User Account Control (UAC) - Change Settings in Windows 8

How to Change User Account Control (UAC) Settings in Windows 8 and 8.1
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   Information

User Account Control (UAC) helps prevent potentially harmful programs from making changes to your computer by notifying you before changes are made to your PC that require administrator-level (elevated) permission.

By default, UAC is set to notify you whenever apps try to make changes to your PC, but you can change how often UAC notifies you.

Accessibility devices or apps—such as screen readers—work best with either the Always notify me or the Notify me only when apps try to make changes to my computer UAC setting.

This will show you how to change the User Account Control (UAC) settings for when to be notified about changes to your computer in Windows 8.

You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial.

   Note

This table describes each UAC setting and how it can impact your PC's security.
[TABLE=class:-grid,-width:-715][TR][TD]
Setting
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[TD]
Description
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[TD]
Security impact
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[TR][TD]

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[TD]

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[TD]

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[TR][TD]
Always notify me
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[TD]

• You'll be notified before apps make changes to your PC or to Windows settings that require administrator permissions.
• When you're notified, your screen will be dimmed, and you must either approve or deny the request in the UAC dialog box before you can do anything else on your PC.

[/TD]
[TD]

• This is the most secure setting.
• When you're notified, you should carefully read the contents of each dialog box before allowing changes to be made to your PC.
• See Warning box below.
• Standard users will be prompted to enter an administrator's password to approve.

[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]

[/TD]
[TD]

[/TD]
[TD]

[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Notify me only when apps try to make changes to my computer (default)
[/TD]
[TD]

• You'll be notified before apps make changes to your PC that require administrator permissions.
• You'll be notified if an app tries to make changes to a Windows setting.
• You won't be notified if you try to make changes to Windows settings that require administrator permissions.

[/TD]
[TD]

• It's usually safe to allow changes to be made to Windows settings without you being notified. However, certain apps that come with Windows can have commands or data passed to them, and malicious software can take advantage of this by using these apps to install files or change settings on your PC. You should always be careful about which apps you allow to run on your PC.
• Standard users will be prompted to enter an administrator's password to approve.

[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]

[/TD]
[TD]

[/TD]
[TD]

[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Notify me only when apps try to make changes to my computer (don't dim my desktop)
[/TD]
[TD]

• You'll be notified before apps make changes to your PC that require administrator permissions.
• You'll be notified if an app tries to make changes to a Windows setting.
• You won't be notified if you try to make changes to Windows settings that require administrator permissions.

[/TD]
[TD]

• This setting is the same as "Notify me only when apps try to make changes to my computer," but your desktop won't get dimmed.
• If you choose this option, other apps might be able to interfere with the visual appearance of the UAC dialog box. This is a security risk, especially if there's malware on your PC.
• Standard users will be prompted to enter an administrator's password to approve.

[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]

[/TD]
[TD]

[/TD]
[TD]

[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Never notify me
[/TD]
[TD]

• You won't be notified before any changes are made to your PC.
• If you're signed in as an administrator, apps can make changes to your PC without your knowledge.
• If you're signed in as a standard user, any changes that require administrator permissions will automatically be denied.

[/TD]
[TD]

• This is the least secure setting. When you set UAC to never notify, you open up your PC to potential security risks.
• If you set UAC to never notify, you should be careful about which apps you run, because they'll have the same access to the PC as you do. This includes reading and making changes to protected system areas, your personal data, saved files, and anything else stored on the PC. Apps will also be able to communicate and transfer info to and from anything your PC connects with, including the Internet.

[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]

   Warning

If you set UAC to the top Always notify me level, then you will not be able to refresh and reset Windows 8. These features require UAC to be set to the default or lower levels to work.

DO NOT use the old Windows 7 and Vista method of setting the EnableLUA registry DWORD to 0 (zero) to completely disable UAC. If you do this in Windows 8, it will break modern apps preventing them from being able to run until EnableLUA is set back to 1 and restart the computer. Use the steps in the tutorial below instead for Windows 8.

Setting the EnableLUA registry DWORD to 0 (zero) will also disable Protected Mode in Internet Explorer which means that you will also not be able to have 64-bit IE10/11 until EnableLUA is set back to 1 and restart the computer.

EXAMPLE: User Account Control (UAC) Prompt

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OPTION ONE

To Change UAC Settings in User Accounts

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1. Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click/tap on the User Accounts icon.​

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2. Click/tap on the Change User Account Control settings link. (see screenshot below)​

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3. If prompted by UAC, then click/tap on Yes.​

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4. Move the slider up or down to the setting for how you want to be notified by UAC, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshots below)​

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5. If prompted by UAC, then click/tap on Yes.​

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6. When finished, you can close the User Accounts window.​

OPTION TWO

To Change UAC Settings using a REG File Download

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1. Do step 2, 3, 4, or 5 below for how you want to be notified by UAC.​

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2. For "Always notify me"​

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A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 6 below.​

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UAC_Always_Notify.reg​

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3. For "Notify me only when apps try to make changes to my computer (default)"​

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A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 6 below.​

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UAC_Default.reg​

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4. For "Notify me only when apps try to make changes to my computer (don't dim my desktop)"​

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A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 6 below.​

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UAC_Do-Not-Dim.reg​

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5. For "Never notify me"​

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A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 6 below.​

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UAC_Never_Notify.reg​

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6. Save the .reg file to your desktop.​

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7. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.​

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8. If prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.​

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9. When finished, you can delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.​

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Create a User Account Control (UAC) Settings Shortcut in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Run a Program as an Administrator in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to See if Process is running as administrator (elevated) in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Enable or Disable the Built-in Elevated "Administrator" Account Windows 8 and 8.1
• Troubleshoot and Fix Store App Issues with "Windows Store Apps Troubleshooter" in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Change Behavior of User Account Control (UAC) Prompt for Standard Users
• How to Change Behavior of User Account Control (UAC) Prompt for Administrators in Windows
• Enable or Disable User Account Control (UAC) Prompt for Built-in Administrator in Windows
• How to Enable or Disable User Account Control (UAC) Blacking Out of Screen in Windows

 

[scran53]

I have tried using this method. UAC is turned down all of the way. I only have one account and the permissions are Full Control. I'm trying to move the Windows.old folder and it still says I need Administrator Permission. HELP!

