Put UAC to Sleep

The User Account Control (UAC) feature of Windows Vista has been one of the least understood and most maligned components of the operating system since it was released. It is there to protect the operating system and to enforce the concept of least privileged access. Users should not run as Administrator unless they truly need to, and software should not rely on administrative privileges when they aren't really necessary to execute the given application. UAC helps to enforce that concept, and to let users know when they are crossing the line and might be doing things which could damage or compromise the operating system.

That said, many users are annoyed by the UAC pop-up windows, or even prefer convenience to tighter security. It is possible to turn off UAC, but highly discouraged. There is also a setting which basically leaves UAC on, but automatically elevates privileges without the consent prompts. A vendor has developed an application though which may help straddle the line for some users. UAC Snooze temporarily switches the state of UAC to automatically elevating privileges and allows the user to control or 'snooze' UAC at will by clicking on an icon in the System Tray. It is not free, but there is a 30-day free trial version, and the $5 price tag is pretty close to free for those who want more control over UAC.