The recent PowerPoint vulnerability discovered (CVE-2014-6352) which affects all the versions of the Windows operating system has once again shown how important it is to keep the user account control (UAC) settings to either at the default level or at the highest possible level. Just by keeping the UAC set to the highest security level, you can prevent many of the hack and malware attacks as all the admin level changes would first invoke the UAC prompt. Suppose you open an infected Microsoft Office document file and it throws a UAC prompt at your screen – this is obviously going to look a little suspicious, inciting you to scan the suspicious document at an online virus scanner like VirusTotal – resulting in the detection and prevention of malware infection on your PC in the nick of time.
This is why it is a good idea to keep the UAC settings to their recommended level or even at the highest possible security level to keep your Windows PC secure and safe. Here is how you can make changes to the UAC settings in Windows 10 (the same instructions also work for Windows 8/8.1):
- Press the hotkey Win+R to open the Run dialog.
- In the Run dialog, type UserAccountControlSettings.exe and press the Enter key on your keyboard.
- This will open the User Account Control Settings window. Here you can use the slider control to lower or raise the security level provided by the UAC. The default level is recommended but for extra protection, you can slide the slider control to the topmost level.
- Finally click on the OK button to make the changes.
Conclusion: It is easy to change the UAC settings in Windows and raise its security level to make Windows much more safe and secure. The whole process takes only a few seconds and gives you extra protection without consuming any system resources.