User Account Control (UAC)
CHUONG K. NGUYEN – BSc., MCSEx2, MCSAx2, MCP, MCTS, MCITP, CCNA
1/ Change UAC Settings
Click Start, Control Panel, System and Security.
In the Action Center, click Change User Account Control Settings.
We will see this UAC settings. There are four levels of UAC settings.
Level 1: Notify us when a program makes changes to the computer or when Windows settings are being changed.
Level 2: Notify us when a program makes changes to the computer. There is no notification when Windows settings are chaged.
Level 3: Notify when user uses a program to change the computer.
Level 4: Turn off UAC so there is no notifications happen.
2/ Testing UAC Level 1
First, log in as Administrator, set UAC to level 1.
Create three users: User1, User2, and User3. Add User1 to the Administrators group. We use the following commands at the elevated command prompt.
net user /add User1 *
net user /add User2 *
net user /add User3 *
net localgroup administrators User1 /add
Now log in as User1. Let’s access the Device Manager.
You will get a message that asks you whether you want to allow the program “Microsoft Management Console” to make changes to the computer. Clicking Yes will allow you to proceed. Clicking No will dismiss this dialog box without proceeding.
Now log in as User2 and try the above. As you can see, you can only view settings but cannot make changes to the computer.
3/ Testing UAC Level 2
Log in as Administrator, change UAC to Level 2. Now log in as User2.
Open the Control Panel and click on User Accounts. Choose Manage another account.
Here, you will be asked for the password of the Administrator account(s). If you have the password, you will be allows to make changes to the computer (in this case, manage user accounts).
4/ How to turn off UAC using Local Security Policy
Click Start, type secpol.msc.
Choose Local Policies, Security Options. Double-click on User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode.
Choose Disable and click OK.
Restart the computer as instructed.
That’s it!