32 reg.exe ADD HKLM SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Policies System / v EnableLUA
/ t REG_DWORD / d 1 / f.

Disable UAC in Windows 10 via the registry

To do this, follow these steps:

• hold down the Win + R combination, enter the regedit command and press Enter – the Registry Editor will start;
• in the left pane of the Editor, follow the path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE => SOFTWARE => Microsoft => Windows => CurrentVersion => Policies => System;
• double-click to change the values ​​of the following parameters in the right pane of the Editor: PromptOnSecureDesktop, EnableLUA, ConsentPromptBehaviorAdmin, and the required new parameters are therefore: 0, 1, 0;
• after each parameter change, save the changes by clicking on “OK”;
• to activate the settings, restart the computer.

How to disable UAC for a specific program in Windows 10? There is a way for which you need to edit the registry. The bottom line is that the program will launch and / or change system settings without being alerted by UAC, although it will not be disabled system-wide. You need to act in the following sequence:

1. In the Registry Editor, go to the following branch: HKEY_CURRENT_USER => SOFTWARE => Microsoft => Windows NT => CurrentVersion => AppCompatFlags => Layers.
2. In the right part of the window, right-click on an empty space: “Create” => “String parameter”. This parameter must have a name that matches the path to the executable file. For example, for Skype it will be C: Program Files CPUID Skype Skype.exe. In each case, you need to go to the folder with the installed application and copy the contents of the address bar.
3. After creating the parameter, right-click => “Change”. A window will open and copy RunAsInvoker to the “Value” line, save the changes by clicking on “OK”. Now UAC will not get bored when opening this application.

If you need to disable Control for several applications, the procedure can be simplified. For this:

Disable UAC in Windows 10 using third-party utilities

The UAC Tweak utility will do. Run it after downloads and installation. If an error occurs, go to the properties of the executable file and activate the compatibility mode with Windows Vista. After starting UAC Tweak, a window will appear similar to the User Account Control settings in the Control Panel, but in a more concise form. You just need to put a mark opposite the bottom line.

Disconnection methods

For less common versions of Windows, you can completely disable Control using a similar algorithm as for more popular Windows.

Windows Server 2012

To disable Windows in Windows Server 2012 UAC, do the following:

• Go to “Control Panel”, “Accounts …”, “Change settings …”.
• In the new window, click on “Enable or disable …” => “Continue”.
• Uncheck the box next to “Use User Account Control …”, save the changes by clicking on “OK”.
• The system will ask you to reboot. If you already need to deactivate UAC, then select “Restart later”.

Windows Vista

1. Hold down the Windows + R combination, enter msconfig in the window, start by pressing Enter.
2. In the window that appears, go to the “Service” tab.
3. Find the item “Disable User Account Control …” in the list.

Why you shouldn’t completely turn off protection

Because the level of user supervision over the OS’s resistance to malware will decrease. If a virus “wants” to change the system settings, then with UAC disabled, the user will not know that such a request has been received – it will actually be executed unnoticed.

How to remove existing updates in the top ten?

It happens that when UAC is disabled, OS updates are installed, which cause system instability. This can be eliminated by removing them as follows:

• Hold the Win + I combination and go to the “Update and Security” menu.
• In a new window, follow the path: “Windows Update” => “Update Log” => “Uninstall Updates”.
• A list of the installed updates will be displayed. Highlight what you need and click “Delete” on top. If you need to select and clear everything, hold down the Ctrl + A key combination.

Cleaning up old files after Windows update

1. Enter the query “Disk Cleanup” in the system search and run the corresponding utility.
2. In the new window, specify the local drive where the OS is installed.
3. Click on “Clean up system files”.
4. Specify the Windows disk again.
5. Put a check mark in the list next to the line “Previous Windows installations”.
6. Start the process by clicking on “OK” at the bottom of the window.

Enabling and configuring HPU in Windows 10

The easiest way to enable UAC is through the Control Panel. It is necessary to get to the window “Account control settings …” and raise the slider from the lowest level. Detailed instructions on how to open the corresponding window can be found in this block articles. Let’s take a closer look at the parameters that are set using the slider in the window from the lowest to the top:

1. Control is completely disabled. There will be no notifications about the request to perform actions with Administrator rights.
2. A notification appears, but the screen does not dim. UAC is enabled and when it is triggered, an informational message appears asking for action, but the working area of ​​the display is not blocked.
3. A notification appears and the screen dims.
4. Notifications appear not only when changing system settings, but also when performing actions by any installers.

Conclusion

1. UAC is not an antivirus, but it helps protect the OS from malware.
2. Do not turn off the option unless absolutely necessary.
3. If UAC interferes only when working in a certain program, then disable the function only for this application.
4. If Control was deactivated within the entire system, then after performing the actions for which everything was started, activate the system component again.