Avoid the UAC prompts in Vista

User Account Control (UAC) does a lot to protect your system's security, but the UAC prompts are undeniably annoying and also confusing for some users.

If you share your computer with youngsters, computer neophytes or others who shouldn't be tinkering with system settings, a simple way to maintain security while minimising UAC interruptions is to deny all elevation requests from Standard users by default. When you do this, although the user will see a message saying access has been denied if they try to install software or change system settings, they won't experience the screen-dimming and system-locking of traditional UAC prompts and they'll be able to proceed without calling for administrator assistance. This process does not entail turning UAC off, which is not a good idea; instead, you set your system to disallow any action that would normally spawn a UAC prompt.

To do so:

1. Set up a Standard account and make sure all the settings are just so and all required software is installed.
2. From your Administrator account, open the Local Security Policy editor by typing secpol.msc in the Start search box and pressing Enter.
3. Click Security Options in the Local Policies section and scroll down the list on the right to User Account Control: Behavior Of The Elevation Prompt For Standard Users.
4. By default, the setting is Prompt For Credentials. Double-click the setting and select Automatically Deny Elevation Requests from the drop-down list, then click OK and close the Security Policy editor.