Windows 7: User Account Control - UAC - Change Notification Settings

Wow very detailed. I will spread this to my users.

The pictures make this a great read overall, the downloadable registry files are just a bonus.

Hi Shawn,

Does turning this off also turn off IE8 Protected Mode as per your warning here: User Account Control (UAC) - Vista Forums

Hi Dwarf,

Nice catch. I have not tried it yet with IE8 and Windows 7, but I would imagine that it would as well. I'll have to test it now to see and post back.

EDIT:

Yep, it disables Protected Mode as well. Warning added to tutorial.

I'm not using Windows 7 yet (still using WinXP), but was just browsing to learn a little more about UAC, and this tutorial about notifications is very helpful... ...but there seem to be a couple of typos which made it a little confusing for me at first (maybe partly because I haven't been using Windows 7 or even Vista yet):
(1) I couldn't figure out what "Diming" meant and thought I must be falling behind on the latest slang... ...until I looked closely at the images and realized you meant "Dimming."

(2) I downloaded the images for future reference, but the Level 3 image is named "Default.jpg," while the Default UAC Notification (Level 2) image with "DEFAULT" superimposed on it is named "Always_Notify.jpg"

(3) Both the text in the Level 3 image and the Level 3 heading ("To Have UAC Notify without Diming Desktop.") seem to contradict the Level 3 description ("This will disable (turn off) UAC completely. You will not be notified of any changes made by program or you to Windows 7 settings"). If I'm understanding the text presented in the Level 3 image (currently incorrectly labeled as "Default.jpg"), it seems that Level 3 disables desktop dimming only, and leaves notification of changes made by programs enabled.

Again, maybe I'm misunderstanding something because I'm not working with Windows 7 yet (and no one else seems to have been confused by the above), but hopefully I'm just helping an already clear and helpful tutorial become a little clearer.

Otherwise, thanks for this very helpful tutorial and several others I've perused as well!

Hello GDV, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Oh my. I must have been half asleep with those mistakes. Thank you for pointing them out. They have been corrected.

Been there, done that! ...and you're very welcome!

Thanks again for the great tutorials!

Hey guys when I used XP i dont recall ever being asked about running a program that might be changing my settings. I never had a problem. Here's a few questions.......

If I turn the UAC off will the computer display still dim?

How do you have yours set?

Is there any way to selectively approve certain programs to run such as programs I use on a daily basis?

Mick

Hello Mick, and welcome to Seven Forums.

For better security, it is recommended to leave UAC turned on. You can read more about this and why in the green INFO box at the top of the tutorial on the first page. Be sure to also click on the links there as well for indepth details about UAC.

If you turn UAC off, you will not get the dimmed screen anymore.

I haven't tried this yet in Windows 7, but it should work just as well. You can leave UAC turned on, but stop it from dimming the screen when prompted by UAC.

User Account Control (UAC) - Blacking Out of Screen - Vista Forums

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Thanks Shawn, I think I see a major short coming for Windows 7 in that it cannot allow the administrator to tell it to allow certain trusted programs to run without individual approval over and over! I assume this is true since you did not answer my third question in my original post. I take that to mean that Windows 7 does not allow selective approval to run specific applications. After all who wants to repeatedly keep approving programs over and over when there are so many other clicking tasks to accomplish. I think Windows 7 has taken to much authority away from the administrator.

Mick

Mick,

Sorry, but no, there is not an "Allow" or "Deny" option for specific programs with UAC. It's a all or none deal.

However, you can use the built-in Administrator account to run with full permission (authority) and access, but anything that runs while logged in this account will also have full permission and access. This was the whole point of UAC though so that nothing will be able to run with full access unless you grant it permission first when UAC prompts you about it.

Hope this helps some more.