Highfields Amateur Radio Club
PC Help Pages.

Since I've been using Windows Vista I've been getting annoyed with the constant asking for permission to contine when installing programs, making changes etc. Not just the normal message boxes but something called "User Account Control" which pops up, seemingly, every time you do something, even when logged in as Administrator. Also older (pre Vista) programs may cause problems too, see: Using Older Programs in Vista for more information about that.

User Account Control (UAC) is a part of Vista that can be a useful "tool", stopping the writing or alteration of files in areas reserved for the system without consent (such as malicous software / malware), but can be a right pain to an advanced user trying to install some software or troubleshoot a problem. The answer is, of course, to turn it off while you're making your changes, installing or troubleshooting then turn it back on for the added protection that it offers.

To switch off UAC:

Firstly you need to be logged in to the Administrator account that you will be using to install / trouble shoot, or have an Administrator password if you are logged in as a Standard User.


1. Click Start and select Control Panel then User Accounts. You will get a window similar to:
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Click on the Turn User Account Control on or off (at the bottom of the window), this will change the window to the one below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Notice the red ring around the tick box? (there won't be a red ring on yours) Click on the tick to remove the tick and click OK. You will need to re-boot the PC for the change to be registered.

Once the PC has re-started log in to the account you turned UAC off for and the UAC will not trouble you again.

When you've finished what you were doing I recommend you re-instate UAC for the added protection it affords you; just go through the steps above but this time place a tick in the box.