Disable UAC Prompt for Certain Applications

Brink

Staff member
mvp
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.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
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
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
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?
 

My Computer

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
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
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
 

My Computer

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.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Q9450 @ 3.2ghz
    Motherboard
    Abit QuadGT X38
    Memory
    2 X 2GB Gskill DDR2 1000
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI HD4870 512mb
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 640GB
    Western Digital 320GB
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.
 

My Computer

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
 

My Computer

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion m9515y
    CPU
    Phenom X4 9850
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Some Radeon Cheapie with 512 MB Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    CRT
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    750 GB SATA 3G
    2 SIIG Superspeed docks w/WD Caviar Black Sata II or III

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
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.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion m9515y
    CPU
    Phenom X4 9850
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Some Radeon Cheapie with 512 MB Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    CRT
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    750 GB SATA 3G
    2 SIIG Superspeed docks w/WD Caviar Black Sata II or III
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.
 

My Computer

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....
 

My Computer

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
 

My Computer

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
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD X2 1.6 GHz
    Memory
    1 GB DDR SODIMM 200 Pin
    Internet Speed
    10mb/s
I hope I'm not OT here in this 3d.....
I'm trying to teach at UAC to learn a "behavior" !! :p
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 :o
 

My Computer

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:
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hp DV 6137 TX
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce 7400

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
hey guys. damn that link in your first post is gone from the ms site.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q6600
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5K-E WIFI P35
    Memory
    8GB DDR2 667MHZ KINGSTON
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce 8800GTS 512MB G
    Hard Drives
    1 x Western Digital 500GB 16MB SATA2
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