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Microsoft introduced the User Account Control (UAC) in Windows Vista as a security feature to prevent unauthorized changes to the Windows system but if you let the UAC active in Windows Vista it will keep alerting you every now and then, which can turn really annoying. In Windows 7 the User Account Control (UAC) is much better as it offers better control over the behaviour of UAC.

Features of User Account Control (UAC) in Windows 7

The UAC in Windows 7 has four settings they are:

1. Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer (Default): This is the default setting of the UAC in Windows 7. In this setting UAC will prompt you for permission only when a program or application. This is much better than the Windows Vista UAC and is less annoying but you will prompted each time you try to install a program and the desktop would be dimmed.

This setting will not notify you if you are making changes to the Windows setting that requires administrator rights or privileges.

2. Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer (do not dim the desktop): The setting offers the same level of security  as the default selection but the only difference is when the UAC alerts you the screen will not dimmed. If you don’t like the desktop getting dimmed when the UAC alerts get triggered but would like to get the optimal protection then this setting is recommended for you.

3. Always notify: This is the most secure UAC setting, you will be prompted when programs try to make to changes to computer that require administrator privilege and also UAC will prompt each time you make changes to Windows setting. When this UAC notification is triggered the entire desktop will dimmed except for the UAC dialog box and no program can run in background until you allow or deny.

4. Never Notify: If you set this setting the UAC will be disabled, the UAC will not prompt for changes caused by programs or you making the changes to the Windows settings. If a user is logged on as a standard user then all the changes that require administrator privilege will denied by Windows but if you are logged in as administrator no UAC prompt will occur.

How to Disable User Account Control (UAC) in Windows 7:

As you have read above when the UAC setting is set to ‘Never Notify’ option the UAC is completely disabled. The UAC setting can be accessed using Start Menu>>Control Panel>>User Accounts and Family Safety>>User Accounts and then select the ‘Change User Account Control settings’ and set it to never notify settings to disable the UAC.

But it is highly recommended that you keep the User Account Control (UAC) to keep your Windows 7 secure. In case of any questions please post it in comments section. Stay tuned for more Windows 7 articles.