 

[Brink]

Hello Scran, and welcome to Eight Forums.

In Windows 8, UAC is never fully turned off even with it set to "Never Notify". This is because if UAC was fully disabled, it would break the Store and Store apps preventing them from running until enabled again.

If you like, you could enable the built-in elevated "Administrator" account, sign in to it, and be able to do so without being prompted by UAC since this is an account with elevated rights. Of course, the Store and Store apps will not run in an elevated account though.

Your normal unelevated administrator account needs to approve through a UAC prompt to allow something to run elevated.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[scran53]

I already had the administrative account active. You can do that in Computer Management. I tried to delete the folder using that account but I keep getting "You require permission from SYSTEM to make changes".

If I try activating the administrative account using "net user administrator /active:yes", I get "System error 5 has occurred. Access is denied".

 

[Brink]

Ah, I thought you wanted to "move" it. The tutorial below will show you how to properly "delete" the Windows.old folder instead.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2527-windows-old-folder-delete-windows-8-a.html

 

[scran53]

I was going to move it but I decided I'd just delete it since I don't need it. I tried everything you suggested but I keep getting "Access Denied". Why the heck do I have Administrative Rights and I can't do a simple thing like delete a folder? Microsoft, get your act together.

 

[Brink]

One more thing you can try is to take ownership of and set permissions to "Allow" your account "Full Control" of the Windows.old folder and it's contents to see if you may be able to delete it then.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2814-take-ownership-add-context-menu-windows-8-a.html

or

(Option Three)
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...le-folder-drive-registry-key-windows-8-a.html

 

[scran53]

I managed to delete everything but 2 instances of Flash64_11_5_502_146.ocx. 1 is in System32 and the other in SYSwow64. I have no idea why this doesn't work on them.

 

[Brink]

You could try using the free program Unlocker to see if it may be able to delete them.

 

[scran53]

GEEZ, I finally got everything deleted. Microsoft needs to add another security level called "God Mode". I couuld have gotten all of this done in a few minutes. Thanks for all of your help Brink.

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Scran. Glad to hear that you got it all. I'm not sure what happened on your end, but normally the Windows.old folder can be deleted through Disk Cleanup.

 

[addchild314]

Quick question... I am getting an interestingly frustrating message from Kaspersky Internet Security when I manually make a decision (I do not allow it to make any decisions on its own... its better that way). It looks pretty much like this:

I have UAC set to 'Never Notify' yet this still keeps appearing. Any way to make it just go away forever? Thanks

 

[Brink]

Hello addchild, and welcome to Eight Forums.

That's not from UAC.

Instead that appears to be an alert message from Kaspersky verifying if you wanted to apply the changes to the settings you made.

 

[addchild314]

Thank you, that is what I suspected, Kaspersky is trying to tell me otherwise. I appreciate confirmation from an MVP that they are, in fact, full of it.

 

[Brink]

You're welcome.

Do note, that when UAC is set to "Never Notify", it only means that you will not get an UAC prompt from "apps try to install software or make changes to my computer" and "I make changes to Windows settings".

"Never Notify" does not disabled UAC like it did in Vista and Windows 7, and you may still get an UAC prompt for some actions. If UAC was to be completely disabled in Windows 8, it would prevent Store apps from being able to run until UAC was enabled again.

 

[addchild314]

Oh, yes, I understand that. I actually prefer the current behavior - it still runs, but it doesn't annoy me as much. I also tweaked the local security policy to run in Admin Approval mode. I just couldn't get rid of this message, despite anything I tried. Even disabled SmartScreen to see if it made a difference - of course it didn't.

 

[Ziwdon]

Hi there,

Is it possible to disable UAC in a standard user account? I can only use the slider in User Accounts if I'm operating in an administrator account. Otherwise this notification will show up:



I have moved the slider using an administrator account, but this won't disable UAC for standard user accounts.

What I wish to accomplish, is to be able to run some applications with administrator rights in a standard account, without prompting for the administrator password. To do this I intended to disable UAC and enable the Run as Administrator check-box in the compatibility tab of the given application. I am not sure this will work though.

Thank you.
Carlos

 

[Brink]

Hello Carlos,

Disabling UAC would essentially break the Modern UI (Metro) screens and apps to where they will not open until UAC was enabled again.

For what you want, you might see if using the tutorial below to create an elevated shortcut that a standard user can run without getting a UAC prompt may work for you.

Elevated Program Shortcut - Create for Standard User - Windows 7 Help Forums

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Ziwdon]

Thank you so much Shawn, it did work . After searching a solution for days, I was beginning to think that it was not feasible to run an application as administrator in a user account without the need for a password.

Just one more question. I have a local administrator account and a standard user account that I use for everyday purposes. Now that I have the built-in administrator account enabled, is it safe to delete the other administrator account? Or do you think I should keep both?

Thank you.
Carlos

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Carlos.

I would recommend to keep both. That way if something should happen to one, you would have the other to be able to fix anything with.