Disable UAC Prompt for Certain Applications

Brink · Jan 1, 2008

How to disable the User Account Control Prompt for certain application

Date: 12-29-2007
Article: KB946932

Result
Sometimes, you want to disable UAC prompt for certain application on a Windows Vista computer. You do not want to disable UAC for the whole computer.

Resolution
Using the tool and steps below, you may disable UAC prompt for the specific application. This does not disable the User Acount Control feature for the whole computer.

1) Download and install the Application Compatibility Toolkit from this link:

To read the rest, see:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946932 (Appears to be not available anymore)

See this alternative site for instructions:
http://blog.tiensivu.com/aaron/archives/1426-How-to-disable-the-User-Account-Control-Prompt-for-a-certain-application-only.html

NOTE: This is a hit and miss solution. It will work for some programs, but not on others.

Enjoy,
Shawn

NOTE: This is a hit and miss item. It will not work on some programs, while it will for others.

Brink · Jan 1, 2008

Results so far:

The downloaded program and instructions from the KB946932 worked without any problems. However, it had no effect on the UAC prompt for any program that I used with it. Even after a restart. It still gave me the CONTINUE UAC prompt for it. :cry:

I am using the 64 bit Vista Ultimate. Hopefully it will work for you 32 bit Vista folks.

You can follow along at this thread to:
http://www.vistax64.com/vista-general/117336-new-tool-available-selectively-bypass-uac-prompt.html

Please post your results,
Shawn

MegaDETH · Jan 1, 2008

Hi Brink,

Thanks for all your guides like this, I am sure everyone appreciates them as much as I do and I know they can be both fun and time consuming

What are your views on totally disabling UAC? I am the only one using my Vista x64 machine so I have it disabled, is this wise to do?

Brink · Jan 1, 2008

Hi MegaDETH,

Thank you, and your welcome. I enjoy writing these tutorials so that they can help people understand and use their computer. When I started on computers there was no help like this available then. You either sank or swimmed as the saying goes.

The UAC can be a bit of a pain while setting up Vista, but once you have it up and going it is not so bad. UAC is designed to help you protect your computer by asking you for your permission first before anything can run that wants to use Administrator rights, and have complete run of your computer if granted. If UAC is off, then everything will have full run of your computer when it wants it. Think of it as the last line of defense.

In my opinion it is worth it to have it on. It can save you from a piece of malware taking control or damaging your data. Plus, it gives you a chance to cancel running something if you changed your mind or bumped it by mistake.

It would have been nice for this to have worked. Well, it didn't on my computer.

Having an exception list built into UAC for programs that you know are safe and cannot be used to backdoor your system would of helped.

It is up to you since it is your computer. You can read this for more information on UAC to help with your decision. Microsoft TechNet: Security: Inside Windows Vista User Account Control

Shawn

MegaDETH · Jan 1, 2008

Thanks that was good reading. I think I will have a change of hear. After getting all my applications installed I will keep it ON. But during a fresh install it is quite a pain lol

thanks

Gamergod · Jan 4, 2008

Yep, total waste as the only program I needed it for was smartguardian. It seems unless the program is signed, there is no way round UAC. Total waste of time, so I end up running half UAC with automatic elevation which is better than nothing.

Scorpiuscat · Jan 4, 2008

I was forced to turn UAC off. I didnt want too, but it so kept interfering with what I wanted to do with my computer that I had to shut it off.

I run dual monitors and on one monitor I like to have my Slingbox on to have the TV on the secondary monitor while I am surfing or doing other things on the main monitor. But every time UAC comes up, it crashes the Slingbox software and I have to restart it.

It bothers me enough that I had to turn off UAC.

Tstright · Jan 5, 2008

I also had to disable UAC due to the fact that if i was in a web support session UAC would kill my net connection.

Dagra · Jan 5, 2008

I don't consider UAC to be a bad thing. I'll agree, during a clean install it gets to be a bit frustrating. I feel, as Shawn does. Microsoft should have and still needs to build an exception list into UAC

Dagra

MilesAhead · Jan 22, 2008

If what this article says is true, then I suspect UAC, other than being a pina, gives a false sense of security:

Disable Annoying Vista UAC popups with TweakUAC (free!)

Brink · Jan 22, 2008

Hi MilesAhead,

It is true that the most important thing is to prevent the malware from being installed on the computer in the first place. UAC cannot protect you from everything, but it can definitely help. You might read this for more information on UAC to help you decide if it is worth it or not.

Security : Inside Windows Vista User Account Control -- TechNet Magazine, June 2007

Hope it helps,
Shawn

MilesAhead · Jan 26, 2008

Thanks for the link. I've been lucky in that I was able to get by with Restore Points and a Registry state saver freeware for a long time. My one encounter with a nasty online attack glommed onto IE as a helper object. After that I bought imaging backup software.

From that my conclusion is just because you suffer with every click of the mouse doesn't mean you're safe while you surf. Back up your system with something and test it so you know restoring actually works(after everything is hosed is the perfect time for such a test because not a lot of time is invested in program installs and customizations.)

