Windows Vista’s User Account Control (UAC) is the new operating system’s most universally reviled feature. Sure, it helps protect you, but it also annoys you to no end.

If UAC drives you around the bend, you can turn it off. There are several ways to do it. One way is to choose Control Panel > User Accounts and Family Safety > User Accounts, then click Turn User Account Control on or off.

Alternately, you can run the System Configuration Utility (a.k.a. msconfig) by typing msconfig at the command line or search box. When the tool runs, click the Tools tab and scroll down until you see Disable UAC. Highlight it and click the Launch button, then reboot. To turn it back on again, follow the same steps and choose Enable UAC.

If you’re a fan of the Registry, you can also disable UAC using the registry editor the Registry Editor by typing regedit at the Start Search box or a command prompt and pressing Enter. Go to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Policies\System\EnableLUA

and give it a value of 0. You will need to reboot in order for the change to take effect.

UAC is also the culprit for another nagging Windows vista annoyance. When you run some commands from the command prompt, you’re told that you don’t have administrative rights to run them, even if you’re currently logged in as