What are User Account Control settings?
User Account Control (UAC) notifies you before
changes are made to your computer that require
administrator-level permission. The default UAC setting notifies
you when programs try to make changes to your computer, but you
can change how often UAC notifies you.
The following table provides a description of
the UAC settings and the potential impact of each setting on the
security of your computer.
Always notify
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You'll be notified before programs
make changes to your computer or to
Windows settings
that require administrator permissions.
-
When you're notified, your desktop
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 computer. The dimming of your
desktop is referred to as the
secure desktop because other programs can't
run while it's dimmed.
|
-
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 computer.
|
Notify me only when programs try to make
changes to my computer
|
-
You'll be notified before programs
make changes to your computer that require
administrator permissions.
-
You won't be notified if you try to
make changes to Windows
settings that require administrator permissions.
-
You'll be notified if a program
outside of Windows
tries to make changes to a
Windows setting.
|
-
It's usually safe to allow changes
to be made to Windows
settings without you being notified. However,
certain programs that come with
Windows can have
commands or data passed to them, and
malicious software can take advantage of this by
using these programs to install files or change
settings on your computer. You should always be
careful about which programs you allow to run on
your computer.
|
Notify me only when programs try to make
changes to my computer (do not dim my desktop)
|
-
You'll be notified before programs
make changes to your computer that require
administrator permissions.
-
You won't be notified if you try to
make changes to Windows
settings that require administrator permissions.
-
You'll be notified if a program
outside of Windows
tries to make changes to a
Windows setting.
|
-
This setting is the same as "Notify
me only when programs try to make changes to my
computer," but you're not notified on the secure
desktop.
-
Because the UAC dialog box isn't on
the secure desktop with this setting, other programs
might be able to interfere with the visual
appearance of the dialog box. This is a small
security risk if you already have a malicious
program running on your computer.
|
Never notify
|
-
You won't be notified before any
changes are made to your computer. If you're logged
on as an administrator, programs can make changes to
your computer without you knowing about it.
-
If you're logged on as a standard
user, any changes that require the permissions of an
administrator will automatically be denied.
-
If you select this setting, you'll
need to restart the computer to complete the process
of turning off UAC. Once UAC is off, people that log
on as administrator will always have the permissions
of an administrator.
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-
This is the least secure setting.
When you set UAC to never notify, you open up your
computer to potential security risks.
-
If you set UAC to never notify, you
should be careful about which programs you run,
because they'll have the same access to the computer
as you do. This includes reading and making changes
to protected system areas, your personal data, saved
files, and anything else stored on the computer.
Programs will also be able to communicate and
transfer information to and from anything your
computer connects with, including the Internet.
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Note
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If you're using an accessibility device,
such as a screen reader, we recommend that you choose
either the Always notify or the
Default - Notify me only when programs
try to make changes to my computer UAC setting.
Assistive technologies work best with these two
settings.