I look at it philosophically. If I had shut the system down sooner or just restored the deleted partition, I probably would've spent days trying to make sure my system was actually clean. Might as well just wipe and reinstall or restore and be sure.

mongatu · Feb 28, 2008

The thing I can't stand about UAC is that it doesn't learn and remember what programs you allow to run, at least for the few times I left it enabled. For this reason I have UAC turned off and am relying on Comodo Firewall Pro which has a more sophisticated form of UAC called "defense plus" built into it, which is separate from, and in addition to, the firewall function. CFP's Defense Plus is also a PIA especially at first, but at least it learns and remembers and eventually stops bothering you, except when installing new stuff. I think it is considerably more sophisticated than UAC and, best of all, it's a free program.

cgd · Mar 2, 2008

Scorpiuscat said:
I was forced to turn UAC off. I didnt want too, but it so kept interfering with what I wanted to do with my computer that I had to shut it off.

I run dual monitors and on one monitor I like to have my Slingbox on to have the TV on the secondary monitor while I am surfing or doing other things on the main monitor. But every time UAC comes up, it crashes the Slingbox software and I have to restart it.

It bothers me enough that I had to turn off UAC.

Are you sure it's UAC that's the problem here oder might it be the secure desktop used by UAC? Let me explain the details:

When UAC poses a question on you, it normally does that using the so called "secure desktop": Your screen is frozen and goes a bit darker, then the UAC dialog pops up and needs to be answered before you can do anything else. This is of course to prevent other programs watching out for UAC dialogs and answering them by sending "button pressed" -messages to the UAC dialog window.

Using two monitors myself, this was my worst annoyance with UAC, since with two monitors, both of them go black for a split second before displaying the frozen and darker image of your desktop.

Fortunately, you can turn off using secure desktop without giving up UAC alltogether. Here's how:

Under Vista Ultimate and Vista Business, follow these steps (taken from Vista: Disable Secure Desktop When Prompting for Elevation - Tech-Recipes.com)

1. Press the WinKey+R to bring up the Run dialog box.

2. Input secpol.msc.

3. Click OK.

4. When the UAC prompt appears, select Continue.

5. The Local Security Policy window will appear.

6. In the left pane, expand Local Policies.

7. Select Security Options.

8. In the right pane, scroll down to the bottom.

9. Double-click User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation.

10. Under the Local Security Setting, select the Disabled radio button.

11. Click OK.

12. Close the Local Security Policy window.

When using Vista Home, you don't have the required file secpol.msc, so you will have to use regedit instead:

1. Press the WinKey+R to bring up the Run dialog box.

2. Input regedit

3. Click OK.

4. When the UAC prompt appears, select Continue.

5. In RegEdit, navigate to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

6. Find the DWORD value "PromptOnSecureDesktop" and doubleclick it.

7. Set the value to 0.

Voilá - you're done. UAC prompts appear on your normal desktop now and don't interfere with any programm you're running. Sure enough, it's a litte bit more unsafe than using secure desktop, but much safer that turning off UAC....

PMcGarr · Mar 2, 2008

I have UAC turned off, but I am very security conscious. I run good anti-virus software, and keep Windows Defender active. I know there are risks, but I am willing to take them. This is not a good idea for people that don't fully understand security.

If you are unsure, leave UAC on.

UAC exceptions sound like a great idea, but it's not. If there were exceptions, virus writes would take advantage of them by finding weaknesses in commonly excepted (is that a word) programs. It's all or nothing. That's why even Microsoft programs are affected by UAC.

In my opinion, UAC is annoying. The fact that it can easily be turned off is nice.

Paul

tatz93 · Mar 11, 2008

I found out another way, if anyone is still interested. However, it blocks UAC COMPLETELY!
Copy the following into a text doc.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
"ConsentPromptBehaviorAdmin"=dword:00000000

Save it TWICE.
1. as a .txt call it anything. i called it uac.txt
2. save as any name again but you must put a .reg in the file name. close the text doc, and then delete the .reg file.
UAC should now not be a pain. let me know if otherwise

Lio · Mar 11, 2008

I hope I'm not OT here in this 3d.....
I'm trying to teach at UAC to learn a "behavior" !!

I've some USB MyBook external drives and so I need the "WDBM" WesternDigital Button Manager because for Vista 64 there was no drivers, no programs to manage them.
Every time I reboot I'm asked for permitting to load WDBM...... It makes me crazy! :mad:

I find some instructions to make a fix (sdbinst C:\Fix\WDBM.sdb) after having created a WDBM.sdb file..... but don't work.... still UAC ask every time the permission....
I'm me too on Vista 64 and I don't want to disable UAC' control.
Does someone of you guys have any idea on how to solve the problem?
Thanks in advance and sorry for my little english

bossmayank619 · Mar 17, 2008

well i do understand UAC gives some level of protection from malwares but i agree that there should have been a exception list and specially when you already have a good anti virus like norton or mcafee securing you. you would be looking at these UAC pop ups as annoying as already we get pop ups from anti virus program. so is there any reg key or tweak or tool to create a exception list. :shock:

Brink · Mar 17, 2008

Hi Bossmayank,

It's a hit or miss deal on if it will work for the program, but the link in the 1st post shows you how to create an exception list for UAC.

http://www.vistax64.com/vista-news/117680-disable-uac-prompt-certain-applications.html#post558745

Shawn

BleepingCrazy · Apr 9, 2008

hey guys. damn that link in your first post is gone from the ms site.

Disable UAC Prompt for Certain Applications

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